508 Compliance

PTS is committed to providing materials, workstations, and accessible environments that allow each of our students to excel and learn despite impairments or any other disabilities.  

All student textbooks, learning materials, and resources provided by PTS under this contract are and will be compliant with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended and Section E205.  

PTS is intentional about knowledge transfer and the impact and relevance of our courseware in training sessions; therefore, Section 508 compliance is observed in our learning platforms, websites, and training courseware. In curating courseware and learning experiences, we ensure that: 

• Closed Captioning and Subtitles: When requested, PTS Instructional Design (ID) Team incorporates closed captions in the course slide deck of courseware developed by PTS.
• Screen Reader Capability: Alternative PTS ID team can ensure that our courseware is compatible with Screen Readers.
• In PTS Courseware, our images and videos have alternative text that clearly describes the image and its purpose.
• Also, our courseware has colors and layouts that are not distracting to people with learning disabilities.

For courses where no official or COTS materials exist, all PTS-developed course materials will satisfy 508 compliance requirements in all available formats (Word, PDF, Excel, PowerPoint, HTML, and Multimedia). Specifically, all materials can be interacted with using the keyboard only in that: 

• All links (including email addresses) are keyboard accessible.
• All form fields are keyboard accessible.
• All media controls are keyboard accessible.
• Any content or functionality provided through mouse action is also provided through keyboard action.

At times, we have had to adapt to students with dexterity impairments (Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s Disease, etc.) and have provided alternative keyboards and alternative pointing devices (mice) to cater to their individual requirements as needed. More frequent is the adaptation of workstations for visually impaired and hearing-impaired students. For visually impaired students, we have historically provided large print keyboards, oversized computer monitors, screen magnification capability, screen reader technology, and braille display upon request. Our IT support staff is well-versed in installing and implementing SuperNova Screen Reader and Access Suite, JAWS and MAGic solutions from Freedom Scientific, and NonVisual Desktop Access (NVDA). 

In the instance of hearing-impaired students, we have historically accommodated interpreters, seated students in the front of the class, and made sure the instructor continually checked in with them to assess their understanding. PTS has worked with hearing impaired students on many occasions. In these instances an organization’s POC notifies our Operations staff of a hearing-impaired attendee and puts us in touch with the interpreter or captioner that the organization has contracted for the student so we can include them in the proper emails and notifications. Once a point of contact has been established with the provider, our Operations staff, in conjunction with our IT Support Staff, provides all of the necessary elements to ensure proper and effective training support to meet the student’s needs. The accommodation elements provided generally consist of:  

• Adobe Connect login credentials. 
• Welcome emails with basic software and hardware requirements.
• Adobe Connect testing links to ensure proper connectivity ahead of the first day of training.
• Instructions on how to navigate within the Adobe Connect learning environment. 
• Course curriculum so that the organization’s interpreter can properly translate all learning content.

These processes have been developed to ensure uninterrupted access for our students. In addition, if the hearing-impaired student or the interpreter encounter any connectivity issues, our IT Department immediately follows up with the student and the interpreter to ensure that any captioning, connectivity, or curriculum access issues are resolved in advance before training has even started.  

We do not foresee exception requests from PTS on 508 compliance requirements.  However, if there are ever situations where exceptions must be made, PTS will make every effort to correct the issue immediately.  This may involve communication with certification-approved publishers and content providers.  PTS has no control over this content but can work with publishers to correct compliance issues. 

At Phoenix TS, our students and their learning experience are our highest priority, and we ensure our courseware and platforms are inclusive of all learners, including those with physical disabilities, so that they have the tools they need to complete our training courses successfully.