Registration, Class Search and Pre-Registration Requirements: Accessibility Considerations

Background

Registration, class search and pre-registration requirement processes are part of the CU-SIS Campus Solutions application that students access through the MyCUInfo portal. The application is built by Oracle and is supported by University Information Systems (UIS), for the purpose of student administration functions including admissions, financial aid, student financials and student records.

In February 2015, CU-Boulder commissioned an expert accessibility review of the Registration process. The review identified a number of issues that are likely to make course registration difficult for people with certain disabilities.

Who is affected?

  • People who use assistive technologies such as a screen reader, screen magnifier, or speech recognition software.
  • People with physical limitations that require use of the keyboard or input mechanisms other than a mouse.
  • People with cognitive impairments, including those that affect short-term memory.
  • People accessing the software in an environment with poor lighting or glare.
  • People with low vision or color blindness.
  • People who use the keyboard to navigate.

What is the impact?

The issues mean that navigation, accessing and reading information, and entering data is likely to be more difficult, and in some cases impossible, for people who are affected.

  • Focus indication is not available for all links. Keyboard browsing with Firefox may be difficult.
  • Some functions (e.g., Course Search, Enroll, COF Authorization) are grouped in Student Center in a tabbed navigation format that is coded as a data table. For screen reader users this results in misleading and redundant information.
  • On the Add Classes page error messages appear above the action area/field that led to the error. This causes issues for people using screen readers who have to read through the page again to get to the error message.

Are there workarounds?

Currently, people using screen readers may find it difficult to proceed through all the course registration features without assistance.

Below are some notes for using keyboard navigation and assistive technology.

Keyboard browsing/navigation

  • The focus indicator may be more visible in browsers other than Firefox.

Screen readers

  • Some functions (e.g., Course Search, Enroll, COF Authorization) are grouped in Student Center in a tabbed navigation format that is coded as a data table.
  • On the Add Classes page, error messages appear above the action area/field that led to the error.

What is the current status?

A number of the issues identified in last year's audit have been addressed by code changes, and more are expected to be fixed this spring. However, even after these changes, registration and course search will remain difficult to use for students with disabilities. The Campus Solutions application (in which registration resides) will be upgraded during the 2017-18 academic year, and the student self-service features will be redesigned to be more accessible. During the upgrade, CU will perform usability assessments and make recommendations to Oracle or modify the code as appropriate to address accessibility issues. In the interim, OIT will re-evaluate registration and course search in its Accessibility and Usability Lab, to identify if there are further issues that can be locally remediated.

Where can I get more information?

If you’re a CU-Boulder user and have an inquiry related to accessibility issues, please contact the OIT help desk, at 303-735-HELP (303-735-4357), or at help@colorado.edu.