Blackboard Brings Virtual Collaboration to Learners with Disabilities

INDIANAPOLIS, Oct. 27, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Blackboard Inc. ("Blackboard") today announced two accessibility milestones for the latest version of its online virtual collaboration tool Blackboard Collaborate™. Today's announcement marks the company's latest steps toward providing industry-leading inclusive technology for teaching and learning.

According to SSB Bart Group, Blackboard's accessibility partner, Blackboard's browser-based web conferencing tool supports the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 2.0 at Level AA, which includes features like live captions, 4.5:1 contrast, consistent navigation, and more. SSB Bart Group also gave the technology approval for meeting Section 508 standards in the United States, which apply standards to electronic and information technology used by federal agencies.

One example of an organization currently using these accessibility features is at the University of Montana, where the school's Accessibility Interest Group uses the new Ultra experience of Blackboard Collaborate to conduct their regular webinars.

"It's extremely important to us that we use tools and technologies that share the same values and standards tha we're working hard to achieve through our Accessibility Interest Group," said Marlene Zentz, Senior Instructional Designer and Accessibility Specialist at the University of Montana. "The new Blackboard Collaborate is not only the tool we use to allow our campus leaders to keep working toward making teaching and learning an inclusive process on our campus, but the tool that our disabled students themselves can use to collaborate and learn at their highest potential."

"Blackboard is fully committed to delivering product experiences that conform to the highest levels of global accessibility standards," said JoAnna Hunt, Blackboard's Accessibility Manager. "The publication of support statements for both the WCAG and Section 508 standards for Blackboard Collaborate with the Ultra Experience is the first of many achievements on our path to delivering on our promises of truly inclusive teaching and learning technology."

Read more about Blackboard's commitment to accessibility or get involved in the company's ongoing accessibility work, by joining the Accessibility Community.

For more information about Blackboard, please visit www.blackboard.com or follow @Blackboard on Twitter.

About Blackboard Inc.
Blackboard is the world's leading education technology company. We challenge conventional thinking and advance new models of learning in order to reimagine education and make it more accessible, engaging, and relevant to the modern-day learner and the institutions that serve them. In partnership with our customers in higher education and K-12 as well as corporations and government agencies around the world, our mission is to help every learner achieve their full potential by inspiring a passion for lifelong learning. For more information about Blackboard, follow us on Twitter @Blackboard.

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SOURCE Blackboard Inc.

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