Creating inclusive environments for people with disabilities is something that educational entities and businesses should strive to achieve. However, with the vast amount of technology being used in schools and businesses on a daily basis, at times it is hard to determine accessibility. In order to simplify the process accessibility should be considered from: 'macro' – the big picture, and 'micro' – the details. In order to tackle the issues of technological access in educational and work environments, both micro and macro issues must be assessed. Without taking care of the macro issues, users will not even be able to get to the micro issues, and without addressing micro issues, the user will still be left without access to their resources. If the user cannot access the information, then a school or business could be subject to a variety of disability-related legal complaints.

The following scenario provides perspective on accessibility issues that a student may encounter. Mary is a student who wants to use her school's computer lab to work on her Calculus homework.

1. Physical barrier to building - Mary cannot enter building unless it is accessible via ramps, low-resistance doors, accessible door hardware, etc.
2. Physical barrier to find room - once in the building, Mary cannot find the location to room, because of poor signage, or inaccessible maps, kiosks, etc.
3. Physical barrier to get to computer workstation - once Mary finds the room, she cannot access the computer if there is not enough aisle clearance, computer chairs or other furniture are blocking passageways, or if the lab makes use of a 'specially equipped' computer, but located at the back of a room
4. Physical barrier of furniture - once Mary is able to get to her workstation, she cannot work unless the table is of adjustable height to accommodate her wheelchair, or if she is visually impaired and may require additional room for a service animal
   *Also may face barriers if the student uses screen reading software or other sound-driven assistive technology, and the computer does not have physical user-accessible headphone or USB ports
5. Technological barrier to logging into computer - once Mary has finally arrived to her workstation, she will have barriers logging into her school's network if her school's network uses an authentication system that is incompatible with her assistive technology (such as a screen reader), or is confusing to use, do to the requirements to input multiple username paths, domains, etc.
6. Technological barrier to math course web site - once Mary has logged into the network and system, she will face barriers when she tries to access the class website if the authors of her math class website has not coded the pages to accessibility standards, and therefore cannot find out which lesson to start
7. Technological barrier to calculus software - once Mary has started up her calculus software, she will face barriers if the calculus software was not coded by the vendor with accessibility in mind, and thus, will not be accessible via assistive technology, or other user-driven adaptations, such as screen magnification or mouse-less operation.

• Signage (Can users find resource in your facility?)
• Room layout (Can user get to workstation?)
• Furniture considerations (Can different users use the same workstation?)
• Environmental (Is the user's monitor facing windows, so that glare will be an issue?)
• Procurement (Request vendors submit statements of accessibility)
• In-house standards (web-standards, design standards, etc)

• Software accessibility (Is the individual software compatible with user-defined settings or assistive technology?)
• Website accessibility (Are web-based resources accessible? Does the site use plug-in technology to access content?)
• Network resource accessibility (Can users login to network using their assistive technology, or can their assistive technology-specific settings)

Creating accessible environments starts with looking at everyday scenarios and places of possible obstruction for people with a variety of disabilities. As always, it is best to take care of issues at a larger scale at some point, as it will save time in dealing with individual requests for accommodation, etc. For more information on how to create accessible information technology environments, contact Bob Alvarez, Project Coordinator of Accessible IT Initiatives, 800-949-4232 (V/TTY) or via our online contact form.