Digital accessibility @ UW–‍Madison

Federal laws and Universities of Wisconsin policy require universities to ensure that their technology is accessible for people with disabilities. To support the university mission and the Wisconsin Idea — all of our students, faculty, staff and community have the right to an inclusive university they can independently access.

The 2001 policy and resources didn’t fully support our UW–‍Madison community. Three Big 10 Universities reviewed our approach to digital accessibility in 2018 and found the 2001 policy to be outdated and too narrowly scoped to web pages and web resources. It did not cover modern academic technology like apps used for course registration. In recent years, there has been more attention to violations of the rights of people with disabilities concerning digital access.

Policy writers were a committee made up of people from across the following departments:

• Division of Information Technology (DoIT)
• Academic Technology DoIT
• Center for User Experience
• General Library System
• Office of Compliance
• University Marketing
• McBurney Disability Resource Center
• College of Agricultural & Life Sciences
• Cybersecurity Departmental Office
• English Department
• Computer-Aided Engineering

Policy approvers:

• Information Technology Committee (ITC)
• Lois Brooks, Vice Provost for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer (CIO)

Informed groups:

• Governance groups
• Research Technology Advisory Group
• Academic Advising & Policy Leaders (AAPL)
• University Council for Academic Affairs and Assessment
• Information Technology Collaborative Coordination Committee (ITCCC)
• Accessible Technology Advisory Group (ATAG)
• University Relations Council
• University Staff Governance
• Academic Staff Governance

Administrative Offices:

• Office of Human Resources
• Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs
• Office of the Registrar
• Office of the Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration – Administrative Information Technology Board
• Administrative Technology Project Information Technology Strategy Group
• Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning group
• Division of Information Technology Management Team
• Division of Information Technology Leadership Team

For more information on policy development @ UW–‍Madison, please see the following resources:

• UW–‍Madison Policy Library
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) – UW–‍Madison Policy Library

In support of its mission, UW–‍Madison is committed to diversity and fostering a culture of full inclusion of people with disabilities by providing digital resources and information technology that people with disabilities can fully, equally and independently use.

This policy establishes shared definitions and practices, digital accessibility requirements and standards, and reporting requirements to ensure compliance with the university’s obligations to nondiscrimination under applicable state and federal laws.

We all are responsible for making digital content accessible.

The implementation plan for this policy is phased to focus on a few digital resource categories at a time. With this plan, we can prioritize and make progress as a community toward a more accessible digital university. These phases are not meant to dictate what work occurs, but rather place a proactive focus for accessibility work during these time frames and when CUE will provide targeted support. If a person experiences a barrier in any of these content types, that work should be prioritized and not limited for completion by the phases.

For more information about these phases, see the “How to follow UW–‍Madison’s digital accessibility policy” guide.

Being in compliance with the policy means:

• The university adheres to legal and regulatory requirements.
• Your school, college, unit or division has been assigned a digital accessibility liaison.
• Following through when a barrier is reported or discovered in your school, college, unit or division, by remediating the barrier or completing an Equally Effective Alternate Access Plan (EEAAP). An EEAAP details how the benefits or services offered by the digital tool will be made available to individuals with disabilities until conformance with the policy can be met. This may require consultation with the Center for User Experience and the ADA coordinator.

While timely accommodation(s) must be provided when an accessibility barrier cannot readily be addressed, solely providing accommodations does not meet the requirements of this policy.

1. Review the IT Accessibility and Usability KnowledgeBase to see if there are any known barriers.
2. If no known barriers are found or no prior evaluation has been completed, please contact the Center for User Experience for a consultation.
   • The Center for User Experience evaluates university tools and resources to create university-level documentation about any barriers that might be present.

Not generally. The new Digital Accessibility Policy provides a structured implementation timeline for when units will need to focus efforts to comply with the updated policy. However, content open to the general public must be accessible. The phases help focus the training and resources that the university is focusing on.

Your unit may choose to do so, but it is not necessary for policy compliance. Your unit should may customize the structure the designation of the digital accessibility liaison role to meet your unit’s digital accessibility needs for digital accessibility, and the responsibilities of the liaison can be flexed depending on your unit’s resources. A singular unit may even designate multiple digital accessibility liaisons as appropriate for its operations.