Accessibility

This is an accessibility statement from Highline College.

Measures to support accessibility

Highline College takes the following measures to ensure accessibility of Highline College:

• Include accessibility as part of our mission statement.
• Include accessibility throughout our internal policies.
• Integrate accessibility into our procurement practices.
• Appoint an accessibility officer and/or ombudsperson.
• Provide continual accessibility training for our staff.
• Assign clear accessibility goals and responsibilities.
• Employ formal accessibility quality assurance methods.

Conformance status

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) defines requirements for designers and developers to improve accessibility for people with disabilities. It defines three levels of conformance: Level A, Level AA, and Level AAA. Highline College is partially conformant with WCAG 2.1 level AA. Partially conformant means that some parts of the content do not fully conform to the accessibility standard.

Feedback

We welcome your feedback on the accessibility of Highline College. Please let us know if you encounter accessibility barriers on Highline College:

• Phone: (206) 878-3710
• E-mail: webmaster@highline.edu
• Visitor Address: 2400 S. 240th St., Des Moines, WA 98198
• Postal Address: P.O. Box 98000, 2400 S. 240th St., Des Moines, WA 98198

Technical specifications

Accessibility of Highline College relies on the following technologies to work with the particular combination of web browser and any assistive technologies or plugins installed on your computer:

• HTML
• WAI-ARIA
• CSS
• JavaScript

These technologies are relied upon for conformance with the accessibility standards used.

Limitations and alternatives

Despite our best efforts to ensure the accessibility of the Highline College website, there may be some limitations. Below is a description of known limitations, and potential solutions. Please contact us if you observe an issue not listed below.

Known limitations for Highline College:

1. Website: Accessibility varies across different sections of the Highline College website. Our website is in the process of being updated. Accessibility is improving as older site sections are migrated to newer technologies. Please contact website@highline.edu with any specific accessibility concerns.

Assessment approach

Highline College assessed the accessibility of Highline College by the following approaches:

• Self-evaluation

This statement was created on 2 January 2024 using the W3C Accessibility Statement Generator Tool.

In accordance with the SBCTC Accessible Technology Policy, technology and electronic content procured, developed, maintained, and used by Highline College will provide substantially similar functionality, user experience, and information access to individuals with disabilities as provided to others. This policy encompasses, but is not limited to, digital instructional materials, hardware, software, and Highline College web sites.

Approved by Jeff Wagnitz, Interim President, and Policy Development Council, December 7, 2017

Background

Highline’s cultural diversity policy and our commitment to removing barriers to success for our students and staff drives the need to ensure our use of technology supports those goals. Our electronic resources should:

• Be accessible to all students, regardless of whether they have a documented disability
• Enable equitable participation in all aspects of college life for students from a broad range of backgrounds and life experiences.

Consider the following:

• Experts estimate that just over 10% of the population has a disability. That translates to about 1,500-1,800 students at the college. Only about 300 students per year work with Access Services, leaving well over 1000 students with undocumented disabilities.
• Students today include those who succeeded in primary and secondary school because of the Americans with Disabilities Act and returning veterans who’ve experienced higher rates of hearing loss than the general population.
• Many of our students are English language learners; captioning provided for deaf students can be a valuable support to their ability to participate in classes. The ability to increase the size of text on a document not only helps low-vision students, but those who are older and can’t read fine print at standard computer screen distances.
• In addition, there are a host of laws requiring that instruction be delivered, and work environments be structured, in a way that doesn’t discriminate against students or employees.

Implementation

The Accessible Technology Committee was charged with developing a program to implement this policy. Work includes establishing standards, purchasing and testing procedures, professional development, and document remediation strategies.