The regulation is scheduled to go into effect June 21. But the new Bush administration says published regulations that have not yet taken effect will have their enforcement date delayed for 60 days, while they are reviewed. None of the college administrators interviewed for this article oppose the regulation. But that doesn't mean it's pain-free. But at the same time, one should acknowledge that this is another additional cost that ultimately has to be paid in some manner, which usually means an increase in tuition and fees.
Disabled students say the regulation is necessary.
Lured by Web-design products, professors often create colorful, stylish, and audible Internet sites for their classes. But students with limited vision struggle to comprehend electronic pictures and graphs, audio material is meaningless to the deaf, and those with impaired mobility can struggle just to send an e-mail message. Video and multimedia productions understood through visual data must be made audible as well. Colleges have much work to do. Last year, Axel Schmetzke, an assistant professor of library services on the University of Wisconsin's Stevens Point campus, surveyed the home pages of 24 colleges, along with a connecting link from each page.