Accessible Technology

Welcome to AVC’s Accessible technology information pages. Accessible Technology includes a broad range of technologies, such as websites, video, audio, electronic documents, or any other technology that someone may utilize in some form at AVC. This site will provide information to aid in the creation and adoption of accessible technology.

Accessible technology not only provides equality to those with disabilities, but it is also the law to use and create it. Section 508 requires the Federal government and those receiving federal funds (i.e., AVC) to utilize accessible technology. In addition, W3C’s Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) provides guidelines and techniques to meet the needs of individuals with disabilities.

Accessible technology is the responsibility of the campus. Ensuring something is accessible beforehand, rather than retrofit it after someone on campus has an issue, keeps AVC in compliance and avoids complaints to the Office of Civil Rights, which investigates complaints against campuses.

Students with a need for Accessible Technology are encouraged to contact the Office for Students with Disabilities for support, and or an assessment for accommodations. 

Captioning: A self-service captioning tool - ADA-Solutions - is available to faculty and staff. It leverages IBM's Watson AI to automate captioning from an audio track, time index it, and make the track editable. Though not perfect, it does a good job as a starting point to be cleaned up. This service is not free, but rather than the typical $2-3.50/hour, the cost to AVC is approximately $0.20/minute - funding has been allocated to support the college's needs. A written guide is currently available, and video guides will be available online shortly. To gain access to the captioning tool, email a request to help@avc.edu.