Initiatives

Universal Design for Universal Access

In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, students with bona fide disabilities will be afforded reasonable accommodation. The Office of Student Disability Services will certify a disability and advise faculty members of reasonable accommodations. If you have a specific disability that qualifies you for academic accommodations, please notify the instructor and provide certification from The Office of Student Disability Services, which is located at 5828 Old Shell Road, Phone 251-460-7212.

E-Learning Accessibility Resources

The organizations and groups listed below contain a variety of information, tools, and guidance for anyone interested in making web and online learning content accessible to as many students as possible.

 W3C – World Wide Web Consortium

http://www.w3.org/

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is an international community where member organizations, a full-time staff, and the public work together to develop web standards. Led by the inventor of the World Wide Web, Tim Berners-Lee, and CEO Jeffrey Jeffe, W3C’s mission is to lead the Web to its full potential.

WCAG 2.0 – Web Content Accessibility Guidelines

http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20/

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 covers a wide range of recommendations for making Web content more accessible to a wider range of people with disabilities, including blindness and low vision, deafness and hearing loss, learning disabilities, cognitive limitations, limited movement, speech disabilities, photosensitivity and combinations of these. Following these guidelines will also often make your Web content more usable to users in general.

Essential Components of Web Accessibility

http://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/components.php

This document shows how Web accessibility depends on several components working together and how improvements in specific components could substantially improve Web accessibility. It also shows how the WAI guidelines address these components.

WEBAIM – Web Accessibility in Mind

http://webaim.org/

WebAIM has provided comprehensive web accessibility solutions since 1999. These years of experience have made WebAIM one of the leading providers of Web accessibility expertise internationally.

AHEAD Association on Higher Education and Disability

http://www.ahead.org/

AHEAD is a professional membership organization for individuals involved in the development of policy and in the provision of quality services to meet the needs of persons with disabilities in all areas of higher education.

CAST – Center for Applied Special Technology

http://www.cast.org

CAST is a nonprofit research and development organization that works to expand learning opportunities for all individuals, especially those with disabilities, through Universal Design for Learning.

DO-IT – Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology

http://www.washington.edu/doit/

DO-IT serves to increase the success of individuals with disabilities in challenging academic programs and careers. It promotes the use of computer and networking technologies to increase independence, productivity, and participation in education and employment.

i>clicker

During Fall 2012, after an extensive review and pilot process, the University selected i>clicker as its campus-wide clicker solution. i>clicker works equally well with Windows or Mac and with any presentation software (PowerPoint, Keynote, Google Apps, Prezzi, etc.), without requiring any manual integration with the presentation.

Getting Started

• Request an Instructor Kit from Mandy Gunnell, our i>clicker rep, at amanda.gunnell@macmillan.com.
• Attend an i>clicker training session at the ILC (see ILC Events Page for dates and times)
• Consult with the ILC on use of the i>clicker if needed.
• Contact the USA Bookstore to request i>clickers for your class.
• Be sure to include the iClicker on your syllabus.
• How to Download i>clicker Integration Files
• FAQs

i>clicker Student Rebate

• http://www.iclicker.com/Customers/education/SouthAlabama/

Downloads

• i>clicker Windows Files
  • i>clicker Sakai Integration Files for Windows
• i>clicker Mac Files
  • i>clicker Sakai Integration Files for Mac

Training & Tutorials

The ILC will be offering several training sessions each semester, so be sure to check our Events page for dates and times. You will also find some online resources below:

• i>clicker User Guide
• Training Videos
• Training Webinar
• Best Practices

Copyright is a set of rights exclusively granted by law to the author or creator of an original work.  Examples would include novels, articles, plays, poetry, music, and other types of intellectual works. The copyright allows the owner the right to distribute, adapt and copy the work as they see fit.  For instance, owners of a copyright could license the use of their works, as well as transfer or assign the copyright to others.

Works that have been created after 1978 are automatically under the protection of copyright law.  Anything that was created prior to 1978, the copyright lasts for 75 years from the data of publication or renewal of copyright.  If an individual violates the copyright of an author or creator, he or she can be prosecuted under US law.  However, there are two main limitations to the US Copyright law.  One can have limited uses of copyrighted materials through the paying of royalties and also through the doctrine of fair use.

The doctrine of fair use is as an exception to the exclusive rights that are guaranteed by US copyright law.  The limitations are found in sections 107-118 in US copyright law.  This allows for some limited use of the copyrighted work without having to get permission from the individual that has been granted copyright privileges. Some examples of fair use would be criticism, research, archival in a library and scholarship.  For additional information for fair use of multimedia materials, click here.

Copyright Information

• Copyright Policy
• Copyright Ownership Disclosure Form
• United States Copyright Office
• Creative Commons

Fair Use

• ADEC Fair Use Guidelines
• Doctrine of Fair Use

You can also view the slideshow below to learn more about USA’s Course Redesign Initiative

Over the last three years, the University of South Alabama has been phasing out the use of the eCollege Learning Management System (LMS), replacing it with the Sakai Collaborative Learning Environment (CLE). To access the University Sakai Gateway, go to click here.