This blog features articles by members of the IT Accessibility Team within UW-IT Accessible Technology Services. Our work is focused on making the University of Washington—and the world—more accessible for everyone, including individuals with disabilities. Our blog is focused on telling the stories of our work and on promoting opportunities for others within the UW community to participate in this effort.
UW Accessible Technology in 2023: End of a year & end of an era
December 21, 2023
As 2023 draws to a close, we celebrate many milestones on our journey toward a fully accessible University. We also celebrate the long careers of two of our colleagues, both early leaders in the accessible technology field, and both retiring in December. End of a Year Here are a few highlights from 2023: In January,…
GAAD 2023 and Digital Accessibility Awards
May 19, 2023
Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) is a global event which we celebrate annually at the UW with a full day of activities designed to raise awareness and educate the UW community about digital accessibility. On GAAD 2023 (May 18), activities included a full morning of hands-on, hybrid, "Fix Your Accessibility" Workshops and a Digital Accessibility…
We have moved! Please note our new web address
May 17, 2023
The UW Accessible Technology website has moved. The original URL, uw.edu/accessibility, is now home to the UW's central accessibility portal, designed to make it easier for anyone looking for accessibility-related resources at the UW to find what they need, beyond just technology-related resources. The new URL for the Accessible Technology website is uw.edu/accesstech. The Accessible…
GAAD 2022 and the new UW Accessible Technology website
May 18, 2022
Tomorrow, May 19, is Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD). GAAD is an annual event designed to engage people around the world in talking, thinking, and learning about digital access and inclusion. Each year, the UW commemorates GAAD by offering a full day of lectures, workshops, and other activities related to digital accessibility. This year is…
Data viz accessibility in 2021
December 17, 2021
In 2021, we in UW-IT Accessible Technology Services received a sizeable increase in requests for accessibility consultation related to data visualizations. On March 29, Hadi Rangin and I joined Kelly Gupton, Tableau's Senior Director of Product Management, at the UW Tableau User Group (TUG) for a presentation and conversation on "data viz" accessibility. The recording…
Accessibility review of online survey tools
September 28, 2021
Here in UW-IT Accessible Technology Services (ATS), we are frequently asked which of the online survey tools that are commonly used at the UW produces the most accessible survey forms. To be sure we could confidently answer this question, the ATS IT Accessibility Team recently conducted a review of the following five tools, listed alphabetically:…
Before licensing that product or service, STOP. Is it accessible?
June 16, 2021
Technology used at the UW falls into either of two categories: Things we create and things we purchase or procure. For the latter, accessibility is the responsibility of the person making the procurement decision. Anyone making those decisions is assuming legal risk on behalf of the university. As risk owners, they must take steps to…
Working toward ZERO errors in May 2021!
May 4, 2021
This blog post marks the official launch of the "Zero Errors" campaign, a university-wide effort in May 2021 to use accessibility checkers to reduce – or eliminate! – accessibility errors from UW websites, online courses, and other digital resources. At the UW, we have a wide variety of tools available that can check our digital…
Accessible Tech in 2020-21: "The glass is overflowing"
January 14, 2021
The year 2020 brought unprecedented challenges to the world, country, and our university. At the University of Washington, as classes, programs, services, meetings, trainings, and major events moved online, this change was accompanied by a dramatic increase in demand for the services provided by the IT Accessibility Team. One of the major events we got…
Fall 2020 Liaisons meeting: exploring recent changes in IT accessibility procurement procedures
October 28, 2020
Over the Summer, UW Procurement Services, in collaboration with UW-IT Accessible Technology Services and the Chief Information Services Office, published updates to their policies and procedures, including updates related to the accessibility of IT. These changes are reflected on our Procuring Accessible IT web page, which explains, summarizes, and quotes from Procurement Services' Procedure 7.2.15.…
Coming soon: UW Celebration of Accessibility!
October 13, 2020
Cooling temperatures, rainy days, and the start of another academic quarter remind us that fall has arrived. It's hard to believe six months have passed since we launched the IT Accessibility Challenge 2020 back in May. The Challenge is a university-wide campaign encouraging members of the UW community to take one or more simple actions…
The UW and society: IT accessibility after 30 years of ADA
July 24, 2020
On July 26, 1990, President George H.W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). In doing so, he said, “I now lift my pen to sign this Americans with Disabilities Act and say: Let the shameful wall of exclusion finally come tumbling down.” Thirty years later, a lot has happened to make American society,…
Global Accessibility Awareness Day and a UW-wide challenge
May 18, 2020
This week, on Thursday, May 21, the entire world will be celebrating Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD). This day was established nine years ago to engage people around the world in talking, thinking, and learning about digital access and inclusion. At the University of Washington, we have an annual tradition of hosting lectures, trainings, workshops,…
Considering accessibility when teaching online
March 21, 2020
On March 6, the University of Washington (UW) announced that it would no longer be meeting in person due to the threat posed by COVID-19. For the remainder of Winter quarter, classes and/or exams would be conducted remotely. The UW was the first public university in the United States to take this action, but since…
We couldn't do it without Liaisons!
February 5, 2020
There are various groups at the University of Washington (UW) whose primary responsibility is accessibility. Accessible Technology Services (ATS) within UW-IT is one of these groups, and our focus is on the accessibility of information technology (IT). The UW has created, procured, and/or used a massive amount of IT: Hundreds of thousands of web pages;…
UW Accessible Technology in 2020
January 8, 2020
Welcome to 2020! We in UW-IT Accessible Technology Services (ATS) are excited for the new year and new decade. We wrapped up 2019 with momentum: On November 13, 36 people participated in the Fall meeting of the IT Accessibility Liaisons network. The meeting was a "strategies session," focusing on implementing IT accessibility within units or…