Comprehensive Transition Plan priorities
PCC has made efforts to improve accessibility over time, including:
- Investing in staffing and program resources
- Removing known barriers
- The proactive creation of policies and procedures
- The strategic use of technology
Still, we understand that there is more work to do. Through the transition plan priorities, we will continue to remove barriers and improve accessibility in our:
- Physical spaces
- Digital spaces
- Programs and Services
How did we develop the priorities?
We listened to input from diverse groups of stakeholders, including people with disabilities. Priorities were also informed by accessibility assessments and survey data.
Who developed the priorities?
- The transition plan team
- Accessibility committees
- Key stakeholders, including people with disabilities
Review and provide feedback on the priorities
Your feedback is an important part of making PCC’s first ADA Transition Plan a success. We want to build a plan that follows the idea of “Nothing About Us, Without Us”. This means we want people with disabilities involved as we work on these priorities. Please review the priorities below. We welcome your input, suggestions, comments, or questions.
Built environment priorities
We base our priorities for built environment barrier removal on :
- Assessment data on how accessible our spaces are
- Reports on past and present accessibility challenges
- Requests from our community to increase accessibility in certain areas
Built environment next steps:
- Creating an action plan of which projects we will begin working on first
- Researching project costs and tracking spending on accessibility improvements
- Tracking our progress so we can measure and report it over time
Built environment priorities
Transportation, parking, and path of travel
- The 2022 Bond has renovation projects planned for CT, HT West, and Building 2. Our goal is to remove as many barriers as possible on the path of travel and parking for those buildings.
- Responsible department: Planning & Capital Construction
- Remediate barriers and improve accessible parking district-wide. Parking barrier removal/improvement projects will begin with providing compliant accessible parking connected to and on the shortest possible accessible path of travel where it does not currently exist. Parking that serves unique programs and services at PCC will also be prioritized.
- Perform a feasibility study of alternate transportation methods to provide program access/greater accessibility at the Sylvania Campus (i.e. additional shuttle stops throughout the Sylvania campus and/or mobility device checkout, etc.) with the goal of implementing a viable solution to improve accessibility despite challenges with terrain and long paths of travel.
- Establish a relationship with the City of Portland and other local jurisdictions as applicable to develop a plan to remove barriers that hinder access to PCC facilities, but are not located on PCC “owned” sidewalks or curb ramps.
Wayfinding
- Provide or enhance accessible route wayfinding signage at all campuses.
- Develop an accessible route map for the Sylvania Campus.
- Provide built-in accessible tactile maps for the Sylvania, Cascade, Rock Creek, and Southeast Campuses.
- Review and make necessary updates to our accessible building feature maps to ensure consistency and accuracy.
Classrooms and learning spaces
- Perform an accessibility evaluation of unique learning spaces such as auditoriums, labs, learning gardens, etc., and utilize that data to develop a list of prioritized barrier removal/accessibility improvement projects with the goal of ensuring equal access to programs and services at PCC that cannot easily be relocated to more accessible locations.
Restrooms
- Continue district-wide restroom improvements by identifying the remaining restrooms with the most barriers and developing a list of prioritized recommended renovations.
Training, process, and procedure development
- Provide comprehensive training to P&CC and facilities employees regarding built environment accessibility requirements and universal design best practices.
- Update the facilities owner standards for accessibility to address areas of continued concern in new construction/renovations since the standards were implemented.
- Further develop standard operating procedures for access issues that are caused by planned or unplanned events (i.e. elevator shutdowns and construction impacts). Ensure that responsible personnel understand their responsibilities and that the procedures are well communicated to ensure that the college provides program access during maintenance/construction projects that may impact accessibility.
- Continue to develop, streamline, and promote the process that the PCC community can use to report built environment barriers. Streamline the process to track the status and resolution of reported barriers.
- Review and propose revisions to PCC’s emergency preparedness and response plans to ensure our emergency management programs, services, and activities are accessible to everyone, including people with disabilities.
Digital environment priorities
While students and employees who require accessible software, hardware, and content are able to leverage our accommodation processes, it is important to note that the percentage of individuals who experience disability is significantly larger than the percentage of those who have self-disclosed. Ensuring digital accessibility proactively, can improve recruitment, retention, and completion, as well as reduce the potential for complaints.
PCC’s public-facing website
- Ensure that the top 200 websites meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 at Level AA), which is considered an industry standard for web accessibility.
Adopted technologies (enterprise and departmental/program software)
- Increase the percentage of software applications (enterprise/program specific) that have been evaluated for digital accessibility and conformance with PCC’s digital accessibility policy.
- Increase the percentage of evaluated applications that meet the accessibility requirements listed in the PCC Digital Accessibility Policy.
- Monitor the number of exceptions granted for applications that do not meet requirements and track what kind of exceptions were granted.
- Ensure that applications granted an exception under the Digital Accessibility Policy have a documented Equally Effective Alternate Access Plan (EEAAP).
Instructional content
- Increase the percentage of the instructional content in our Learning Management System (D2L) that meets the requirements listed in the PCC Digital Accessibility Policy
- Increase the percentage of employee training and development materials available in MyCareer that meet requirements listed in the PCC Digital Accessibility Policy
- Develop a procedure for identifying and testing adopted digital courseware materials for accessibility
User experience
- Increase the number of people who interact digitally with our campus resources that express satisfaction with the level of accessibility they experience.
- Continue to develop, streamline, and promote the process of reporting digital environment barriers, and track the status and resolution of reported barriers or complaints.
Employee training and development
- Increase the number of employees who have completed training sessions related to digital accessibility.
- For employees that attend or complete trainings evaluate rates of satisfaction and effectiveness.
Program access priorities
In addition to identifying and removing barriers in the built and digital environments, Section 504 and Title II of the ADA require that public entities such as PCC conduct a self-evaluation of their policies, programs, and activities to ensure that they do not create barriers that result in discriminatory treatment of individuals with disabilities. As part of the Comprehensive Transition Plan, departments from across the college completed a self-evaluation survey in Spring and Summer of 2023. The data from that survey, in addition to prior survey data and concerns shared by students and employees via our accessibility committees, have informed the following priorities designed to improve access to our programs and services as a whole.
Academic programs
- Track the rate of participation and success rate for students with disabilities in high-enrollment courses, programs, and pathways
- Increase the number of pathway teams who utilize disability demographic data for their annual program reviews and discipline updates
Student affairs
- Increase the number of functional areas that incorporate the use of disability demographic data in program evaluation plans.
Employee training and development
- Increase the percentage of employees who have completed the Understanding Accessible Education training available in MyCareer@PCC.
- Develop tailored training sequences with the goal of building practical skills in ensuring and improving accessibility related to an employee’s specific role/job duties.
Policy, procedure, and guidelines review
- Perform a comprehensive policy review of current PCC policies, procedures, and guidelines related to disability and accessibility and make necessary updates/revisions where applicable.
- Ensure that PCC policies, procedures, and guidelines related to disability and accessibility are easily located and well-publicized
Communication access priorities
Enhancing communication access will allow members of the PCC community to have an equal opportunity to participate and enjoy the benefits of our services and programs. Communication access is a broad term that encompasses elements of accessibility, usability, and inclusivity. More specifically communication access relates to:
- Communicating in plain language.
- Providing accessible digital communications (documents, forms, videos, websites) are accessible and meet PCC’s defined accessibility standards.
- Ensuring language access through the translation of key communications.
- Utilization of inclusive language that embraces diversity, conveys respect, and promotes equal opportunity for all.
Review and provide feedback on the priorities
An important aspect of creating PCC’s first Comprehensive ADA Transition Plan is engagement with the PCC community and stakeholders to ensure that the plan is built by PCC for PCC and within the spirit of, “Nothing About Us, Without Us.” We would love your input, suggestions, comments, or questions on the priorities.