CHRISTOPHER SOREN: All right. Recording started. Good morning, everybody. Thanks for coming to the February edition of the ctcLink Accessibility Forum. We appreciate your time. We'll go ahead and get rolling. So we're doing some work with the latest PeopleTools version as well as some accessibility reviews on a customization we're introducing to the system. Yeah, and just continue to monitor progress on service requests that we've submitted to Oracle. So, yeah. So in the new PeopleTools version, we're currently on 8590.21, we're going to 861. And there are I believe 56 bugs-- is that right Pamela? --in the PeopleTools update. So, yeah. So there's quite a bit we're working through, researching. Need to get more details and information from Oracle, and where the changes were made. And we're working on the Image Overview document that outline all the different changes that are coming. One Of the new features that's coming in 6.1 is this new accessibility button at the top Menu. So instead of having to go into your Profile, and then enable the Screen Reader mode, you'll be able to just click that button in the top Menu on any page you're on, and you can just enable the Screen Reader mode right there. You also have keyboard shortcuts that'll be easily accessible. And then the Accessibility Help which can be customized. It's a nice change. You don't have to go so deep to find the Accessibility Mode to turn on the Screen Reader mode. Of course, well, I'll always and forever disagree that there should be a Screen Reader mode. They should just have one mode for everything, but [LAUGHS] I've said my piece many times to them, but it would be like a fundamental shift of the entire system from some engineering decision made-- MONICA OLLSON: In the 90s. Yep. Yeah. There were some at the base, that PeopleTools base level. We've discussed this before folks, but it's always kind of good to hear again. They developed at the core beginning of their products to user interfaces. And that is not considered best practice today. Of course, we'd want just one user interface that's accessible. And that is something that we have advocated for and asked, and it's according to their-- from their mouths to us, just not possible. CHRISTOPHER SOREN: Yes. Well, yeah, I agree. Yeah, I wish they would change it, but at least it'll be easier to get to now, so I'll take what we can get. Yeah. I'll go ahead and turn it over to Vicki. So we're introducing a new customization into the system. The students will be able-- they'll get a notification and they'll go fill out a set of questions. So, essentially, it's just a set of questions that they can fill out, whether it's online, on the desktop, or whether it's on their phone, but we're filling these out. We did some-- there are some accessibility-- you can complete it with a screen reader, but there's certainly some accessibility improvements that need to get made. Some of these are at the tools level. So it's not like we were introducing new accessibility issues with the customization. There is some improvements that need to be made, certainly, but some of this is on a fundamental tools level. So as we continue to work with tickets and Oracle, and as well as the tools update, so some of these things will get fixed. I'll go ahead and turn it over to Vicki. VICKI WALTON: So there were three accessibility evaluations done on this question-- MONICA OLLSON: Sorry, Vicki. This is Monica. I'm so sorry. I'm going to interrupt, and I want to give a little bit more context for folks of what the enhancement is that we're talking about, the change-- VICKI WALTON: I was going to say that, but go ahead. MONICA OLLSON: Oh, OK. Then if you're there then-- VICKI WALTON: Well, you give a more detailed answer, so go for it. MONICA OLLSON: So these additional questions on pages moving forward both in HCX and PeopleSoft ctcLink is directly tied to a need and request that's been discussed, and has come out and through Disability Support Services Council for many years. So back in the day when we were on our legacy system, there were some optional disability self-report questions that students could on a particular screen self-indicate if they identify as having a disability or not. Then this was done at an appropriate time, not before registration or admittance, because that would be illegal. And it was a great data-gathering opportunity and an outreach opportunity. So that information, my understanding is that the data would be shared with our Disability Support Services Office of who indicated, yes. And that office could then make some outreach to say, hey, you've indicated, yes, to this optional question. Would you like to learn more about our services? When we all moved over to ctcLink, those optional self-report questions essentially went away. Then there's a couple of reasons why that happened, where they were like initially placed in ctcLink was a no-no because students were hitting those questions before they had registered for classes or become an official student at said college. And that's against the law. We can't ask those types of questions pre-admittance, is what it's called. So that all went away for the last several years, and that stunk because we lost an opportunity for students to choose to flag themselves to the institution. And we lost that data, and it was a lost outreach or connection opportunity. So now fast forward, there's a bunch of teams that have worked really hard to come up with a solution to get that back into our current PeopleSoft environment, and our extraordinary Vicki Walton has been doing functional accessibility testing on those pages. So Vicki, sorry to steal your thunder, and I apologize if I-- I should have just cooled my jets, but hopefully that context was helpful for people. And I will hand it back over to you. VICKI WALTON: Well, like I said, you're more detailed. Mine was just going to say, done on the self-service questions added to ctcLink so students can self-identify. So see, you put more context in, so you did the right thing. [CHUCKLES]. So there were three accessibility evaluations done. One in the Profile tile in ctcLink, another one was done in the Task tile in ctcLink, and then there was done in the tasks of HCX Student Login. And so the Profile tile was successful. Once you answered the questions, they were all-- it was easy to get to the questions, answer them, and make your selection. The only issue was-- and this was both with NVDA and JAWS-- after you click the Save button, it announced that your information has been updated, but then it doesn't do anything. You can't close the OK button. I couldn't even do it with my mouse because I resorted to my mouse. But that was a problem. And then in the Task tile, after you finished the questions and you click the Confirm button, nothing happened for a really long time, and then all of a sudden NVDA just comes out and says, confirm button. Loading complete, confirm button. So I don't know if that was just a lag for the testing process or whatever. But there was an odd announcement from NVDA. When you land-- when you're doing it out of the Task tile, and you land on To-Do page, and then you go further. Once focus lands on the Student Home Page button, NVDA announces something odd that I think. It said, Task document. Press Control +M to start dragging object. No new notifications. When new notifications come, click the Notification button to load them. So, yeah. And I tried to do the Control M and it didn't do anything anyway, so I'm not quite sure why that was announced. It was a little bit off. So the results for this is completing the student questionnaire from the Tasks tile was a bit more cumbersome than it was in the Profiles tile. And then I did with both JAWS, NVDA, and voice command navigation. And JAWS pretty much had the same announcement, except it did say, loading complete, after hitting the Confirm button. And there were no issues with any of the testing with voice command navigation. And then in the HCX Student Login, I tested both with iPad with voiceover, and an iPhone with voiceover. And when I did it with the iPad, after the questions were answered, which were successful with voiceover, it announced, Confirm button and Main. And I wasn't sure if that meant man had actually completed and submitted. So that terminology was a little bit confusing, so I tried another college just to make sure if it was the same event happening. And in this one, I didn't answer some of the questions, and so I got a pop-up. But that pop-up message wasn't announced, and I didn't know it was there until I moved my finger around the screen. So that was a little bit concerning. That needs to be fixed, and I notated this in the report. And then with the iPhone, there were no differences as it was with the iPad, except for when I clicked the Confirm button on the iPhone it said, processing, please wait. But then there was nothing else done after that. No sound, no announcement, so I was left to wonder what to do next. It wasn't a horrible experience, but there does need to be some fine-tuning, especially with announcements being made. Especially after you confirm, you answer your questions and click the Confirm button, it's not really clear what is happening and what you need to do next. That was my evaluations. Any questions? MONICA OLLSON: This is Monica. I actually have some questions, even though I'm on the inside. [LAUGHTER] So it sounds like overall the experience was a bit better for you using these different assistive technologies and mobile HCX versus PeopleSoft at this point in time. Would that be a fair statement? VICKI WALTON: Yes. Anybody could go in and complete that questionnaire. It was a little bit-- I mean, there's more to this. Some of the buttons to click Next and stuff were tagged as buttons, but they didn't act like buttons when you press the B key. So that was noted in my report as well. MONICA OLLSON: Oh, in the HCX environment? VICKI WALTON: No, in-- MONICA OLLSON: PeopleSoft? VICKI WALTON: Yes. MONICA OLLSON: OK. So HCX being right now a better user experience, is an accurate statement? VICKI WALTON: I would say, yes. MONICA OLLSON: OK. VICKI WALTON: Yes. Except for the announcing, not knowing if something happened that last after you Confirm, the button, but everything else was quite smooth. MONICA OLLSON: OK. And then this next question is for you, Chris. You mentioned that some of the issues exist at the PeopleTools level, so weren't designed or introduced by us. Which then, of course, would require Oracle to do something about that. What were those issues? Do you recall at the top of your head, or would we need to go back and refer to Vicki's report for that? CHRISTOPHER SOREN: There have been multiple discussions over the years about where the focus initially lands on any given page from the tools perspective. So in the quarterly forums we have with Oracle, that's been discussed a few times over the years. So I think it landed in the nav bar and not down in the page. [INTERPOSING VOICES] MONICA OLLSON: Upon page load? VICKI WALTON: Yes. MONICA OLLSON: Yeah. OK. CHRISTOPHER SOREN: So, yeah, they're-- VICKI WALTON: I mean, let's just say I did not report everything because I would have to go through all three reports. I just kind of gave you a rough view of the most important things that I felt were happening with this experience. MONICA OLLSON: Gotcha. Yeah. And I was just curious about which ones were the PeopleTools ones specifically? CHRISTOPHER SOREN: Yeah, and like the Next button being at the top of the page, not the bottom of the page. MONICA OLLSON: Yeah, I remember that. VICKI WALTON: That was an issue. CHRISTOPHER SOREN: Yeah, we've been talking with Oracle about that for some time. So yeah, some of these are open SRs or continual conversations. MONICA OLLSON: OK. Yeah. So some of them, it sounds like known issues that have been documented by us for them before. And is it a fair statement that let's say in our hopeful bright future, someday when they correct those issues at the PeopleTools level, like focus on page load and that Next button, we should see improvement across the platform, correct? Because it's fixed at the tools level. CHRISTOPHER SOREN: Exactly. Yeah. MONICA OLLSON: Yeah. CHRISTOPHER SOREN: PeopleTools. VICKI WALTON: I'm sorry. Go ahead, Chris. CHRISTOPHER SOREN: So PeopleTools is like the foundation of the system is built on. We've got Campus Solutions and HCM, finance, those kind of all built on that tools level. So when they make those tools fixes, it's across the system. Everywhere you're going to see those improvements coming in. Yeah. VICKI WALTON: So when I talked to Josh this morning, he said that the project is currently on a code freeze, which he did later. I asked him what it was, and he said, there's a pause on new development projects while PeopleTools is updated. But after they proceed with going over what I found and working with it, we will be able to test it one more time. CHRISTOPHER SOREN: Yes, and be able to test it on the new PeopleTools version as well. VICKI WALTON: Yeah. Oh, that'll be great. Yeah, then I'll be able to compare how it's going to navigate. CHRISTOPHER SOREN: Exactly, yeah. And the code freeze is due to the PeopleTools update. VICKI WALTON: Yes. Yeah. CHRISTOPHER SOREN: Yeah, because it's that foundational level across the system, we're obviously continuing to still support and work on things, but have to code freeze for a couple months while we work on the PeopleTools update through. Yeah, thanks for your review, Vicki. Was there anything else? VICKI WALTON: Oh, no, not unless anybody had any other questions. MONICA OLLSON: So it sounds like for those on the call who are part of the Council, the Disability Support Services Council, chomping at the bit for these pages, it sounds like we're maybe more than a month or two away from it being deployed due to the PeopleTools code freeze. Is that what I'm hearing? CHRISTOPHER SOREN: Our goal is to get it in before the code freeze starts, and then-- MONICA OLLSON: Oh, OK. Sorry, I misunderstood. CHRISTOPHER SOREN: --then test it against the new tools version to make any new changes that might be made or new service requests based on the new tool set, and then just do a phase 2 improvement on it. MONICA OLLSON: OK. CHRISTOPHER SOREN: But get it in beforehand, that's our goal, so that people will start using them. Yeah, so it's currently in the user acceptance testing, the UAT phase, which is the phase just before it goes to production. So once we get the go ahead from all the testers then we'll move it along, we'll make it available for everybody. MONICA OLLSON: And for those of you who don't know, the UAT testing, that involves participation from the colleges. It's not specific accessibility functional testing with assistive technology. It's a different type of testing. It's so people are going through the tasks on those pages to let the State Board know is it functioning the way they expect or need it to. And then the accessibility testing is what Vicky was talking about, and Josh's in there as well. That was confusing for me years ago when I was like transitioning from college to State Board of all these acronyms, and what is UA testing, who's doing it on the colleges. So I just thought I might offer that in case folks were not sure. CHRISTOPHER SOREN: Oh, yeah, we do love our acronyms on the software development side. MONICA OLLSON: Yeah. CHRISTOPHER SOREN: [LAUGHING] And Oracle too. Yeah. Yeah, I mean-- MONICA OLLSON: Oh, sure. I can take this page. And I think we had mentioned this update last month as well, Chris. We're closer to this being live guys. So there was a-- the State Board did some updates to our public-facing web page templates. And so we also had a freeze and web editors had a freeze on being able to change or add new content. But Chris and I, and others, recognized we needed a more centralized spot where we're putting accessibility support information in one spot for people. So that's how to request technical assistance in various applications. It will link to the ctcLink open forum information. It's going to have some high-level information and acknowledgment of our work in response to the Department of Justice Title II ruling, ADA Title II ruling. So it's not going to be super detailed, but just high-level acknowledgment of what we're doing and our plans. And then some basic information about how the public where engaging with the State Board can request accommodations as needed. So right now, most of that content's been drafted. And I'm working with our web-- Stacey Hagreen in our communications team to finalize that content before it gets published. CHRISTOPHER SOREN: Great. Thank you. Yeah, that was all the topics we have for today. Always feel free to let us know if you want us to chat about anything or share it at the next meeting. We're working on updating the Accessibility page. And once PeopleTools Accessibility Image Overview document is available, that'll get posted there as well. It's our big focus right now, getting the new tools in. It's a big project. Yeah. MONICA OLLSON: Next meeting March 11. CHRISTOPHER SOREN: Yep, [LAUGHS]. MONICA OLLSON: So for those of you out there in the wild, any comments you'd like to share with us during this open forum? Clarifying questions? Silence. That's OK. CHRISTOPHER SOREN: That's, A-OK. Yeah. We appreciate your time. Thank you, everybody, for coming today. [CHUCKLES]. VICKI WALTON: Thanks, Chris and Monica. MONICA OLLSON: Thank you. CHRISTOPHER SOREN: Yeah. MONICA OLLSON: All right. Bye-bye.