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Leadership and Technology
Accessibility Initiative
Accessibility Awareness Week September 10-14, 2007
In an effort to bring greater awareness of and support for accessibility for all learners, the Department of Education (DOE), in collaboration with the Governor’s office, would like to remind educators and families to consider accessibility in the planning and implementation of activities for the 2007-2008 school year. As part of this campaign, Governor Kathleen Blanco has proclaimed September 10-14, 2007, as Accessibility Awareness Week in Louisiana.
In addition, the DOE would like to invite districts and schools to become involved in Accessibility Awareness Week by participating in the following:
• Read the Governor’s Proclamation at a local board and school faculty meeting to announce Accessibility Awareness Week.
• Complete the DOE’s Accessibility survey.
• Identify local (district- and school-level) resources that promote accessibility for all students.
• Share accessibility success stories by showcasing a student who accesses curriculum through alternative methods or a teacher who has designed curriculum to promote flexible alternatives to access materials.
Please join us in spreading the word about accessibility as well as honoring the week of September 10-14, 2007, as Accessibility Awareness Week. Please feel free to forward this information to your state, district, and school contacts. Should you need more information, please contact Quentina Timoll at quentina.timoll@la.gov or 225-763-5575, or you may call toll-free at (877) 453-2721.
Governor Kathleen Blanco has proclaimed September 10-14, 2007, as Accessibility Awareness Week in Louisiana. Please print, display, and disseminate the Governor's Proclamation.
Accessibility Week Governor's Proclamation
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Please print, display, and disseminate this schedule.
Accessibility Awareness Week Activities
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This survey will help us serve districts and schools in reaching their accessibility needs.
Click here to complete the Accessibility survey
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Louisiana's Accessibility Initiative
The Accessibility Initiative represents a collaborative effort across the Department of Education and is designed to foster curriculum support for all learners. In addition, this initiative addresses state and local needs relative to meeting the criteria of the No Child Left Behind Act and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Under the guidance of a statewide Accessibility Task Force, the program will establish statewide structures focused on the development and implementation of policies pertaining to Accessibility.
The Accessibility Initiative builds upon existing statewide programs, such as:
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Univeral Design for Learning
UDL is designed for educators who are committed to improving educational outcomes for all learners. The central practical premise of UDL is that a curriculum should include alternatives to make it accessible and appropriate for individuals with different backgrounds, learning styles, abilities, and disabilities in widely varied learning contexts.
Visit the Bridging the Gap website for more information about Louisiana's UDL program.
Bridging the Gap: Universal Design for Learning
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Louisiana Assistive Technology Initiative (LATI)
This initiative provides funding for the eight Assistive Technology Regional Centers. The centers have been established to improve outcomes for children and youth with disabilities through the use of assistive technology, to offer access to school programs and curriculum, and to increase the capacity of school districts to provide assistive technology services by making training and technical assistance available to teachers, therapists, administrators, paraprofessionals and parents.
Visit the Assistive Technology website for more information about LATI.
Louisiana Assistive Technology
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Anytime, Anyplace, Anyone K-20 UDL Project
Partnering K-12 and Higher Education, the mission of the initiative is to design and implement a model for teaching and learning that will meet the needs of all learners through the use of best practices, adaptive technologies, and instructional techniques to accommodate all teaching and learning styles.
Visit the K-20 UDL website for more information.
K-20 Universal Design for Learning Project
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Louisiana's First Accessibility Awareness Week
Governor Blanco proclaimed September 11-15, 2006 as Louisiana Accessibility Awareness Week. This first annual event had approximately 112 participants in attendance at such state-sponsored activities as Accessibility Awareness: The Whole Picture; UDL and the SETT Framework: Strategies for Addressing the Needs of All Learners; and the Web Accessibility Training with Web Authoring Tools. We welcomed three national presenters, Bryan Ayers, Joy Zabala, and Terry Thompson. Their experience, knowledge, and passion were exemplified as they presented their respective topics.
In addition, there were approximately 205 educators or parents who participated in regional, district, and local school activities, including Target Tuesday, AT on the Road, the UDL in the Classroom demonstration, Accessibility displays and bulletin boards, UDL online course, Accessibility Town Talk, and many others.
Louisiana Accessibility Awareness Week events were a collective effort of many entities, such as the Louisiana Department of Education's Division of Leadership and Technology and the Division of Education Assistance and Improvement; the Louisiana Board of Regents' Office of Information & Learning Technology, the Disability Law Resource Project (DLRP), the Assistive Technology Regional Centers, the Statewide Compressed Video Conference Coordinators, the Technology & Curriculum Access Center (Arkansas), the Arkansas Department of Education Distance Learning Systems, and all technical personnel.
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