Legislation

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eLearning and Legislation (5 Links)  Accessibility and Legislation. by Vashti Zarach, CETIS, May 2002. This document briefly describes some of the legislation for improving access to education for disabled students. 

Disability Legislation and its Effect on Information Services in Further and Higher Education. An overview of relevant legislation, including SENDA, from the JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee) Legal Information Service. 

JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee) Legal Information Service. This service provides information relating to the legislative side of e-learning in UK HE (Higher Education) and FE (Further Education) only. It does not give professional advice. The site itself gives an overview of disability legislation and its effect on information services in FE and HE. 

'''[http://www.scotconnect.com/Accessibility/disabilityrights.php The Special Educational Needs and Disability Rights Act: Are Local Authorities all Set for Change? - Promoting Social Inclusion and Tackling the Digital Divide]''' by Pat Byrne, ScotConnect, October 2001. An overview of SENDA and the DDA (Disability Discrimination Act 1995) and the timescales for complying with the legislation. 

VLE: Valuable Learning Experience: Blackboard, Accessibility and the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act (PowerPoint format - 774Kb) by Gabriel Jezierski, University of Wales Institute Cardiff. This presentation looks at implications of SENDA for VLEs (Virtual Learning Learning Environments), particularly Blackboard. 

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Legal Cases (2 Links)  American Airlines Challenged for Having an Inaccessible Website, in Law Case Testing the Bounds of the Americans with Disabilities Act by Matthew Haggman, Miami Daily Business Review, July 2002. A disability rights group in America, called Access Now, has filed a lawsuit against American Airlines for having an inaccessible website. The case will test whether the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) legislation on the accessibility of public accomodations can be held to include the Internet. 

Sydney Olympics 2000 Website: Accessibility Decision in the case of Bruce Lindsay Maguire vs. SOCOG (Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games). Bruce Lindsay Maguire (who is blind) complained to the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission that the Sydney Olympic Games 2000 website was inaccessible. The Commission ruled in his favour, saying that SOCOG was oliged under section 24 of the (Australian) Disability Discrimination Act to provide an accessible website. Following on from this, Tom Worthington from The Australian National University has written an short article about web accessibility for the Olympics and where the Sydney Olympic web site failed in Making an Accessible and Functional Website for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.</li></ol>

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Legislative Acts: UK (United Kingdom) (10 Links)  Copyright (Visually Impaired Persons) Bill 2001 (PDF format - 154Kb). This Bill allows copyrighted works to be transferred to formats accessible to visually impaired people without infringing copyright legislation. </li>

Disability Discrimination Act 1995. This Act makes it unlawful to discriminate against disabled persons in connection with employment, the provision of goods, facilities and services or the disposal or management of premises. </li>

Disability Rights Commission Act 1999. This Act provides legislation for the establishment of a Disability Rights Commission. </li>

Code of Practice for Providers of Post 16 Education and Related Services (PDF format - 1.2Mb). This Code of Practice deals with the duties placed on providers of post-16 education and other related services by the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, as amended by SENDA. The Disability Discrimination Act makes it unlawful for such bodies to discriminate against disabled students and other disabled people. </li>

Guides for Staff in Higher Education. SKILL: The National Bureau for Students with Disabilities have developed a number of guides for staff in Higher Education concerning Part 4 of the Disability Discrimination Act. These guides cover: Careers Services, Central Services and Facilities, Estates, Examinations and Assessments, Governors, Learning and Teaching, Libraries, Marketing and Admissions, Residential Services, Senior Managers and Staff Development. </li>

JISC Legal Information Service. This service provides information relating to the legislative side of e-learning in UK HE (Higher Education) and FE (Further Education) only. It does not give professional advice. The site itself gives an overview of disability legislation and its effect on information services in FE and HE. </li>

Making Reasonable Adjustments with Disabled Students in Higher Education (PDF format - 1.5Mb) by Margaret Herrington (ed) with Dawn Simpson, University of Nottingham, June 2002. This document is intended for academic staff, disability specialists and staff development personnel in HE institutions in the UK. Its objective is to contribute to the discourse in HE about how best to respond to the SENDA and focuses on what can be expected from academic staff in making "reasonable adjustments" to teaching, learning and assessment processes. It also includes case studies. </li>

SENDA (Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001). SENDA is an amendment to Part 4 of the Disability Discrimination Act and covers education and training providers. </li>

The Special Educational Needs and Disability Act: Guidance for Teaching Staff. This online module from the DEMOS Project provides information, a couple of short quizzes and many examples relating to the Disability Act and SENDA. </li>

Understanding the Disability Discrimination Act: A guide for colleges, universities and adult community learning providers in Great Britain (Word Format - 750Kb). This guidance is designed to "support post-school education institutions to improve disability equality and to implement all relevant aspects of the DDA". </li></ol>

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Legislative Acts: USA (United States of America) (2 Links)  Americans with Disabilities Act 1990. This site gives information and technical assistance on the Americans with Disabilities Act. </li> Section 508. Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act Amendments, 1998, became law on June 25th, 2001. It requires that Federal agencies' electronic and information technology is accessible to people with disabilities. </li></ol> End of Legislation: Back to Top of Page