Creating an accessible environment, whether in the digital or built landscape, is a goal to which we all aspire. Getting there can be somewhat daunting and hard to get your arms around. We certainly have guidance from the regulatory world to begin the journey towards greater inclusion and accessibility, but how do you address those situations that you don’t know exist? What are the pressing issues right now? Following the lead of peer institutions and the direction given in various DOJ and OCR resolution agreements, the University of Virginia has created an online reporting mechanism involving key functional areas across the campus to address and remediate accessibility issues ranging from those with immediate solutions to long-term capital projects. Built in-house, “Report A Barrier” is designed to allow anyone (university community members and guests) to report what they may consider a barrier to access. This barrier may be in either the built or digital environment, or be attitudinal in nature. The tool allows for a photo to be uploaded along with location, comments, and contact information to be entered. Issues are categorized by “Barrier Type” and are addressed by individuals across the University. Other institutions can learn from our processes and efforts when exploring the addition of this type of tool to their campuses.
