Making digital content more accessible may feel overwhelming—especially when you’re balancing other priorities. If you’re unsure where to begin, you’re not alone. That’s why we’re launching a new blog series highlighting how UW departments and units are approaching the Digital Accessibility Initiative and helping ensure equal access for everyone in the UW community.
First Up: UW Information Technology
University of Washington Information Technology (UW-IT) has launched a multi-phase project focused on auditing, assessing, and updating digital content to make it accessible. Each phase is preceded by a pilot that is then reviewed, refined, and scaled for the rest of UW-IT to complete. The effort is designed to identify and remediate barriers as well as to build long-term, sustainable accessibility practices.
Timeline: Recent & Upcoming Milestones
Here’s a look at UW-IT’s phased progress on digital accessibility:
- May: Initiated pilot to inventory and assess applications.
- June: Identified and oriented representatives for each UW-IT division to support coordination and accountability. Notified all UW-IT staff to begin digital accessibility training.
- July: Generated a comprehensive inventory of all digital content across UW-IT. Hosted office hours to support collection of digital content inventory for all UW-IT.
- August: Priority digital content will be identified—focusing on high-impact applications, systems, services, websites, and documents.
- September: Assessments of priority content will begin, providing a baseline for accessibility and guiding remediation plans.
- April 2026 and beyond: Maintain accessibility of digital spaces as well as an environment of continuous learning and support for accessible and inclusive digital content.
How UW-IT Will Measure Progress
To stay on track and make real progress, UW-IT is focusing on the following goals:
- A complete and prioritized list of digital content—like websites, documents, systems, and services
- Accessibility reviews of key content, starting with the most widely used or high-impact items
- Clear plans for fixing prioritized accessibility barriers
- Long-term strategies to keep content accessible beyond the April 2026 deadline
What’s Next
In future posts, we’ll continue highlighting how teams across UW are tackling this shared goal. Whether you’re just beginning or already underway, we hope these stories will inspire and support your journey toward more accessible, inclusive digital spaces. Stay tuned!
If your department has a digital accessibility story to share, we’d love to hear from you! Contact us at digitalaccess@uw.edu.
Join the Pack: Support Digital Accessibility
For more information, resources, and support, visit the Digital Accessibility portal.