Project Overview

This project aims to proactively improve the accessibility of online information and services through the creation of service learning courses. Students who enroll gain real world problem solving skills as they work to produce accessible alternatives to existing online material. While learning valuable skills, they are providing the university, the state, and local non-profits with much needed technical assistance.

JPC A393 - Accessible Multimedia was a pilot offering that proved to be highly successful in meeting the needs of students, community partners, and the institution itself.

Fast Facts

Benefits for Community Partners

Community Partners from the State of Alaska, Non-Profits, and University Department and Programs benefited in clear ways documented in a brief report. Important to note is that all of the partners reported that the work done by students improved their content and made it more usable.

Student Learning

Many of those who participated, discussed their desire to implement best practices within the work they are currently doing professionally. The students reported significant changes in their perceptions, attitudes, and technical skills as summarized in a brief report. 

Cost Savings for UAA

The Videos captioned by students for the University would have needed to be captioned through other means if not for this service learning opportunity. The cost to outsource for this service is typically around 150 per hour when outsourced, but can be done less expensively if we use our own student labor. For example, a 35 minute video that needed to be captioned would cost the university at least eighty or ninety dollars if outsourced, but that same video could be captioned by an intern for less than forty and could be captioned by the students in the class for free.

Community Partners for Pilot Project

The pilot Accessible Multimedia course offering provided services such as web accessibility reviews, transcript production, and video captioning. Examples of the partner projects that were completed are showcased below.

ANCSA at 40   ANCSA @40 "Women Behind the Act" panel discussion held March 4, 2011 at the University of Alaska Anchorage campus. 9 individual videos, each 10 to 15 minutes long, arranged into a playlist
ANCSA at 40   ANCSA and the Pipleine panel discussion held on April 8, 2011 at the University of Alaska Anchorage campus. 11 individual videos, each 10-15 minutes long, arranged into a playlist
State of Alaska Fish and Game Transcripts for videos related to wildlife, trail use, hunting, trapping, and other related topics.
The Northern Light  Poetry Slam Student Presentation to Board of Regents and BOR Response Interviews with Athletes and Coaches Short pieces related to student experiences on campus
UAA International Student Services  Collection of short pieces related to student experiences on campus
Progressive Media AK  15 videos on a variety of subjects including: Alaska Theatre of Youth Black Feather Poets Integrated Science Building
Alaska Career Information Systems Green career video series. There were six topics (6 videos) that each had English and Spanish language versions and that were each produced as both open and closed captioned final formats.

 Need for Project

• Many end users use accessibility features to interact with online information
• Many websites contain scanned PDF or uncaptioned video that can be inaccessible and cause barriers
• Community members including UAA Faculty and staff, State of Alaska webmasters and content authors, as well as non-profits in our state, don't always have the time or resources necessary to address content problems
• Students who are preparing for careers in Business, Journalism, Education, etc need to be proficient in the creation of accessible online information and services and hands-on learning opportunities such as those provided through service learning are especially effective in transferring these types of skills

Project Goals

• To improve the usability of course content and/or online information and services by offering assistance in conversion of problematic content
• To provide UAA student participants the opportunity to learn and gain experience employing best practices in accessible content design – a valuable skill set for later employment
• To increase utilization of effective techniques by both content designers and content users

Implementation Plan

• Identify community partners with content in need of repair
• Build pilot course (JPC A393) and deploy over pilot semester (Summer 2011)
• Provide community partners with improved content
• Solicit feedback, analyze, synthesize, reflect, plan
• Encourage individuals to make ongoing use of training materials and resources
• Offer Accessible Multimedia courses on ongoing basis through multiple departments

Alignment with UAA Strategic Priorities

Priority A - Strengthen the Instructional Program
Making sure online information and services are usable addresses opportunities and challenges of Alaskan life, for example by addressing the issues that can arise with low bandwidth connections. We also prepare students to think and work in a rapidly changing world by serving as an example of how to be responsive and proactive in dealing with new technologies.

Priority C - Expand Educational Opportunity and Increase Student Success
Existing and prospective students need to be able to access our offerings in order to be successful. Students also need to have educational opportunities that prepare them for the careers they are focused on. Those who are going into communication, education, technology, and other fields must understand the core concepts related to information accessibility. Courses that provide hands-on service learning opportunties support deep learning and increased student success.

Priority D - Strengthen the UAA Community
It is not only our physical environment that is built and maintained, but also our online environment. By working proactively within our community we develop the highest quality faculty and staff. By working actively to improve our online offerings we strengthen the connection between the student and the school. We help the student feel positive about his or her own role, and also strengthen positive regard for the institution as a proactive and responsive entity.

Priority E - Expand and Enhance the Public Square
Our online offerings are not just encountered by current students, staff, and faculty. We must be accessible to the individuals who may encounter our spaces from all around the world. The work of the service learning students benefits not just our own end users, but the end users of the state and non-profit sites we have helped along the way. By partnering with community partners, the students in the course work directly within the public square, expanding and strengthening connections.