Accessibility Update

EAB has initiated efforts to address the accessibility concerns raised by faculty. This vendor has promised to address all reported issues comprehensively, but does not have a precise estimated time of resolution at this this stage.

EAB has provided an updated Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) EAB Accessibility Conformance Report
WCAG Edition VPAT® 2.4 for Starfish.

EAB has provided an updated Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) EAB Accessibility Conformance Report
WCAG Edition VPAT® 2.4 for Starfish and a document outlining the EAB Accessibility Practice.

In preparation for Starfish Analytics, Hobson’s has provided an updated Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) for Starfish. Review the Hobsons (Starfish) commitment to accessibility, and process in compliance with the WCAG Version 2.0 Level AA standard.

Responsive Kiosk – Updated Waiting Room: Hobson’s received feedback from users that the My Appointments tab was confusing so they made the following language changes: (1) The “My Appointments” tab is now called “Appointments.” (2) The “Appointments for [date]” column is now called “My Appointments for [date].” (3) The Checked In column now has explanatory text that says, “This list includes students scheduled with other providers.” (4) Checked In appointment cards also have a language change from “Arrive” to “Arrival.”

Responsive Kiosk – Multi-Service Kiosk: When students were checking their wait time on a multi-service kiosk, they were always seeing that they had been waiting for less than a minute, which was an incorrect time (staff were seeing the correct time). Hobson’s fixed the multi-service kiosk so that it will show students the correct wait time. Single-service kiosks were working appropriately and were not impacted by this issue.

Navigation Menu: Hobson’s has increased the size of the down arrows to make them more accessible.

Responsive Kiosk – Updated Waiting Room: The checked-in appointment cards did not display the appointment time and were displaying in the order of student arrival instead of in the order of the appointment time. Now the appointment time is on the checked-in appointment cards and the cards are ordered by appointment time.

Responsive Kiosk – Self Service Kiosk Type: In the Success Network for services with Self Service Kiosks, students were seeing waitlist information, which was confusing because students do not need to wait for these services. Hobson’s removed the waitlist information from the Services card for Self Service Kiosks. Additionally, they have updated the wording in the staff view. Staff used to see “There are X students waiting and the longest wait time is X minutes.” and will now display “There are X students using this service.

Hobson’s has provided an updated Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) for Starfish. Review the Hobsons (Starfish) commitment to accessibility, and process in compliance with the WCAG Version 2.0 Level AA standard.

• Hobsons commits to accessibility updates 2 x year
• The updated VPAT will be made available end of November 2018
• List of issues remediated in the prior release will be provided with the update

Starfish has been independently tested Summer 2018 by WebAIM and other vendors. View their initial evaluation noting the need to improve functions and page structure. Hobsons plans to have all significant issues resolved by November 2018.

William N. Myhill, M.Ed., J.D. the University’s new interim Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) coordinator in the Office of Equal Opportunity, Inclusion, Resolution Services was brought up to speed with the features of the Orange SUccess system and will serve as a contact for staff and faculty if and when they encounter any accessibility issues.

Hobson’s has provided an updated Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) for Starfish.

The Office of Disability Services continues to support both blind and visually impaired students, staff, and faculty. ODS counselors actively engage in outreach efforts regarding potential IT access issues. If students, faculty and or staff experience issues with Orange SUccess, they will receive one-on-one training or assistance to mitigate barriers. In addition, here are some of the proactive measures that they have taken:

1. User testing with blind and low vision users: Michael Grattan, who was referred by the Commission for the Blind, was recently hired and is a user of multiple assistive technologies including Jaws, Voice Over, and NVDA.
2. Michael will coordinate with SU’s accessibility analyst, Sharon Trerise and conduct regular accessibility reviews (faculty and student roles) and communicate their finding to Hobsons.
3. Aaron Hodukavich, Director and ADA/503/504 Coordinator in the Office of Equal Opportunity, Inclusion, Resolutions Services is also a contact for staff and faculty if they encounter any accessibility issues.

Hobsons, the firm that provides the Orange SUccess system, has been highly responsive in prioritizing repairs to aspects of the product that create challenges for our disabled users. We have several avenues for obtaining feedback from users about accessibility issues, and we immediately refer these issues to Hobsons and ask them to prioritize the improvements.

Our regression testing on the most recent upgrade revealed some issues and we are doing our absolute best to get Hobsons to correct them. We cannot provide guarantees that everything works for everyone every time, however, Sharon Trerise continues to meet with the accessibility personnel at Hobsons to correct all issues which have been reported to us. We do not compel faculty members to use any particular piece of technology. Faculty members who wish to report that a student has never attended a class, but who prefer not to use the university’s designated systems can contact the professional advising staff in their school or college.

Kal, Hopeton and Debbie
Orange Success Team

Hobson’s has provided an updated Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) for Starfish.

IMPORTANT: Please be advised that users may experience issues when using JAWS17 with Orange SUccess, specifically, JAWS17 is not reading all available flag options, and is not allowing the user to navigate through all options. These issues have been reported to the vendor and they are working on an immediate solution. As more information becomes available, we will update this site.

Following a recent product upgrade, completed on November 19th, 2016, Hobson’s has provided an updated Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) for Starfish CONNECT™ & Starfish EARLY ALERT™. Also provided was a detailed summary and resolution status of accessibility issues reported by both Syracuse University and other universities using CONNECT and EARLY ALERT.

To view the VPAT and the issues document, log into the Answers knowledgebase.

As always, if anyone experiences any barriers to accessing Orange SUccess, please contact Debbie Gardner at 315.443.4929 or by email at accessibleIT@syr.edu so the issue may be reported to Hobson’s for immediate consideration.

For optimal user experience, Firefox is the recommended browser for individuals using the JAWS screen reader tool with Windows based computers. Please note – users are reporting issues when using JAWS with Internet Explorer (IE) or Google Chrome browsers.

Safari continues to be the preferred browser when using Voiceover.

Hobson’s applied enhancements and corrections related to reported accessibility issues in mid-October to address items reported to them by Syracuse University. Additional modification and enhancements are scheduled for implementation with the November 19th upgrade.

For optimal experience, Firefox is the recommended browser for individuals using the JAWS screen reader tool with Windows based computers. Please note – users are reporting issues when using JAWS with Internet Explorer or Google Chrome.

Safari is the preferred browser when using Voiceover.

Hobsons recognizes Syracuse University’s dedication to accessibility both physical and technical, and are in ongoing conversation with us. They have shared with us detailed views of their internal accessibility review processes and asked Syracuse University to partner with them in creating the optimal user experience along with developing an escalation ladder for accessibility issues identified. Additionally, Hobsons has identified a dedicated QA Compliance engineer who will be addressing the issues as they come.

Syracuse University has significantly advanced its technology support for student success this past year in alignment with the University’s Academic Strategic Plan. In an effort to improve advising outcomes and student retention, we have licensed products known as Starfish EARLY ALERT™ and Starfish CONNECT™. Universities such as the Rochester Institute of Technology, Gallaudet University, and the University of Dayton also use these products. We gave our project for implementing Starfish the name Orange SUccess.

As part of our long legacy of achievement at Syracuse University in the area of disabilities, we have tried since the beginning of the Orange SUccess project to ensure that the Starfish platform is usable by the greatest number of students, faculty and staff, including those with disabilities, so that everyone is able to benefit from the unique capabilities of this advising tool. This effort began with the vendor selection process.

In 2014, the vendor selection team identified three leading vendors for enterprise advising: Although none of the products was faultless “off the shelf,” Hobsons’ Starfish was the product that the vendor selection team believed had the strongest commitment to accessibility. Syracuse University executed a contract with Starfish Retention Solutions/Hobsons in summer 2015 that contained language related to accessibility. Specifically, Hobsons agreed to provide documentation verifying compliance with (WCAG) Version 2.0 Level AA and to respond to and resolve any accessibility issues that the university identifies.

When the university executed the contract, Hobsons asserted that the accessibility of the Starfish application had been measured using guidelines set forth by Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act as well as by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C; the international standards body responsible for WCAG). Following installation of the platform the implementation team began a process of independently evaluating the accessibility features of the platform. This evaluation process included an accessibility specialist from ITS as well as individuals from the Syracuse University community. This evaluation revealed several opportunities for improvement in the accessibility of the platform. In March 2016 we requested the latest version of the Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) from the vendor and began to request specific interface functions that needed improvements.

In April 2016, the implementation team worked with the Office of Disability Services and Equal Opportunity, Inclusion, and Resolution Services to develop methods of supporting students, faculty, and staff while the vendor developed improvements. In May 2016, the vendor released a new version of the product that contained some of the improvements we had requested. At that time, the vendor also engaged a third party independent vendor, WebAIM, to evaluate the Starfish application and certify its compliance. WebAIM certified the Starfish application to be substantially conformant with Level A and Level AA of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.0.

Following additional testing, this new version of the product will become available for the Syracuse University community in September 2016. There are five important improvements that we requested that were not implemented in the current revision of the platform. The vendor has provided a target date of November 2016 for release of another revision of the platform to its clients that will contain these five improvements. Assuming timely receipt of the planned release, we will put that version of the product into our testing environment and release it in January 2017, prior to the first day of spring semester classes.

The Orange SUccess implementation team continues to evaluate the accessibility of each new release of the Starfish platform. As we discover new opportunities to improve the accessibility of the interface, we will relay them to the vendor, request new versions of their VPAT, and monitor the development roadmap for compliance with the terms of our contract. Meanwhile, we will continue to cooperate with the Office of Disability Services and Equal Opportunity, Inclusion, and Resolution Services to support students, faculty, and staff who encounter usability barriers.