We are committed to supporting you as you work with your units to create accessible digital content for all, regardless of their background or ability, making a better digital experience for everyone.
Office hours
Open office hours are available for liaisons and others doing digital accessibility work in their units. They are a place to ask questions, get help and guidance and set up follow-up services with the Center for User Experience (CUE) as needed. They will focus on the digital accessibility policy, the digital accessibility liaison role, and the current phase of the policy. We encourage liaisons to engage with the Digital Accessibility Community of Practice to have access to subject matter experts and meetings that focus on digital accessibility in practice.
Office hours with the Center for User Experience
These 15min 1:1 meeting times are meant to answer questions, and determine if additional time should be booked. They are to provide resources to liaisons serving in this role. Using the Calendly link provided, please select a time slot that will work for you and someone form CUE will send a meeting invite your way.
Available session blocks:
- Wednesdays between 2pm – 4pm
- Thursdays between 10am – 12pm
Digital Accessibility Community of Practice
The Digital Accessibility Community of Practice (CoP) was created to promote inclusive digital experiences and content for UW–Madison by cultivating community and providing opportunities to learn more about digital accessibility.
As a liaison you are added to the community of practice to build community, find resources, and share experiences. They also hold regular meetings that focus on topics of digital accessibility and the UW–Madison community.
Next CoP meeting:
Not yet scheduled
The digital accessibility liaison toolkit
What is the toolkit?
The toolkit has an optional inventory to track your work, an email template for introducing yourself or you liaison team to your unit, and other resources to support you in this role.
Learning opportunities
Curated resources for self-paced learning about digital accessibility, including accessibility fundamentals, strategies to improve accessibility in different types of documents across major platforms, best practices to develop more inclusive workplace environment, as well as awareness of disability-related policies and resources.
LinkedIn Learning – Creating Accessible PDFs
This training course goes over why accessibility is important and key features of an accessible PDF. It also covers three workflows for creating accessible PDFs (Word, PowerPoint and InDesign). We believe that modules 3,4,5 will be very useful for the current policy phase but completing the entire course will give a good understanding of accessible PDFs.
LinkedIn Learning – Digital Accessibility in the Modern Workplace
So much of our work takes place in digital spaces and this makes it very important to understand how those spaces work for everyone. Hector Minto, an accessibility specialist at Microsoft, shares how to use accessibility solutions across your tools and processes.
Google – Make your document or presentation more accessible
When you create a document or presentation, follow these tips to make it more readable by everyone, including people with disabilities.
W3.org – Accessibility Fundamentals Overview
Introduces web accessibility and links to additional resources. Includes accessibility in context; why accessibility is important for individuals, businesses, society; making digital technology accessible; evaluating accessibility; and basic examples.
Microsoft – Improve accessibility with the Accessibility Checker
Documentation and information on how the Microsoft Accessibility Checker runs checks on Outlook email messages, Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations and other Microsoft products.
Creating accessible documents guide
Basic steps and guidance to increase the accessibility of your Word, HTML, PowerPoint and PDF documents.
Disability and Ableism Awareness training
This workshop, provided by the Inclusion@UW team, aims to dispel common disability myths and stereotypes, improve awareness of disability-related laws, and point to UW–Madison policies and resources.
Equally effective alternate access plan (EEAAP)
An EEAAP is the documented process that explains how a product or content owner will resolve a digital barrier or provide an alternative means for access. This helps someone with a disability to access the services and benefits of a resource or technology in an equal and effective way.
If you are aware of a barrier that is impacting an individual’s ability to currently access and use a resource or technology, and it is not possible to get the barrier resolved or develop an alternate means of access, you must report the issue to the McBurney Disability Resource Center (students, academic program applicants) or the Employee Disability Resources Office (employees and job-applicants) so they can begin the accommodation process.
If you have an identified barrier to access please use this form to record the barrier and the plan to resolve it. This will notify the Center for User Experience that the barrier is being resolved or an alternative means for access is being developed.
Accessibility resources
Make it accessible guide collection
Learn how to plan, create and manage digital content that is accessible, usable and meets the needs of your audience at UW–Madison with this handy collection of guides.
There are guides on content creation, hosting meetings, procurement and more.
How-to follow the digital accessibility policy
We all are responsible for making digital content accessible. Accessibility is a shared university responsibility. But how? The digital accessibility policy provides skills and processes to fold into your operational decisions, which creates a more usable, inclusive digital environment for everyone.
Digital accessibility liaison onboarding
This onboarding goes into detail about the Digital Accessibility Policy and why it was created. It gives more detail about the liaison role and some recommendations on doing the work of a liaison. To access this Canvas course you must be a registered liaison.
Campus partners
- ADA Coordinator
The ADA Coordinator is responsible for university-wide compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and other disability nondiscrimination laws. - Center for User Experience (CUE)
The CUE supports the digital accessibility liaison network and can evaluate the accessibility of digital technology for free. This includes products already in use or products that are in consideration for purchasing. Fill out this contact form to make the request. - Employee Disability Resources (EDR) Office
The EDR office serves as the hub for information on the disability accommodation process for employees and applicants. If you are experiencing difficulty in the hiring process, while performing duties of your job, or accessing an employment benefit, you can consider requesting an accommodation. - McBurney Disability Resource Center
The McBurney Disability Resource Center is committed to creating an accessible and inclusive educational experience for students. They partner with students, faculty, and staff to design accessible environments and to provide academic accommodations so that students can engage, explore and participate in the Wisconsin Idea. - Accessible Technology Advisory Group (ATAG) and the Digital Accessibility Community of Practice
Faculty and staff interested in expanding their accessibility skillsets can join these peer-based communities of practice for networking and information sharing opportunities.
How to get help
Learn more about the evaluation service or share questions, concerns and other feedback.