The Legacy of Judy Heumann, “The Mother of Disability Rights”

As a child in 1949 living in Brooklyn, New York, Heumann contracted polio and began using a wheelchair for mobility. At the age of five, she was deemed a “fire hazard,” and denied entry to school, according to her website. As a child, her mother advocated for her and she was eventually allowed into school. Though this was among the first discriminatory acts against her, it was not the last. 

“Some people say that what I did changed the world, but really, I simply refused to accept what I was told about who I could be. And I was willing to make a fuss about it.”

“It was still a radical claim that disabled people didn’t see themselves, or their conditions, as something to be pitied. Or that they insisted what most held them back wasn’t their health condition but society’s exclusion — maybe attitudes that they were less capable to do a job, go to college or find romance; or a physical barrier, like a sidewalk without a curb cut,” said NPR’s Joseph Shapiro in an article about Heumann.  

Shapiro shared that he wrote an article about disability rights in 1987 in which Heumann said “Disability only becomes a tragedy when society fails to provide the things we need to lead our lives — job opportunities or barrier-free buildings, for example,” she said. “It is not a tragedy to me that I’m living in a wheelchair.” The article was not published because the idea she relayed seemed so “unexpected and strange.”

Starting a Revolution

In 1970, after Heumann passed her oral and written teaching exams, but she ultimately failed the medical exam where she was again deemed a “fire hazard.” This time, examiners said she would not be able to evacuate children or herself during an emergency. Heumann sued the board of education to allow her to become a teacher. The New York Times headline read “Woman in Wheel Chair Sues to Become Teacher” and the article noted she would be the city’s first teacher in a wheelchair. Her lawyers said the case was the first such civil rights suit ever filed in a federal court. 

She was instrumental in the development and passage of Section 504, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act, and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which “have been advancing the inclusion of disabled people in the US and around the world and fighting to end discrimination against all those with disabilities.”

“Section 504 became a model for the ADA, which would extend the principles of non-discrimination to all public accommodations, employment, transportation, communications and access to state and local government programs,” NPR said. That means if you’ve ever used an elevator in a subway station or busy public area, if you used the curb cuts to more easily get on a sidewalk, or if you’ve used the accessible restrooms in a public space, you’ve benefited from the ADA. Closed captions, transcripts, and website accessibility, are all other examples of services for disabled people that benefit everyone. 

When Richard Nixon vetoed the 1972 Rehabilitation act, Heumann helped lead a protest that shut down traffic in Manhattan. She also launched a 26-day sit-in at a federal building in San Francisco to get Section 504 of the revived Rehabilitation Act enforced. “(The sit-in) has often been described as the longest nonviolent occupation of a federal building in American history,” The New York Times reported.

More Advocacy Efforts

Heumann never stopped at securing rights for herself, but continued her work for others. Heumann co-founded the World Institute on Disability (WID), which was among the first global disability rights organizations led by people with disabilities. The institute is “dedicated to designing, building, and supporting whole community solutions by removing barriers to include people with disabilities.”

Heumann served the Clinton Administration as the Assistant Secretary for the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services in the Department of Education from 1993 to 2001. From 2002 to 2006, she was the World Bank’s first Adviser on Disability and Development. 

She was appointed by President Barack Obama as the first Special Advisor for International Disability Rights in the U.S. Department of State, a position she held from 2010-2017. She also was the Director for the Department on Disability Services and responsible for the Developmental Disability Administration and the Rehabilitation Services Administration. 

The American Civil Liberties Union said she traveled to countries on every continent to help change the way people perceive those with disabilities and to help remove barriers they face in their everyday lives. Between 2000 and 2015, 181 countries passed disability civil rights modeled after the ADA, according to NPR.

Documentary and Book Release

Just before the pandemic, Heumann was featured in a documentary released at the 2020 Sundance film festival. “Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution,” was about Heumann and others who attended a summer camp (Camp Janed) for children with disabilities in the Catskills. Heumann later was a counselor at the camp. Camp Janed became “the beginnings of a revolution.”

“What I want is for the book and the film — and other books and films — to allow people to recognize the real absence of representation of disability in media, broadly speaking”

Heumann also has a memoir, “Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist.” Heumann told The Cut, “What I want is for the book and the film — and other books and films — to allow people to recognize the real absence of representation of disability in media, broadly speaking. Black disabled people, Latino disabled people, Asian disabled people, indigenous disabled people, disabled people with visible and invisible disabilities — they’re pretty absent. And yet, in the United States, it’s more than 20 percent of our population. Disability is something that all families experience, temporarily or permanently.”

“Some people say that what I did changed the world,” she wrote, “But really, I simply refused to accept what I was told about who I could be. And I was willing to make a fuss about it.”

Learn more about Judy Heumann on her website. 

Photos courtesy of Judithheumann.com

Case Study: How Oakland University Uses YuJa’s Robust Suite of Ed-Tech Tools to Enhance Instruction Across Live, Hybrid and Hyflex Courses

Led by Dan Arnold, Ph.D., OU’s Manager of Support Services, e-Learning and Instructional Support, a selection committee of about a dozen users from various departments watched demonstrations and scored finalists.

“YuJa got on our radar as part of the procurement process. A lot of vendors came in with use cases strictly on video conferencing that could be used in a way for lecture capture, but not distinct tools for video conferencing as well as lecture capture,” Arnold recalled.

Read the full case study here.

Benefits of YuJa’s Cloud-Based Storage Solution

Cloud storage is easily scalable, reliable and on-demand. Designed by engineers, scientists and PhDs with a track-record of deploying large-scale distributed systems, the YuJa Cloud is the nucleus of our Video Platform. Every tool within our products leverages the YuJa Cloud technology to deliver a high impact user experience.

Cloud hosting uses a network of connected devices to save files, documents and other media to a remote database, rather than storing them on a computer’s hard drive, a local storage device or an on-site server that is maintained by the organization. Information is retrieved using the internet.

YuJa’s Cloud-Based Storage Offers Many Benefits

Our cloud-based storage is scalable. YuJa’s cloud infrastructure allows your organization to be responsive to demand, whether that means quickly scaling up or down. Storage can easily be expanded to meet the needs of your institution or organization with minimal additional investment. 

We handle the maintenance. Unlike with local storage options, there’s no need for costly hardware purchases or routine maintenance for your staff. YuJa’s skilled support team cares for your data around the clock.

Cloud-based computing makes collaboration simple, effective and practical. Teams can work together from remote locations and access documents from anywhere.

Hardware failures won’t impact your data. Using a cloud-based solution means that the risk of catastrophic local hardware failures is minimized. Cloud-based solutions offer reliability and redundancy to prevent the risk of hardware failure impacting your content.

Cloud-based storage reduces capital expenditure. Using the cloud makes data storage an operating expenditure. Low subscription costs limit initial capital expenditures, and affordable options allow you to easily store all of your institution’s data.

Built-in redundancy ensures consistent availability of your data. YuJa’s cloud-based infrastructure is deployed in multiple physical data center locations across several availability zones and redundant sub-systems. It may sound complicated, but what it means for organizations is that users can access information any time, from anywhere. 

Cloud-based solutions are practical and sustainable. They require far fewer resources for construction, maintenance, and use than local storage options.

Institutions Trust YuJa’s Cloud Infrastructure

The City University of New York (CUNY), Stanford University, Nevada State and Trent University are just some of the hundreds of organizations in North America and beyond that trust YuJa’s Cloud infrastructure to safely and securely store their data 24/7/365.  

Find the Right Fit: Lecture Capture vs. Video Podcasting

To get the most out of your video solution, it is important to choose the right recording tools for the right environment and to ensure everything works together seamlessly to create consistency, to allow for ease in training, and to increase adoption throughout your institution.

Lecture Capture is an Ideal Classroom Solution

Lecture capture, or the recording and archiving of audio and video components of a lecture, is ideal in the classroom, whether you opt for a traditional or flipped classroom structure. The YuJa hardware appliance integrates into all classroom multimedia equipment, streaming your lecture directly to the cloud, while software capture provides organizations with the ability to record anywhere and capture multiple inputs. With automated scheduling, you can capture lectures without any additional work. 

Lecture capture offers the following advantages:

• If you’re recording lectures in a brick-and-mortar classroom, you’re likely to find lecture capture the most practical choice, as you’ll typically be working from a podium in the classroom. 
• If you opt for software-based lecture capture, you will need to initiate the software; however, it will work on any device. Record with a camera or document camera, or record your smart board or external web camera, or any combination of devices.  
• Lecture capture integrates into other classroom multimedia resources, including the SmartBoard. 
• Your students can easily replay, pause and rewind lecture captures for future use.

Additionally, the Software Capture and Browser Capture tools used for lecture capture can be used to create podcasts.

Video Podcasting is Another Powerful Tool to Support Learning

“Podcast” refers to any software and hardware combination that allows automatic downloading of audio files for listening at a user’s convenience.

Video podcasting is ideal for review videos or enrichment materials to supplement work in the classroom; however, it can also be an ideal way to engage with students online, especially in remote learning environments. 

Use cases and advantages include:

• Video podcasting using your own webcam and microphone is an ideal way to offer information to your students.
• The videos stream into the cloud and are stored as part of your learning channel. 
• You can integrate files and materials you’re using directly into your video podcast, or even use an interactive sketchpad to illustrate lessons. This makes video podcasting a practical supplement to classroom learning or an ideal way to present short, manageable lessons for online-only students.

Integrating YuJa’s Video Platform into Traditional and Flipped Classrooms

Using YuJa in a Traditional Classroom

Your usual lecture can be captured and live streamed as you give it in the classroom. There’s no need to alter your lecture in any way. Simply:

• Record your lecture with the YuJa Hardware Hub or the software-based capture interface with your computer, laptop or even mobile device. 
• Upload any notes you’d like to provide to your students, including PDF readings, PowerPoint files, or other file types.
• Add supplemental materials, such as digital resources, audio recordings, tables and figures. 

Using YuJa in this way maintains your traditional class structure, with the additional reinforcement of social learning tools.

IMPLEMENTING YUJA INTO THE FLIPPED CLASSROOM MODEL

“Flipping your class can allow you to engage your students in new ways, whether it’s through creating video tutorials, allowing in-video commenting or adding annotations.”

In a flipped classroom, in-class time is used for collaborative projects, discussion, and interaction with lectures taking place outside traditional class time. Lecture capture tools, like those offered by YuJa, are an ideal way to flip your class. 

Use lecture capture to record some or all of your classroom lectures. Allow students to watch the lectures ahead of time. Students can come to class prepared with the information they need to engage and interact on a face-to-face basis.

Essentially, the tools and methods are the same — you’re simply implementing all of them ahead of time. Flipping your class can allow you to engage your students in new ways, whether it’s through creating video tutorials, allowing in-video commenting or adding annotations.

IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF YOUR RECORDINGS

While many faculty adapt quickly to using lecture capture with their classes, there are some things you can do to improve the quality of your lecture captures and your students’ experiences with lecture capture. After recording your lecture, ask yourself the following:

• Am I speaking clearly?
• Is my speech timed appropriately?
• Am I using visual aids or other materials to their best advantage?
• Should I consider adjusting the height of webcams and microphones for better recording quality?

YuJa offers full-featured capabilities for recording multi-stream content with video editing and distribution tools available directly in the Video Platform. With minimal training, instructors and students benefit from the video platform.

FERPA, Intellectual Property Rights and the YuJa Video Platform

FERPA applies to any public or private elementary, secondary, or post-secondary school and any state or local education agency that receives funds under an applicable program of the US Department of Education. 

YuJa is a FERPA Compliant Enterprise Video Platform 

What does this mean for users of the Video Platform? 

YuJa ensures student privacy and complies with regulations outlined in FERPA. While the Video Platform does contain student directory information, students control how that information is seen and accessed. All academic information is available only to the instructor and cannot be freely accessed. Information may be shared only within the guidelines of FERPA.

FERPA rights include:

• The right to inspect and review records.
• The right to have inaccurate records corrected.
• Written permission to disclose student records, except in certain circumstances.
• The right to refuse to allow directory information to be shared.

How Institutions Can Use Information

YuJa allows students to interact safely and securely with classmates in a protected environment and feel confident that YuJa will never sell personal information to third parties.

Examples of appropriate use of student information under FERPA include: 

• Schools can provide information for financial aid.
• Instructors can provide a list of student names for members of the class.
• Professors can provide students with the ability to check their grades through a private interface.

YuJa only asks for information essential to maintain the classroom learning environment, which remains private and inaccessible to others. Even instructors cannot see email addresses or phone numbers and this information is not shared.

YUJA AND INSTRUCTORS’ PRIVACY

For instructors, maintaining FERPA compliance is essential. YuJa supports these efforts while ensuring students’ privacy rights are protected. Instructors can be at ease knowing they don’t have to be concerned with potential violations of FERPA when encouraging student interaction and engagement. This helps instructors create a safe space for student learning.

Instructors may also be concerned about intellectual property (IP) rights. YuJa stores lecture captures, video podcasts and other materials on the YuJa Cloud. The content’s intellectual property rights are retained by the organization and instructor, not YuJa. A secure group has access to the files instructors choose to share, and membership in individual groups is controlled by the instructor or administrator.

STUDENTS AND PRIVACY, IP CONCERNS

Students may worry about their online privacy, including security of personal information and IP. 

FERPA protects privacy by limiting access to personal information. Instructors will have some information, as does the school administration, but in most cases they don’t have the right to share it without permission. YuJa allows students to interact safely and securely with classmates in a protected environment and feel confident that YuJa will never sell personal information to third parties.

With regard to the security of intellectual property, including files, lecture captures, and other material, YuJa stores data in the YuJa Cloud. This is a secure and stable online storage environment with security protections in place. We place security as our highest priority and use world-class primary data centers.

Case Study: Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Uses YuJa’s Video Platform to Deliver High-Quality Media Experiences to More Than 13,000 Students

Several years ago, SIUE had a locally-hosted, homegrown media streaming solution. Matthew Schmitz, Associate Director of Online and Blended Education, said the solution worked, but had a lot of disadvantages in that the interface wasn’t user-friendly, the public couldn’t upload content, and it was “load heavy” for the institution’s Information Technology Services (ITS) department.

Read the full case study here.

YuJa Launches New Community Forum

Users can create a profile and set preferences, then begin interacting. As users contribute to the community and connect, they earn points for badges and gain access to more rights in the community.

Join YuJa’s global community of users to engage with others, ask and answer questions, share experiences and best practices, attend professional development webinars and learn new strategies. Users also can collaborate directly with the YuJa Product Management team and Solutions Engineers on feature ideas.  

Highlight areas within the community include:

Products: Discussion about this site, its organization, how it works, and how we can improve it.

Release Notes: This space contains the release notes for all of our Products.

General Q&A: Post your questions by starting a new topic in this category.

Feature Voting & Ideas: Use this category to help give our team ideas of what features are most requested.

Support: Get your questions answered in one place at support.yuja.com

Events & Training: Get the latest news about our future conferences, next session trainings, and more.

Users can create a profile and set preferences, then begin interacting. As users contribute to the community and connect, they earn points for badges and gain access to more rights in the community.  

YuJa Community is powered by its users, and we’re excited it to evolve and grow. To join the community, email your customer success manager.

Case Study: How Antelope Valley College Replaced its Former Vendor With YuJa’s Comprehensive, Feature-Rich Enterprise Video Platform

When the platform they were using announced it would no longer offer enterprise education video hosting, Dr. Alex Parisky, Instructional Technology and Multimedia Director, and Greg Krynen, Information Technology Services Technical Trainer, were tasked with finding an alternative solution.

Read the full case study here.

Case Study: Canada’s Largest Art, Design, and Media University, OCAD U, Turns to YuJa to Enhance Art and Design Education

Founded in 1876, OCAD U is dedicated to art and design education, practice and research and to knowledge creation and invention across a wide range of disciplines. OCAD U continuously builds on its traditional, studio-based strengths, adding new approaches to learning that champion cross-disciplinary practices, collaboration and the integration of emerging technologies.

Read the full case study here.