Information technology plays a profound role in ensuring that everyone has equal access to a good education and opportunities for success, the Davis campus’s chief information officer, Peter M. Siegel, said in a July 8 address to the National Federation of the Blind.

Siegel, vice provost of Information and Educational Technology, delivered his talk to some 3,000 people in Orlando, Fla., during the federation's annual convention.

In his talk, “The Accessible Campus in California: An Example for the Nation,” Siegel described the four main elements that underlie UC’s approach to accessible information technology:

• Accelerating cultural change in how people think about disabilities.

• Incorporating “universal design” principles into technologies and online resources from their inception, rather than bolting them on as an afterthought.

• Dispelling myths about principles of accessibility being too expensive, restrictive or difficult to implement.

• Collaborating with blind faculty members, students and researchers to find innovative ways to build a more accessible online environment that ultimately will benefit all users.

“We must have real experts working with us,” Siegel said. ”For visual accessibility, we need blind students and staff to lead us, and we need our blind faculty and researchers to be primary participants in helping us create an environment where all students and faculty can compete on equal terms for excellence.”

Equally important, he said, is making sure that all of UC's extended community — returning students, veterans, alumni, parents and other Californians, especially those with disabilities — can access online resources and feel fully connected with UC.

Siegel is a leading advocate on campus and in the UC system for improved electronic accessibility. Three years ago, he established the UC Davis Electronic Accessibility Committee headed by Professor Catherine Kudlick, and has been guiding the work of the systemwide Electronic Accessibility Leadership Team since April 2010, representing the UC Information Technology Leadership Council.

Upon returning from Florida, he elaborated for Dateline UC Davis on UC's efforts to date:

"Although we have made good progress and have taken important steps to build a more accessible digital environment, serving our large, extended UC community effectively will require ongoing attention and effort, especially as UC prepares for two major developments in higher education: online instruction and the move to a highly digital world.

"From instruction to community interactions, UC is seeking those electronic equivalents of curb cuts that have made our physical spaces welcoming not just to people who use wheelchairs, but also to parents with strollers, delivery people and skateboarders."

Marc Maurer, president of the National Federation of the Blind, invited Siegel to be part of the convention program. With more than 50,000 members and affiliates in all 50 states, the federation is the largest and most influential organization of blind people in the country.

Read Siegel’s speech, which includes information about UC accessibility initiatives. which includes information about UC accessibility initiatives. (Look for “The Accessible Campus in California” under “Talks and Publications.”)