Our No User Left Behind approach means that Elluminate technology is:
- Completely cross platform. Whether you have a Windows PC, Mac, Solaris, or Linux workstation, you get the same superior user experience every time.
- Optimized for low bandwidth. Our all-bandwidth connectivity means that you interact with no lag time or garbled communication, regardless of Internet connection speed.
- Designed to enable users with disabilities to fully participate. Elluminate Live! features and functionality facilitate accessibility for ALL participants, including those with physical impairments.
Enterprise-wide Accessibility at CSU
Learn more about how Elluminate and the California State University are collaborating to meet system accessibility compliance requirements system wide.
Elluminate Captioning Partners
Elluminate Accessibility
When we say No User Left Behind™ we really mean it.
For almost ten years, our No User Left Behind™ philosophy has guided us to build in accessibility from the ground up. The end result is a richer, more interactive online teaching, learning, and collaboration environment for everyone, regardless of geography, economy, or ability.
Elluminate Live! and Accessibility Compliance
In support of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Elluminate Live! provides a variety of features that promote accessibility, including keyboard access to menus and dialogs, closed captioning, enlarged video, user-defined color, screen reader compatibility, and more.
In addition, Elluminate Live! is also compliant with the Rehabilitation Act, Section 508 and conforms to the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI).
Want to Know More?
- No User Left Behind: Elluminate and the Accessibility Imperative white paper discusses our ongoing mission to create a 21st century learning and collaboration environment that eliminates barriers to support individual needs and learning styles. Also available in accessible format for screen readers.
- Elluminate Live! Voluntary Product Accessibility(VPAT) Template provides an in-depth look at accessibility guidelines and how Elluminate products comply.
- Adding Closed Captioning to an Elluminate Publish! Video File Post Session offers best practices on how you can add closed captioning to an Elluminate Live! recording.
Accessibility at a Glance
- Multiple streams of closed captioning
- Enlarged, easier-to-see video
- Activation of menus and dialogs via short-cut keys
- Ability to inherit user-defined color schemes from operating system
- Scalability of visual content, such as direct messaging
- Auditory notification of certain events, such as new user joining session
- Magnifier for application sharing
- Customized content selection
- User controlled interface layout
- Hot key to terminate application sharing
- Java Accessibility Bridge for screen readers, like JAWS
- Capture and replay of entire sessions
- Integration with LMS and Web applications
How Does San Jose State Use Closed Captioning with Elluminate?
View this sample Elluminate Live! session by Elluminate Hero Debbie Faires. Once in the session, be sure to click on the CC icon to view the closed captioning in action.
Elluminate's History of Accessibility
Our core No User Left Behind™ philosophy has guided us for almost 10 years. We began with low-bandwidth connectivity and cross-platform support, adding increasingly comprehensive features and functionality designed to enable an increasingly wide range of users to fully engage and participate.
With Elluminate Live! V10, we’ve taken accessibility to a whole new level that encompassed real user-driven development. Our Accessibility Taskforce includes a cross-functional Elluminate team, along with members of the educational accessibility community and educators and students with disabilities, who continue to serve as our valued advisors and product testers.
We also made a significant investment in training, testing tools, hardware, and software to ensure accessibility is a core component of the Elluminate platform. The result: a 21st century teaching, learning, and collaboration environment that truly brings accessibility to life.
Coming soon: accessibility timeline
Elluminate's Assistive Technology
Being accessible enables people with disabilities to fully engage and participate in the teaching and learning experience. Here’s a summary of how Elluminate removes the barriers to universal access.
For those who are blind or have low vision …
- Inherited user-defined operating system color/contrast schemes
- Customizable user interface with personalized settings remembered from session to session
- Whiteboard content scalable by both moderators and participants
- Audible notifications of key events in session (raised hand, participant joined/left, incoming chat message, etc.)
- Full screen reader support throughout main interface
- Activity Window with text “timeline” of all session activities, including text from PPT slides for screen read access
For those who are deaf or hard of hearing …
- Activity Window with text timeline of all session activities
- Text messaging area
- Integrated closed captioning
- Multi-stream
- Ability to save by all participants
- Captured live and in archives
- Manual or voice-recognition input of captions
- Ability to enlarge font
- Ability to relocate, resize closed captioning window
For those who have mobility challenges …
- Full-keyboard navigation throughout main interface and all secondary windows
- F6 navigation between major modules (participants window, chat, audio, whiteboard)
- Shortcut/accelerator keys for key functions/interactions (complete list available in help section)
- Command-line interface in Activity Window to type commands (example: /hand up to raise hand)
For those who have learning disabilities …
- Activity Window consolidates what’s happening in session to help focus
- Ability to provide additional time to read slide presentation
- Ability to explain visual content using VOIP or telephony to students who have difficulty reading
- Breakout Rooms available for one-on-one time, additional practice, tutoring
- Ability to respond verbally with microphone/phone or by typing in chat window
- Fully interactive recordings for repeating class/content as often as needed
- Ability to save whiteboard material for further review outside of class
- Ability for instructor to file transfer notes to aid in studying
About Elluminate Accessibility ...
“Higher education consumers worldwide benefit from product improvements that present opportunities for and remove barriers from learning. Often, those improvements provide benefits to those beyond the group they’re initially aimed at. It’s not just about making a better product for those who are disabled. It's about making a better product for everyone. Elluminate is not just along for the ride. They want to take things to a higher level.” Read case study.
Mark Turner
Director for the Center for Accessible Media
California State University Office of the Chancellor
“Whether it’s distance learning or in the classroom, technology is impacting how learning gets done. If there are any barriers, individuals with disabilities can’t access the education they want and deserve. I can’t overstate the role of awareness—how important it is for faculty and technology vendors to be aware of barriers and issues. If they’re aware, they can address those needs. Elluminate has taken it upon themselves to become aware—and they’re acting on that awareness.”
Debbie Faires, Assistant Director for Distance Learning
School of Library and Information Science
San Jose State University
“Elluminate really “gets” the value of user involvement. Their work with users is important and exemplary. It’s difficult if you have a disability and you have to rely on others to get it right for you, especially when it comes to deciding among tradeoffs. People really don’t have a clue about tradeoffs if they’re not disabled.”
Deborah Kaplan
Director, Accessible Technology Initiative
California State University Chancellor's Office
“Ten years ago, we couldn't have dreamed of the potential. New technology makes things amazingly easier—as long as it's made accessible. Because we live our disability, we know how we can give feedback about what works and what doesn't. It's all well and good to design something with the best of intentions, but sometimes that results in a partial solution that's not really a solution at all. I really appreciate that Elluminate initiated their process for hearing from people with disabilities, not just relying on what they think should be a workable solution.”
Carin Headrick
Student and Accessibility Consultant
“The Activity Window is key, especially for those of us with low vision or blindness. It’s wonderful to have one place to focus, and I like the fact that Elluminate doesn’t put all users in the same box. Users can customize the environment so that it does what they want.”
L. Penny Rosenblum, Ph.D., Adjunct Associate Professor
Department of Disability and Psychoeducational Studies
Specialization in Visual Impairment
University of Arizona
“It is very encouraging to work with vendors like Elluminate that have realized the need for a universally-accessible web conferencing tool that is accessible to everyone, including people with disabilities.”
Hadi Rangin
Software Development Specialist
Division of Disability Resources and Educational Services
College of Applied Health Sciences
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
