WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.060 Welcome in. Thank you for joining us today. We 00:00:03.060 --> 00:00:06.259 actually built this tailored deep dive specifically 00:00:06.259 --> 00:00:08.460 for you. Yeah, we really did. It's a great topic. 00:00:08.599 --> 00:00:12.880 It is. Today, our core mission is exploring a 00:00:12.880 --> 00:00:16.879 hidden, often frustrating, but absolutely essential 00:00:16.879 --> 00:00:20.019 world. We're pulling back the curtain on digital 00:00:20.019 --> 00:00:22.460 accessibility in education. Right, which is one 00:00:22.460 --> 00:00:24.399 of those invisible infrastructures that you probably 00:00:24.399 --> 00:00:25.960 don't even think about until you suddenly hit 00:00:25.960 --> 00:00:29.140 a wall. Exactly. But behind the scenes, it's 00:00:29.140 --> 00:00:32.210 causing this massive cultural shift in how knowledge 00:00:32.210 --> 00:00:34.729 is delivered. And to guide our conversation today, 00:00:34.869 --> 00:00:36.869 we're looking at a really fascinating, highly 00:00:36.869 --> 00:00:39.950 practical piece of writing from September 2020. 00:00:40.250 --> 00:00:42.750 A very interesting time for education, to say 00:00:42.750 --> 00:00:46.229 the least. Right. The post is titled ADA Compliance 00:00:46.229 --> 00:00:49.409 and Inclusivity, and it's by Gary Ackerman, published 00:00:49.409 --> 00:00:52.439 on his site hackscience .education. And you know, 00:00:52.539 --> 00:00:54.719 to truly grasp the weight of the insights in 00:00:54.719 --> 00:00:57.240 this post, we really should look at who is delivering 00:00:57.240 --> 00:00:59.960 them. Yeah, his background is key here. It is. 00:01:00.299 --> 00:01:02.579 Gary Ackerman is not just some outside observer 00:01:02.579 --> 00:01:05.420 throwing stones at the education sector. Based 00:01:05.420 --> 00:01:08.280 on the metadata in his published works, he is 00:01:08.280 --> 00:01:11.280 deeply embedded in the trenches of school IT 00:01:11.280 --> 00:01:13.680 and leadership. He writes a lot about these systemic 00:01:13.680 --> 00:01:15.920 challenges, right? He does. He has books with 00:01:15.920 --> 00:01:18.459 titles like, Efficacious Technology Management 00:01:18.459 --> 00:01:21.200 and Technology -Rich Teaching. He even hosts 00:01:21.200 --> 00:01:23.799 this bite -sized show called, Crucial Plus Classroom, 00:01:24.060 --> 00:01:27.040 where he tackles these messy intersections with 00:01:27.040 --> 00:01:28.840 episodes like, Business and Politics are Not 00:01:28.840 --> 00:01:31.829 Teaching and Learning. So he clearly deals with 00:01:31.829 --> 00:01:33.989 the day -to -day headaches of technology planning, 00:01:34.250 --> 00:01:36.349 data analytics, and actually managing educators 00:01:36.349 --> 00:01:39.069 on the ground. Exactly. He is the person tasked 00:01:39.069 --> 00:01:41.950 with turning grand abstract ideas about educational 00:01:41.950 --> 00:01:44.950 technology into functional realities in real 00:01:44.950 --> 00:01:47.230 -world schools. Okay, let's unpack this because 00:01:47.230 --> 00:01:49.730 the core conflict he introduces right at the 00:01:49.730 --> 00:01:52.109 beginning of this post is incredibly relatable. 00:01:52.370 --> 00:01:54.890 He really is. He describes this boiling point 00:01:54.890 --> 00:01:57.510 where faculty members are suddenly being bombarded 00:01:57.510 --> 00:02:00.159 with strict mandates to make of their online 00:02:00.159 --> 00:02:03.040 course resources accessible, the catch, as Ackerman 00:02:03.040 --> 00:02:05.599 points out, is that these are steps they technically 00:02:05.599 --> 00:02:08.259 should have been taking forever. Yeah, we are 00:02:08.259 --> 00:02:10.919 looking at a classic collision of theory and 00:02:10.919 --> 00:02:14.020 practice here. I mean, the ADA, the Americans 00:02:14.020 --> 00:02:16.479 with Disabilities Act, it's a civil rights law 00:02:16.479 --> 00:02:19.080 that has been around for decades. Insuring equal 00:02:19.080 --> 00:02:21.939 access for individuals with disabilities? Right. 00:02:22.280 --> 00:02:24.819 And in the physical world, we understand this 00:02:24.819 --> 00:02:27.039 easily. You know, think of wheelchair ramps, 00:02:27.240 --> 00:02:29.800 elevator access, or braille on room sides. Things 00:02:29.800 --> 00:02:32.919 you see every day. Exactly. But in the digital 00:02:32.919 --> 00:02:35.719 space of higher education, those long -standing 00:02:35.719 --> 00:02:39.020 ADA compliance standards were largely treated 00:02:39.020 --> 00:02:42.599 as theoretical ideals. They weren't really enforced 00:02:42.599 --> 00:02:45.460 as routine parts of a teacher's workflow. Until 00:02:45.460 --> 00:02:48.379 now. Right. Suddenly, an intense microscope is 00:02:48.379 --> 00:02:50.879 placed on digital materials and a massive gap 00:02:50.879 --> 00:02:53.479 in compliance is exposed. And the list of technical 00:02:53.479 --> 00:02:55.580 hurdles these educators are suddenly expected 00:02:55.580 --> 00:02:57.919 to clear is staggering, especially if they don't 00:02:57.919 --> 00:02:59.819 have a background in web development. Oh, it's 00:02:59.819 --> 00:03:02.080 overwhelming. Ackerman lists out the specific 00:03:02.080 --> 00:03:04.800 mandates falling onto their pleats. First, faculty 00:03:04.800 --> 00:03:07.159 are told they must provide alt text for all images. 00:03:07.500 --> 00:03:10.180 Which, for anyone unfamiliar, alt text is a hidden 00:03:10.180 --> 00:03:12.759 written description of an image embedded in a 00:03:12.759 --> 00:03:15.180 document or webpage. Right, so if a visually 00:03:15.180 --> 00:03:18.020 impaired student relies on a screen reader, that 00:03:18.020 --> 00:03:20.520 software reads the alt text out loud so the student 00:03:20.520 --> 00:03:22.879 doesn't miss the visual context. Without it, 00:03:23.000 --> 00:03:25.080 the screen reader literally just announces image, 00:03:25.199 --> 00:03:27.620 leaving the student entirely in the dark. And 00:03:27.620 --> 00:03:29.860 the technical requirements keep going. They also 00:03:29.860 --> 00:03:32.840 have to ensure the color contrast on every single 00:03:32.840 --> 00:03:36.319 document, PDF, and slide presentation exceeds 00:03:36.319 --> 00:03:39.639 a 4 .5 to 1 ratio. Right. And in plain terms, 00:03:39.780 --> 00:03:43.360 a 4 .5 to 1 color contrast means the text needs 00:03:43.360 --> 00:03:45.919 to stand out sharply against the background to 00:03:45.919 --> 00:03:48.400 be readable for people with visual impairments 00:03:48.400 --> 00:03:51.500 or color blindness. So that trendy light gray 00:03:51.500 --> 00:03:54.039 text on a white slide. Or yellow font on a light 00:03:54.039 --> 00:03:56.560 blue background. Yeah. That is an automatic failure. 00:03:56.650 --> 00:03:58.770 under these guidelines. And it isn't just a visual 00:03:58.770 --> 00:04:01.770 check either. They are mandated to proactively 00:04:01.770 --> 00:04:04.409 run specialized accessibility checkers before 00:04:04.409 --> 00:04:06.710 releasing any file to the students. Then comes 00:04:06.710 --> 00:04:09.490 the video component. They have to provide accurate 00:04:09.490 --> 00:04:12.069 closed captions and written transcripts for all 00:04:12.069 --> 00:04:14.909 of their recorded materials. That's a lot. How 00:04:14.909 --> 00:04:18.170 is a single educator supposed to absorb all those 00:04:18.170 --> 00:04:21.189 technical formatting rules while simultaneously 00:04:21.189 --> 00:04:23.449 teaching their actual subject? That's the million 00:04:23.449 --> 00:04:25.750 -dollar question, and Ackerman breaks the sheer 00:04:25.750 --> 00:04:28.170 scale of this problem down into what is essentially 00:04:28.170 --> 00:04:30.730 a triple threat for faculty. The first part of 00:04:30.730 --> 00:04:33.810 that threat is the backlog. Educators being told 00:04:33.810 --> 00:04:36.870 they must go back and fix the massive archives 00:04:36.870 --> 00:04:39.410 of files they have created over the years. Imagine 00:04:39.410 --> 00:04:41.529 a biology professor who has been teaching for 00:04:41.529 --> 00:04:44.759 two decades. Exactly. They have thousands of 00:04:44.759 --> 00:04:47.600 PowerPoint slides filled with complex diagrams, 00:04:48.139 --> 00:04:50.480 none of which have alt text, and many of which 00:04:50.480 --> 00:04:54.060 fail the color contrast rules. Trying to retrospectively 00:04:54.060 --> 00:04:57.279 fist 20 years of curriculum material sounds completely 00:04:57.279 --> 00:04:59.839 unmanageable alongside a full -time teaching 00:04:59.839 --> 00:05:02.139 load. It really does. And the second part of 00:05:02.139 --> 00:05:04.259 the threat compounds the issue. They have to 00:05:04.259 --> 00:05:06.560 adopt entirely new workflows to make sure all 00:05:06.560 --> 00:05:08.740 new materials are accessible from the moment 00:05:08.740 --> 00:05:11.660 of creation. So every new syllabus, every new 00:05:11.660 --> 00:05:13.759 assignment sheet... Every single announcement 00:05:13.759 --> 00:05:15.839 must meet the standards. They have to change 00:05:15.839 --> 00:05:18.939 their deeply ingrained daily habits. Then Ackerman 00:05:18.939 --> 00:05:21.519 points out the third, and perhaps most daunting, 00:05:21.660 --> 00:05:24.600 part of this mandate. The vast new collection 00:05:24.600 --> 00:05:27.879 of online materials being generated daily. Ackerman 00:05:27.879 --> 00:05:31.329 specifically highlights recorded lectures. He 00:05:31.329 --> 00:05:33.290 notes that this particular group of educators 00:05:33.290 --> 00:05:35.750 cannot easily move away from lecture capture 00:05:35.750 --> 00:05:38.540 as their dominant teaching method. And the sheer 00:05:38.540 --> 00:05:41.680 volume of video content they generate is exploding. 00:05:41.980 --> 00:05:44.180 Right. Every single hour of recorded lecture 00:05:44.180 --> 00:05:47.300 now requires a highly accurate transcript and 00:05:47.300 --> 00:05:49.860 closed captioning to meet the mandate. So they're 00:05:49.860 --> 00:05:53.000 being asked to fix the past, completely rewire 00:05:53.000 --> 00:05:56.220 their present habits and build a massive, perfectly 00:05:56.220 --> 00:05:59.060 formatted future all at once. What's fascinating 00:05:59.060 --> 00:06:01.839 here is the sheer disconnect between the longstanding 00:06:01.839 --> 00:06:04.500 existence of these accessibility standards and 00:06:04.500 --> 00:06:06.980 the sudden frantic expectation for compliance. 00:06:06.990 --> 00:06:09.209 Because these aren't new laws. No, not at all. 00:06:09.629 --> 00:06:11.470 The necessity of a screen reader is not a new 00:06:11.470 --> 00:06:14.069 concept, but the operational culture of higher 00:06:14.069 --> 00:06:17.050 education and school IT simply had not made these 00:06:17.050 --> 00:06:19.750 practices a mandatory expectation until this 00:06:19.750 --> 00:06:22.430 specific breaking point. So dropping decades 00:06:22.430 --> 00:06:24.649 of deferred infrastructure maintenance onto the 00:06:24.649 --> 00:06:27.990 laps of teachers creates this massive shock to 00:06:27.990 --> 00:06:31.300 the system. Exactly. But Ackerman does not just 00:06:31.300 --> 00:06:34.060 point fingers at the faculty for failing to do 00:06:34.060 --> 00:06:36.939 this earlier. He actually shows a profound amount 00:06:36.939 --> 00:06:39.000 of empathy for the educators caught in the middle 00:06:39.000 --> 00:06:42.699 of this avalanche. He does. He repeatedly emphasizes 00:06:42.699 --> 00:06:45.879 the phrase, I understand. He understands the 00:06:45.879 --> 00:06:48.939 crushing time demands. And we must keep the context 00:06:48.939 --> 00:06:51.040 of this source in mind. This post was published 00:06:51.040 --> 00:06:53.680 in September 2020. Right. The entire landscape 00:06:53.680 --> 00:06:56.040 of teaching had just been completely upended. 00:06:56.379 --> 00:06:58.759 Institutions were facing a wildly uncertain future. 00:06:59.379 --> 00:07:01.500 Everyone operating within a school system was 00:07:01.500 --> 00:07:03.399 already stretched to their absolute breaking 00:07:03.399 --> 00:07:06.699 point. Context is everything when analyzing institutional 00:07:06.699 --> 00:07:08.660 change. I mean, faculty members are hired to 00:07:08.660 --> 00:07:10.980 be subject matter experts. They hold advanced 00:07:10.980 --> 00:07:13.399 degrees in literature, quantum physics, or medieval 00:07:13.399 --> 00:07:15.759 history. They are not, as Ackerman clearly states, 00:07:16.259 --> 00:07:18.529 experts in document creation. Right. When they 00:07:18.529 --> 00:07:20.569 are suddenly instructed to spend countless hours 00:07:20.569 --> 00:07:23.089 formatting paragraph styles and testing the hex 00:07:23.089 --> 00:07:26.329 codes of their font colors to ensure a 4 .5 to 00:07:26.329 --> 00:07:29.990 1 ratio, a very real psychological barrier emerges. 00:07:30.290 --> 00:07:33.029 To a subject matter expert, wrestling with a 00:07:33.029 --> 00:07:35.930 PDF tag tree feels entirely disconnected from 00:07:35.930 --> 00:07:38.470 the core act of teaching. It feels like purely 00:07:38.470 --> 00:07:40.949 administrative busy work. And the perception 00:07:40.949 --> 00:07:44.990 of busy work is a massive hurdle in any organization. 00:07:45.919 --> 00:07:48.199 Ackerman acknowledges why a teacher would resist 00:07:48.199 --> 00:07:50.220 being asked to do something they've never been 00:07:50.220 --> 00:07:53.040 asked to do before. Especially when their entire 00:07:53.040 --> 00:07:55.399 professional world has just been turned upside 00:07:55.399 --> 00:07:57.259 down and they're trying to keep their heads above 00:07:57.259 --> 00:07:59.519 water. Let's bring this directly to you, our 00:07:59.519 --> 00:08:01.980 listener, for a moment to put that psychological 00:08:01.980 --> 00:08:04.750 barrier into perspective. Have you ever been 00:08:04.750 --> 00:08:07.750 handed a sudden massive administrative task at 00:08:07.750 --> 00:08:10.569 your job that felt like total busy work? Oh, 00:08:10.610 --> 00:08:12.750 we've all been there. Maybe your company switched 00:08:12.750 --> 00:08:15.910 to a convoluted new HR software and you suddenly 00:08:15.910 --> 00:08:18.610 had to spend three hours re -entering project 00:08:18.610 --> 00:08:20.870 data you already submitted months ago. Right, 00:08:20.910 --> 00:08:23.110 and you likely resented it because it took you 00:08:23.110 --> 00:08:25.629 away from your actual job. To the professor, 00:08:25.990 --> 00:08:28.290 formatting a syllabus to ADA standards feels 00:08:28.290 --> 00:08:31.350 like that frustrating software glitch. But to 00:08:31.350 --> 00:08:34.029 the student relying on a screen reader, that 00:08:34.029 --> 00:08:36.389 formatting is the crucial infrastructure that 00:08:36.389 --> 00:08:38.509 determines whether they can participate in the 00:08:38.509 --> 00:08:41.830 class at all. It is a painful but necessary period 00:08:41.830 --> 00:08:44.970 of professional growth for the educators. The 00:08:44.970 --> 00:08:48.169 task is objectively tedious, but the outcome 00:08:48.169 --> 00:08:50.570 is a fundamental civil right for the student. 00:08:50.909 --> 00:08:52.870 And Ackerman does point out a silver lining in 00:08:52.870 --> 00:08:55.309 the text regarding the technology itself. The 00:08:55.309 --> 00:08:57.269 software companies are not just sitting idly 00:08:57.269 --> 00:09:00.470 by while users struggle. They are actively stepping 00:09:00.470 --> 00:09:02.799 up to help bridge this gap. He notes that these 00:09:02.799 --> 00:09:05.240 companies are significantly improving the functionality 00:09:05.240 --> 00:09:08.240 of their accessibility checkers. The tools are 00:09:08.240 --> 00:09:10.720 becoming much easier to locate within the software 00:09:10.720 --> 00:09:13.700 menus rather than being buried in obscure settings. 00:09:14.039 --> 00:09:15.899 Importantly, Ackerman highlights that the software 00:09:15.899 --> 00:09:18.200 is starting to actively warn users when they 00:09:18.200 --> 00:09:20.740 are failing to utilize these accessibility features. 00:09:20.820 --> 00:09:23.379 Like a pop -up. Right. The platforms are building 00:09:23.379 --> 00:09:26.379 in prompts that essentially say, hey, you are 00:09:26.379 --> 00:09:28.519 about to publish a document that fails color 00:09:28.519 --> 00:09:31.960 contrast checks. The burden of remembering the 00:09:31.960 --> 00:09:35.039 rules is slowly being shared by the tools themselves. 00:09:35.320 --> 00:09:37.500 Here's where it gets really interesting. Ackerman 00:09:37.500 --> 00:09:39.759 doesn't just diagnose the problem and leave us 00:09:39.759 --> 00:09:42.240 wallowing in the difficulty of it all. No. He 00:09:42.240 --> 00:09:45.019 leverages his background in efficacious technology 00:09:45.019 --> 00:09:47.539 management to map out a structural solution. 00:09:47.700 --> 00:09:50.879 He lays out a clear four -step framework for 00:09:50.879 --> 00:09:53.559 solving this systemic issue, making it crystal 00:09:53.559 --> 00:09:55.940 clear that institutions cannot just dump this 00:09:55.940 --> 00:09:58.639 mandate onto the teachers and walk away. Building 00:09:58.639 --> 00:10:00.980 a functional ecosystem is the only way through 00:10:00.980 --> 00:10:03.700 the transition. So step one of Ackerman's framework 00:10:03.700 --> 00:10:06.539 starts at the very top of the institution, leadership's 00:10:06.539 --> 00:10:09.100 role. He writes that leaders must make their 00:10:09.100 --> 00:10:11.700 expectations clear, demanding a good faith effort 00:10:11.700 --> 00:10:14.779 from everyone to make materials accessible. However, 00:10:15.080 --> 00:10:18.480 an unfunded mandate is useless. Exactly. He suggests 00:10:18.480 --> 00:10:21.159 leaders establish simple, actionable checklists, 00:10:21.639 --> 00:10:23.799 but crucially, they must find the money to pay 00:10:23.799 --> 00:10:26.899 for good tools. That funding aspect is huge. 00:10:27.299 --> 00:10:29.419 You cannot demand high -level compliance if you 00:10:29.419 --> 00:10:31.500 refuse to purchase the software that generates 00:10:31.500 --> 00:10:34.519 accurate closed captions or seamless accessibility 00:10:34.519 --> 00:10:37.620 checks. Once leadership funds the tools and sets 00:10:37.620 --> 00:10:40.940 the expectations, we move to step two, the role 00:10:40.940 --> 00:10:43.279 of educational technology professionals. These 00:10:43.279 --> 00:10:45.879 are the IT staff and the instructional designers. 00:10:46.039 --> 00:10:49.159 Their specific job in this ecosystem is to recommend 00:10:49.159 --> 00:10:51.980 the best tools, teach the faculty how to use 00:10:51.980 --> 00:10:55.230 them, and provide ongoing support. for the specific 00:10:55.230 --> 00:10:57.889 items on leadership's checklist. They act as 00:10:57.889 --> 00:10:59.669 the bridge between the administrative mandate 00:10:59.669 --> 00:11:02.370 and the classroom execution. Right. And only 00:11:02.370 --> 00:11:04.289 after the leadership funds the initiative and 00:11:04.289 --> 00:11:06.570 the IT department provides the training do we 00:11:06.570 --> 00:11:09.929 reach step three, teacher's action. Once the 00:11:09.929 --> 00:11:12.169 clear expectations are set and the supported 00:11:12.169 --> 00:11:14.590 tools are readily available, teachers must willingly 00:11:14.590 --> 00:11:17.490 adopt and adapt to those tools. The institutional 00:11:17.490 --> 00:11:20.039 resistance has to end. once the proper support 00:11:20.039 --> 00:11:22.620 structure is in place. Which transitions seamlessly 00:11:22.620 --> 00:11:25.019 into step four, perhaps the most philosophical 00:11:25.019 --> 00:11:28.500 of the pillars, teacher's mindset. Ackerman insists 00:11:28.500 --> 00:11:31.159 that teachers must recognize these tools. The 00:11:31.159 --> 00:11:33.700 accessibility checkers, the captioning software, 00:11:34.200 --> 00:11:37.200 are simply technologies. He grounds this idea 00:11:37.200 --> 00:11:39.340 with a brilliant analogy about the analog tools 00:11:39.340 --> 00:11:42.320 we used to rely on, the pencil analogy. I love 00:11:42.320 --> 00:11:44.720 this part. He reminds the reader that even old 00:11:44.720 --> 00:11:48.580 familiar technologies had severe flaws. Pencils 00:11:48.580 --> 00:11:51.899 broke during exams, paper tore, typewriter ribbons 00:11:51.899 --> 00:11:54.379 jammed. Even with those analog technologies, 00:11:54.700 --> 00:11:56.759 educators were sometimes without the tools they 00:11:56.759 --> 00:11:59.759 needed, and the results were rarely instantaneous 00:11:59.759 --> 00:12:03.100 and perfect. We really do have a deep societal 00:12:03.100 --> 00:12:06.559 tendency to romanticize the past. We assume older 00:12:06.559 --> 00:12:09.840 tools were flawless, reliable extensions of ourselves. 00:12:10.139 --> 00:12:12.059 While getting disproportionately frustrated by 00:12:12.059 --> 00:12:14.120 the learning curve of any new digital tool. Right. 00:12:14.360 --> 00:12:16.440 Every technology, whether it is a piece of chalk 00:12:16.440 --> 00:12:18.759 or an automated transcript generator, requires 00:12:18.759 --> 00:12:21.279 a baseline of expertise, and every technology 00:12:21.279 --> 00:12:23.399 occasionally breaks down. Ackerman is demanding 00:12:23.399 --> 00:12:25.600 that teachers apply the exact same patience to 00:12:25.600 --> 00:12:28.019 a confusing digital accessibility checker that 00:12:28.019 --> 00:12:30.539 they would naturally apply to a jammed pencil 00:12:30.539 --> 00:12:32.700 sharpener. You can't just throw your hands up 00:12:32.700 --> 00:12:35.419 and expect it to work perfectly by magic. It 00:12:35.419 --> 00:12:38.480 takes time, patience, and a willingness to learn 00:12:38.480 --> 00:12:41.059 the quirks of the tool. If we connect this to 00:12:41.059 --> 00:12:43.279 the bigger picture, Ackerman is illustrating 00:12:43.279 --> 00:12:46.519 how a shared responsibility model creates a sustainable 00:12:46.519 --> 00:12:49.159 workflow. When leadership provides the funding 00:12:49.159 --> 00:12:52.179 and clear checklists. When EdTech provides the 00:12:52.179 --> 00:12:54.700 training and support. And when teachers adapt 00:12:54.700 --> 00:12:57.889 with a patient mindset. The impossible avalanche 00:12:57.889 --> 00:13:00.610 of accessibility becomes a manageable, routine 00:13:00.610 --> 00:13:03.710 process. If any single one of those four pillars 00:13:03.710 --> 00:13:06.710 collapses, if leadership hides the checkbook, 00:13:07.049 --> 00:13:09.070 or if teachers refuse to learn the software, 00:13:09.769 --> 00:13:12.830 the entire inclusivity initiative fails. It is 00:13:12.830 --> 00:13:16.049 a highly pragmatic, operational way to view institutional 00:13:16.049 --> 00:13:18.909 change. However, Ackerman does not mince words 00:13:18.909 --> 00:13:21.210 when addressing individuals who refuse to participate 00:13:21.210 --> 00:13:24.250 in this shared ecosystem. No, he takes an uncompromising 00:13:24.250 --> 00:13:26.190 stance toward the end of his post. He issues 00:13:26.190 --> 00:13:29.029 what amounts to a professional ultimatum. He 00:13:29.029 --> 00:13:31.450 states plainly that if you find yourself in any 00:13:31.450 --> 00:13:33.389 of these roles, whether you are a university 00:13:33.389 --> 00:13:36.149 president, an IT professional, or a tenured teacher, 00:13:36.490 --> 00:13:39.250 and you are not willing to accept this successability 00:13:39.250 --> 00:13:41.230 work as a fundamental part of your profession, 00:13:41.850 --> 00:13:43.909 then it is time for you to find a new profession 00:13:43.909 --> 00:13:46.750 entirely. Wow. He really strips away all the 00:13:46.750 --> 00:13:48.789 padding and puts the reality of the situation 00:13:48.789 --> 00:13:51.480 right on the table. Furthermore, He directly 00:13:51.480 --> 00:13:53.659 addresses the labor arguments that often arise 00:13:53.659 --> 00:13:56.620 around new mandates. He states that expecting 00:13:56.620 --> 00:13:59.340 digital accessibility is not a change in work 00:13:59.340 --> 00:14:02.019 conditions that needs to be negotiated in a contract 00:14:02.019 --> 00:14:04.240 dispute. And we should note here for our listener 00:14:04.240 --> 00:14:07.000 that we are simply reporting Ackerman's stated 00:14:07.000 --> 00:14:10.139 viewpoints from his 2020 post to explore the 00:14:10.139 --> 00:14:12.659 ideas he lays out. Right. We aren't endorsing 00:14:12.659 --> 00:14:15.240 this specific stance on labor relations, just 00:14:15.240 --> 00:14:18.080 unpacking his argument. Exactly. His perspective 00:14:18.080 --> 00:14:20.659 frames digital accessibility not as an add on 00:14:20.659 --> 00:14:24.279 chore or an extra duty, but as a non -negotiable 00:14:24.279 --> 00:14:26.659 baseline of what it means to be a modern educator. 00:14:26.879 --> 00:14:28.799 Regardless of how a listener might view the labor 00:14:28.799 --> 00:14:31.120 aspect of his argument, his train of thought 00:14:31.120 --> 00:14:33.360 brings us to the ultimate conclusion of the text. 00:14:33.610 --> 00:14:36.389 which I find to be a stark reality check. He 00:14:36.389 --> 00:14:39.690 exposes a massive inclusivity paradox within 00:14:39.690 --> 00:14:42.809 higher education. Colleges and universities heavily 00:14:42.809 --> 00:14:44.990 brand themselves on the concept of inclusivity. 00:14:45.429 --> 00:14:48.149 It is the centerpiece of every recruitment brochure, 00:14:48.389 --> 00:14:50.929 every mission statement, every welcoming address 00:14:50.929 --> 00:14:53.649 given to freshmen. They present themselves as 00:14:53.649 --> 00:14:55.789 equitable communities dedicated to serving all 00:14:55.789 --> 00:14:58.929 students. But Ackerman points out the inescapable 00:14:58.929 --> 00:15:02.230 flaw in that marketing. No college can legitimately 00:15:02.230 --> 00:15:04.570 claim to be an inclusive community if they are 00:15:04.570 --> 00:15:06.889 not taking the creation of accessible materials 00:15:06.889 --> 00:15:09.669 seriously. He emphasizes those words heavily 00:15:09.669 --> 00:15:12.730 in the text. Seriously. Very seriously. This 00:15:12.730 --> 00:15:15.009 raises an important question regarding the vast 00:15:15.009 --> 00:15:17.669 chasm between public relations and operational 00:15:17.669 --> 00:15:20.409 reality. An institution can host endless seminars 00:15:20.409 --> 00:15:23.490 on equity, diversity and inclusion. They can 00:15:23.490 --> 00:15:26.070 form committees and draft visionary statements. 00:15:26.320 --> 00:15:28.860 But if a student who relies on a screen reader 00:15:28.860 --> 00:15:32.019 cannot access the basic PDF syllabus for their 00:15:32.019 --> 00:15:34.980 economics class because the professor felt formatting 00:15:34.980 --> 00:15:37.779 the document was beneath them or just too time 00:15:37.779 --> 00:15:40.419 consuming, then that institution is fundamentally 00:15:40.419 --> 00:15:43.259 inequitable. True inclusivity is not a marketing 00:15:43.259 --> 00:15:47.080 buzzword. It is a 4 .5 to 1 color contrast ratio. 00:15:47.240 --> 00:15:50.000 It is alt text on a diagram of a cell. It is 00:15:50.000 --> 00:15:52.639 accurately synced closed captions on a lecture 00:15:52.639 --> 00:15:55.620 about the Civil War. It is highly technical, 00:15:55.860 --> 00:15:58.659 deeply unglamorous work. The daily technical 00:15:58.659 --> 00:16:01.399 execution of accessibility is the only true measure 00:16:01.399 --> 00:16:04.179 of an institution's commitment to equity. If 00:16:04.179 --> 00:16:06.740 the mundane, behind -the -scenes digital practices 00:16:06.740 --> 00:16:09.080 do not align with the university's highest public 00:16:09.080 --> 00:16:11.600 ideals, the public claims are essentially void. 00:16:11.919 --> 00:16:13.879 So what does this all mean for you, whether you 00:16:13.879 --> 00:16:16.600 work in education, corporate management, or entirely 00:16:16.600 --> 00:16:18.620 outside of the office space? When we distill 00:16:18.620 --> 00:16:21.059 this deep dive down to its core, the key takeaway 00:16:21.059 --> 00:16:23.379 is that building a genuinely fair and inclusive 00:16:23.379 --> 00:16:26.919 environment requires tedious, mandatory, daily 00:16:26.919 --> 00:16:29.980 effort. You cannot simply declare equity into 00:16:29.980 --> 00:16:32.559 existence through a mission statement. You have 00:16:32.559 --> 00:16:36.019 to finkly and digitally format it into existence. 00:16:36.179 --> 00:16:38.899 It requires leadership to spend actual capital. 00:16:39.230 --> 00:16:42.090 on good tools. Tech professionals to offer patient 00:16:42.090 --> 00:16:45.029 support. And individuals at all levels to accept 00:16:45.029 --> 00:16:47.330 that proper formatting is a core professional 00:16:47.330 --> 00:16:50.149 responsibility, not a dismissable administrative 00:16:50.149 --> 00:16:53.009 annoyance. It demands a complete paradigm shift 00:16:53.009 --> 00:16:55.750 in how organizations allocate their time, moving 00:16:55.750 --> 00:16:57.990 past the philosophical discussions and into the 00:16:57.990 --> 00:17:00.350 weeds of digital infrastructure. We want to leave 00:17:00.350 --> 00:17:02.929 you with a final thought to mull over, building 00:17:02.929 --> 00:17:05.990 upon Ackerman's uncompromising insights. If highly 00:17:05.990 --> 00:17:08.869 respected, well -funded educational institutions 00:17:08.869 --> 00:17:12.089 struggle this deeply to implement basic digital 00:17:12.089 --> 00:17:15.450 checklists, like ensuring a simple contrast ratio 00:17:15.450 --> 00:17:17.650 on a PowerPoint slide while publicly claiming 00:17:17.650 --> 00:17:20.529 to be equitable champions. What other invisible 00:17:20.529 --> 00:17:23.349 barriers exist in the physical or digital spaces 00:17:23.349 --> 00:17:25.710 that you navigate every single day? What other 00:17:25.710 --> 00:17:28.150 crucial infrastructures are easily solved by 00:17:28.150 --> 00:17:30.650 basic tools but are currently being completely 00:17:30.650 --> 00:17:33.509 ignored in your own industry simply due to time 00:17:33.509 --> 00:17:35.529 constraints or the stubborn perception of busy 00:17:35.529 --> 00:17:38.329 work. Applying that lens to our own workplaces 00:17:38.329 --> 00:17:40.670 might reveal gaps in access we've been walking 00:17:40.670 --> 00:17:43.190 past for years. Thank you for joining us for 00:17:43.190 --> 00:17:46.130 this deep dive. Our goal is always to extract 00:17:46.130 --> 00:17:48.410 the vital nuggets of knowledge from our sources, 00:17:48.930 --> 00:17:51.130 keeping you well informed and ready to view the 00:17:51.130 --> 00:17:53.430 systems around you just a little bit differently. 00:17:53.750 --> 00:17:56.450 Until next time, keep questioning the invisible 00:17:56.450 --> 00:17:57.910 infrastructure in your world.