ODS Aims to Make College More Accessible for JMU Students, But There is Still More to Be Done

In a windowless room on the first floor of the Student Success Center at JMU, there lies an office with ten computers, each with double monitors, and an assortment of books stacked with pages written in Braille.

 This is where Bryant Leonard, an Accessible Media Production & Accommodation Assistant, works captioning hundreds of films for students who have hearing-related disabilities. On his double-monitored computer, equipped with a high-tech microphone and a program that auto-captions conversation, Leonard works for hours creating accessible media for hearing-impaired students with ODS accommodations.

Leonard was hired at ODS seven years ago when his mother went on disability after being diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. He needed a job to fund his undergraduate schooling at JMU as his mother couldn’t support him anymore. He ended up becoming a part-time student and continuing his work at ODS, still working and studying as a SMAD interactive design concentrator. His work focuses on those with hearing disabilities, but he has also worked with those with sight impairments, providing 3D models of mountain ranges, and tactile graphs.

“I kind of fell into it by accident…  I didn’t even think about applying, but then my boss was like ‘Brian are you going to apply for Sarah’s position,’  and I thought ‘Oh, I guess I could.’ And I was hired and I’ve been doing this ever since” Leonard said.

His workload has increased drastically due to the COVID-19 pandemic which highlighted the lack of accessibility among higher-ed all around the country. During the Spring of 2020, ODS was sending out 238 hours of captioned videos to students, and in the Fall of 2020, that number rose to 711 hours.

To apply for such ODS services, certain documentation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is required which can cost upwards of $1,000, sometimes more, to be tested for hearing impairments, sight impairments, and other disabilities both mental and physical.

“I have even seen students break down… because their parents couldn’t afford testing,” Leonard said.

The COVID-19 pandemic brought an influx of students, as more students started to realize that accessibility should, and could be provided to them. Leonard believes health care is becoming “less of a privilege and more of a right,” but that still doesn't make ODS fully accessible to underprivileged students.

“The truth is that even with all of these documentation guidelines and necessities, the university could do more. Something we have been pushing for years is an accessible media center that is removed from ODS,” Leonard said.

If JMU were to open this media center, ODS wouldn't be as overloaded with work as it has been in the past few semesters. Just this semester alone, Leonard has already worked to caption over 10,000 minutes of video.

“ODS is limited to students who have documented disabilities,” Leonard’s supervisor at ODS, Christina Wulf said. “We have no idea how many students could benefit from ODS help who don’t have documentation.

Leonard recognizes the irony behind having barriers in providing accessibility. For Leonard, this is the hardest part of working at ODS; understanding the barriers to providing an accessible campus but being made to follow the law and guidelines set by JMU.

“There is no money in the university to caption required class videos if the students don’t have ODS accommodations. The university doesn’t have funds to support that… which is crazy,” Wulf said. 

In the Student Government Association, Shawdee Bakhtiari, the student body president, is supportive of the push to create an accessible media center not a part of ODS but facilitated by ODS and the resources they have already compiled.

“ODS has an incredible stockpile of resources that could definitely be reinvented to better suit the needs of the student body... I believe that a media center that pushes accessibility would be a wonderful initiative,” Bakhtiari said.

To create an accessible media center, ODS’ workload would increase, but the work to create a more accessible campus is worth it to Leonard and the rest of the staff at ODS. Everything Leonard does, he knows will benefit a current student and students in the future.

“I love working with students.  I love knowing that they might have a better experience because of me,” Leonard said.