Exploring Instructional and Access Technologies
Session Summary
(M11B)
Providing Access in Web Conferencing Systems
Jeremiah Parry-Hill
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Rochester Institute of Technology's Department of Online Learning is committed to the exploration, development, and application of technologies that facilitate accessible instructional practices for both on-campus and online instructors and students. Adobe Connect is a Web-conferencing tool with video, audio, and text components, used in classes for real-time lecture and collaboration. Online Learning's primary challenge is to raise faculty awareness of effective practices for making activities in Connect accessible to deaf and hard-of-hearing students. In addition to its audio, video, and text-based communication features, Connect allows real-time captioning through a custom Flash extension. As a growing number of online courses turned to a "live-and-online," audio-based delivery format, Online Learning began piloting real-time captioning in Connect. We will provide a history of our experiments with several access technologies, including video of sign interpreters, CART, and C-Print. Online Learning will share administrative, technical, and support recommendations for faculty and support staff to consider when using real-time captioning in Web conferencing systems. |