eSight Community News

"I am honored to receive this award and am heartened that WCET understands the importance of accessibility issues," says Coombs, who is himself blind. The former professor learned the power of using educational technologies while teaching history at Rochester Institute of Technology. "Students with hearing or sight impairments often felt liberated in the freedom that the technologies afforded them," he says.

Since 1993 Coombs has led EASI (Equal Access to Software and Information), a nonprofit organization devoted to teaching educators about accessibility techniques for educational technologies. He is an outspoken advocate for adaptive technologies and the use of universal web design principles to meet the needs of disabled students, as well as a mentor to those coming up in the field. Though officially retired, Coombs continues to teach online seminars on adaptive technologies and policies.

"Norm inspires everyone to do what is necessary to ensure that all students have equal access to education," says Pat Shea, who directs WCET's efforts to help colleges improve their online student services. "Throughout his career, he has created tools to help people learn how to do so."

About WCET & WICHE WCET is a cooperative that's actively engaged in sharing cutting-edge research and best practices in the effective use of technology in higher education. Its nearly 300 members are colleges and universities, nonprofit organizations, government agencies, and corporations located in 46 states and nine countries. Through WCET, members work together to shape e-learning's future in higher education and ensure its quality. WCET (formerly the Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications) is a unit of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education. WCET's Richard Jonsen Award is named for the WICHE executive director responsible for founding WCET.

The Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education and its 15 member states work collaboratively to expand educational access and excellence for all citizens of the West. By promoting innovation, cooperation, resource sharing, and sound public policy among states and institutions, WICHE strengthens higher education's contributions to the region's social, economic, and civic life. Our programs - Student Exchange, WCET, Policy Analysis and Research, and Mental Health - are working to find answers to some of the most critical questions facing higher education today. WICHE is the only organization in the West that focuses exclusively on higher education issues, from access and accountability to tuition and fees to distance learning and innovation. Public higher education is the primary backbone of the Western economy, and WICHE's policy research and collaborative programs support the West's citizens and its constantly evolving cultures. WICHE's 15 member states include Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. For more information about WICHE, please visit www.wiche.edu.