Hi there,

Here at Newcastle Uni in Australia we provide access to all students with a two hour limit per session (if they can get in due to limited lines).

For certain students who can show good cause we provide access to our Post Graduate line which has a four hour session limit and plenty of free lines.

The students have to provide us with a written justification and then I have to also justify and approve it before it is implemented by our network people.

The disability types currently recieving this access include:

Blind, Quadreplegic, Chronic Fatigue, severe back injury. Generally it is to do with ability to come onto campus and the amount of time it takes to do web research.

Thanks
Trevor

Trevor Wilks - Manager
Adaptive Technology Centre
Student and Academic Services Division
Auchmuty Library
University of Newcastle
University Drive Callaghan
NSW 2308 Australia
Ph-02 49218684
Mobile-0418 753739
Fax-02 49217410
Email- [log in to unmask]

>>> [log in to unmask] 09/26/01 03:00am >>>
Good Morning,

The universities provide modem use and student accounts not to replace a
regular service provider but to enable students to conduct univerity
business with their students.  I think responsible students will use the
modem privileges for just that.   One can access university services
through another service provider and thereby not tie up the university
servers with people using the modems for other purposes.  At the
university I attend, students may not conduct personal business or visit
entertainment or pornography sites.  They must not engage in creating
deliberate problems with the system.  The university tracks students and
knows what services have been used and for how long and it is in their
best interest to do so.

Students who have their own telephone line can get dial-up or high speed
service at additional cost to themselves which will allow them the time
they need.  Those students with cable service can subscribe to cable modem
service.  If students are using the university dial-up service, there are
time limits during peak periods when a student will get a warning that
their service will be cut off in five minute, in one minute and then if
they are still on, they are indeed cut off.

Students should expect to have their own service provider and factor that
into their costs for budgeting purposes.

Look at it from the university point of view
~30,000 full time students with accounts
~7,500 part time students with accounts
~20,0000 staff member accounts
~5,000 departmental web pages and resource links
~1,000 student web pages related to studies
~ untold numbers of messages that must get out to each individual student
about fee, deadlines, assignments, messages from professors to students
~untold numbers of conferences with several other universities online to
discuss relevant research issues
~untold guest lecturers via the internet
and much more

This is an enormous untertaking for a university so students should have
no complaint, even those with disabilities.  If one uses the off hours to
get online, the likelihood of getting bumped off is almost nil.

I subscribe to two different services, one dsl high speed internet via the
phone and a text only service for my email.  Add cell phone service to
this and on has major expenditure but they do make life simpler and more
efficient.  I only use my university account for university business.

It is only once a student becomes involved in university activities that
one can appreciate the institutional point of view.  If you need to request
more funding so you can have these personalized services, then do so. I
know my pockets are not without bottoms and neither are those of the
university.  Smaller universities may be able to handle exceptions with
this type of thing but the larger ones are just too busy trying to keep
the system up and running 24/7.

Michael Schwake

September 2001 entering Year Three, Faulty of Science (physics & math);
2000-2001 University of Alberta, General Sciences, Year Two

DO-IT Scholar 1998, DO-IT Intern 2000; DO-IT Ambassador; DO-IT Mentor;
DO-IT Futures Advisory Board Member; Member "DO-IT in Canada" Initiative

National Educational Association of Disabled Students, member (Canada)

On Tue, 25 Sep 2001, Jon Gunderson wrote:

> Kathie,
> On occasion the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign has granted
> similar accommodations to students with disabilities.  Students here get 20
> hours per week and I think it was extended to 40 hours for students who
> wanted extra time.  There is a functional problem in that there are still
> limited number of modems, so that during certain times of the day or the
> semester, it is still hard to dial into the system even if you have the
> extra hours.  Students can purchase a priority access at an extra cost to
> the student, but I do not believe the fee has ever been waived for a
> disability accommodation.
>
> Jon
>
>
> At 02:44 PM 9/24/2001 -0500, Schneider, Katherine S. wrote:
> >I use a Screen Reader and work for a university.  Our university is
> >instituting a ten hour a week modem use limit for those of us who dial
> >in from home.  I'm requesting tripple time because it takes longer to
> >tab around a website than to point and click.  Has anyone encountered
> >this problem and/or has anyone seen (or heard for that matter) any
> >studies about how much longer it takes to navigate using a screen reader
> >than using a mouse?
> >Thanks.
> >Kathie
>
> Jon Gunderson, Ph.D., ATP
> Coordinator of Assistive Communication and Information Technology
> Division of Rehabilitation - Education Services
> MC-574
> College of Applied Life Studies
> University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign
> 1207 S. Oak Street, Champaign, IL  61820
>
> Voice: (217) 244-5870
> Fax: (217) 333-0248
>
> E-mail: [log in to unmask]
>
> WWW: http://www.staff.uiuc.edu/~jongund
> WWW: http://www.w3.org/wai/ua
>