Feds Force Miami University To Improve Technology For Disabled Students On Campus

Rachel Tracy |

Miami University Journalism Student

Miami University reached a proposed consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice to improve technology for disabled students attending the university, after it settled a lawsuit brought by a blind student.

The decree, pending court approval, will resolve allegations that Miami violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by using inaccessible technologies in the classroom. Those charges were outlined in a lawsuit against the university by former student Aleeha Dudley in 2014.

In the suit, Dudley alleged her course materials did not work with her text-to-speech software. She further alleged that she hadn't received material in Braille or other forms she could use without help. The school settled her suit in February, agreeing to pay up to $108,000 over five years for her tuition, books, room and board at Ohio State University, where she is working toward an undergraduate degree.

Miami will also pay up to $142,000 in educational loans, according to a university press release.

Specifics of Consent Decree

This consent decree, filed on October, 17, will force Miami University to make “significant improvements” to their technologies to make them accessible to students with disabilities.

Miami's student disability services support more than 1,100 students on the Oxford campus, and close to 1,500 including the regional campuses, the university said.

“We already have a web access coordinator and a technology access committee,” said Director of Miami University News and Communications Claire Wagner. “And the university switched to a content management system a few years ago that enables us to make websites accessible. Some older sites have not yet been remediated, but we have made great progress.”

As the university and DOJ officials negotiated, the school created two positions in the Student Disability Services Office: an Associate Director and an Adaptive Technology Coordinator.

And set to open in Aug. 2017, Miami is creating a space called “AccessMU,” located in the Shriver Center.

“The AccessMU Center will be the location of the IT Services Accessibility Team, along with the Alternative Textbook Production Services, captioning processes, and an adaptive technology computer lab that will be open to students, faculty and staff. This Center will be the central hub for technology access on campus,” said Director of Student Disability Services Andrew Zeisler.

“It is fair to say that we were moving in this direction, so we would have been making these changes and opportunities available,'' he said. "But, I also believe the decree has expedited our efforts. This SDS/AccessMU Center model and level of service will make Miami a leader, in many ways, in the years to come.”

“We are pleased that this matter has come to a successful resolution and believe that the steps Miami University will take going forward, as laid out in the most comprehensive roadmap to accessibility that has yet been included in a consent decree, will create an inclusive learning environment on its campus and serve as a model for other colleges and universities,” said Mark A. Riccobono, President of the National Federation of the Blind.

Photo cutline #1: Consent decree proposed by the United States Department of Justice.