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Accessibility at the UW

Academic Course Content Action Team

Purpose

The Academic Course Content Action Team was charged in AY 24-25 to assess the current state of digital accessibility of UW’s digital course materials, exploring options and making recommendations for how the UW should reach substantial compliance with Department of Justice regulations.

Summary

The Academic Course Content Action Team’s approach has been to assess risk by common file types (PDF, images, recordings, e-textbooks, etc.) and to form subgroups to dive deep into each area. Based on subgroup reports submitted, to date, the team submitted an initial proposal to senior leadership which included an overall strategy and approach as well as specific recommendations for file types of subgroups that have submitted findings. Several subgroups have yet to submit and the proposal will update accordingly. Additionally, the team is working to map current and future state workflows for central units with capacity to support digital accessibility. Mapping, to date, has been completed for Disability Resources for Students (DRS), Accessible Technology Services (ATS), and the UW Bookstore, with similar mappings planned for the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) and Learning Technologies (LT), both in ASA.

Action Team Members

  • Chair: Marcus Hirsch, Director, Academic Strategy & Affairs Information Services
  • Bryan Blakely, AVP for Partnerships & Online Learning, Continuum College Vice Provost Office
  • Bree Callahan, ADA Coordinator, Compliance Services
  • Glenna Chang, Associate Vice President, Student Life
  • Deborah Hathaway, Director of Learning & Teaching, Office of Student Academic Success, UW Bothell
  • Darcy Janzen, Director, Digital Learning, UW Tacoma
  • Marisa Nickle, Senior Director, Strategy & Academic Initiatives
  • Mary Mulvihill, Director of Digital Accessibility, UW-IT Accessible Technology Services
  • Penelope Moon, Director, Center for Teaching and Learning
  • Phil Reid, Vice Provost, Academic Strategy & Affairs
  • Karin Roberts, Director, Teaching & Learning Systems, Information Technology
  • Beth Somerfield, Deputy ADA Coordinator, Compliance Services
  • Adiam Tesfay, Director, Disability Resources for Students
  • Edith Wang, Associate Professor, Academic, Rural, and Regional Affairs, School of Medicine
  • Project Manager: Priya Keefe, Academic Strategy & Affairs Information Services

As the subgroups wrap up their reporting, the project is transitioning away from information gathering and discovery to an implementation/execution phase. As a result, a new implementation team was formed and the Course Content Action Team will be disbanded in early July. This shift parallels the overall initiative’s transition to the next phase. Going forward, the Academic and Administrative implementation groups will work in parallel and in close communication but will function separately.

Status Updates

Work to date has coalesced around a common approach, which includes:

  • Minimizing burden on faculty, as much as possible, asking them to do simple, repeatable tasks and leveraging central support for complex tasks. This involves:
    • Step-by-step resources for faculty on the Teaching@UW page, and
    • Improved coordination of central support units (e.g., IT, ATS, LT, DRS).
  • Focusing on “substantial compliance” to address the most common issues first.
  • Providing clarity around legal responsibilities and indemnification – a common request.

Completed Tasks

In Progress Tasks (Summer 2025)

  • LT report and current state workflow mapping
  • CTL report and current state workflow mapping
  • E-Textbook subgroup findings
  • Edge Case Format Subgroup report

2025-2026 Implementation Team

Summary

Recently formed for AY 25-26, the charge for this team is to implement and execute the recommendations that the Course Content Action Team provided to senior leadership. This team consists of staff from DRS, ATS, LT, CTL, ASA, and Continuum. The new team met on May 30 for the first time to identify and prioritize work that needs to be done to implement the recommendations approved by initiative leadership.

Implementation Team Members

The implementation team membership is designed to change over time to include subject-matter expertise relevant to the area of focus of work prioritized in the near-term. Current members include:

  • Marcus Hirsch, Director, Information Services, Academic Strategy & Affairs, chair
  • Derek Barbee, Director, Instructional Development & Course Production, Continuum College
  • Bryan Blakeley, AVP for Partnerships & Online Learning, Continuum College
  • Bree Callahan, ADA Coordinator, Compliance Services
  • Darcy Janzen, Director, Digital Learning, UW Tacoma
  • Jake Kulstad, Assistant Director, Academic Technologies, Academic Strategy & Affairs
  • Penelope Moon, Director, Center for Teaching and Learning, Academic Strategy & Affairs
  • Mary Mulvihill, Director of Digital Accessibility, Accessible Technology Services, UW Information Technology
  • Marisa Nickle, Senior Director, Strategy & Academic Initiatives, Academic Strategy & Affairs
  • Priya Keefe, Project Manager, Information Services, Academic Strategy & Affairs
  • Phil Reid, Vice Provost, Academic Strategy & Affairs and professor, Chemistry
  • Karin Roberts, Director, Teaching & Learning Systems, UW Information Technology
  • El Schofield, Service Manager, UW-IT Teaching & Learning Systems, UW Information Technology
  • Adiam Tesfay, Director, Disability Resources for Students, Student Life

Status Updates

Completed Tasks

  • Created list of tasks and prioritized for the near-, medium-, and long-term

In Progress Tasks (those prioritized for the near-term)

  • Discuss support model and framework for interim and future state.
  • Purchase and integrate TidyUp. (tool for deleting and archiving content in Canvas)
  • Purchase and integrate UDOIT. (tool for converting inaccessible PDFs to editable Canvas pages)
  • Explore central repository for remediated course materials.

Communications, outreach, and education

Summary: The Action Team was initially asked to rely on UW-IT’s project management group for communications. However, it became apparent that more direct involvement was needed to ensure best practices for communicating with a faculty audience. Action Team member Marisa Nickle took over communications around course content and joined the UW-IT Change Management and Communications group to ensure alignment, provide insights to the initiative overall, and liaise with both faculty and Teaching@UW leadership. Key communications strategies, to date, include messages to tri-campus faculty, presentations to faculty governance groups, workshops, and robust overhauls of web resources to support faculty understanding and practical next steps as they work to ensure accessibility of course materials.

Communications Partners

Colleagues are providing input and helping coordinate outreach and communications related to digital accessibility as part of this initiative. Contributors include:

  • UW Information Technology
  • The Office of the ADA Coordinator
  • The Teaching@UW Leadership Council
  • Members of this initiatives Innovation and Research Action Team
  • UW Tacoma
  • UW Bothell
  • Continuum College
  • Student Life
  • The Faculty Council on Teaching and Learning
  • Faculty Senate leadership
  • The Office of the Provost
  • Faculty accessibility experts from several UW schools and colleges

Status Updates

Completed Tasks

In Progress Tasks

  • Outreach to deans and chairs for inclusion in autumn quarter faculty retreats and meetings.
  • Updates to BODC, PSO, and Faculty Senate.
  • Vice provost messages to faculty. (tentative):
    • New tool – Deleting and archiving content in Canvas using TidyUp. (August)
    • New resources – Making images, recordings, documents accessible. (September)
    • New resources – Using accessibility checkers – how to interpret and improve scores. (TBD)
    • New guidelines – Accessible textbooks. (TBD)
  • Step-by-step instructions for faculty based on Action Team recommendations:
    • Making videos and recorded lectures accessible.
    • Making images and diagrams accessible.
    • Making websites accessible.
    • Deleting and archiving content in Canvas using TidyUp.
    • Using accessibility checkers – how to interpret and improve scores.
  • Teaching@UW/ATS workshops AY2025-26:
    • Making PowerPoint slides accessible. (October 14)
    • Making an accessible Canvas syllabus. (December 2)
    • Making use of accessibility checkers. (January 22)
  • Information ecosystem improvements – coordinate analysis and updates to resource webpages to improve clarity and alignment across unit pages and improve the user experience for faculty seeking resources and information from pages such as Teaching@UW, Digital Accessibility, the Digital Accessibility Initiative, ATS, DRS, and Libraries.