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Accessibility at the UW

Category: Accessibility

UW Celebrates Global Accessibility Awareness Day on May 21

Post categories: GAAD

On Thursday May 21, the University of Washington will celebrate Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) with an all-day, hybrid (in-person and online) gathering focused on our progress, partnerships, innovation, and the future of digital accessibility. This year’s celebration highlights our commitment to digital accessibility as a core expression of UW’s values.

UW GAAD 2026 will showcase digital accessibility efforts across UW through presentations, lightning talks, an afternoon keynote, and a panel on accessible math content. Visit the UW GAAD 2026 page for the registration link and details.

We are excited to present 24 speakers representing a cross-section of the UW community, from academic departments, administrative teams, student and campus services, libraries, leadership, and UW Medicine. They reflect collaboration across teaching, operations, communications, and technology teams advancing accessibility across UW.

Since last year’s GAAD celebration, UW has made meaningful strides integrating digital accessibility into our workflows and digital spaces. Members of the community are now supported with tools, training, and shared expectations through the Digital Accessibility Policy (APS 9.0) and related standards, procedures, and product reviews. This year’s program reflects growing momentum and a shift from meeting the ADA Title II deadline  (now extended to April 2027) to sustainability. The day’s events will emphasize long‑term practices that will transform our online experiences beyond 2026.

The event runs from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Registration is required, and in-person space is limited, so sign up today! Together, we will continue building a more accessible and inclusive UW and future.

Little Forest PDF Remediation Tool

Post categories: Accessible documents

UW faculty and staff now have access to a new resource to support digital accessibility: the Little Forest PDF Remediation Tool. Designed with extensive input from UWIT’s Accessible Technologies Services (ATS) team, Little Forest helps improve the accessibility of high-priority PDFs by adding document structure tags and alternative text (alt text).

Before You Start

In last year’s blog post, Think Before You Create a PDF, we noted that PDFs can create barriers for people with disabilities. They often require extra work to make accessible, are harder to navigate on mobile devices, and aren’t easy to update. It’s worth your time to take a step back to consider whether a PDF is the best format for your content.

Important Note About UW Data

Please note that Protected Health Information (PHI), Personally Identifiable Information (PII), and FERPA-related data should not be uploaded to Little Forest, as it is not HIPPA- or FERPA-compliant. Visit the Little Forest page on the ATS website for more guidance on sensitive and protected data and information.

When and Why to Use Little Forest

The initial rollout of Little Forest focused on course-related PDFs, and now it is available for broader use at the University. Making these documents accessible supports a more equitable and inclusive experience for students with disabilities who rely on screen readers and other assistive technologies.

Little Forest is recommended for PDFs that are still actively in use. UW departments, units, and faculty are encouraged to archive or remove outdated documents rather than invest time in remediation. The tool can automatically add tags for headings, lists, and tables, and it generates suggested alt text for images that users review and edit for accuracy. Because automated remediation is imperfect, some documents may still require you to do manual follow-up work, or you can submit a request for additional remediation directly within the tool.

Learn More

For guidance on getting started, recommended use, and known limitations, and additional information, visit the Little Forest PDF Remediation Tool webpage.

ADA Digital Accessibility Compliance Deadline Extended

Post categories: Digital Accessibility Policy

On Monday, April 20, the U.S. Department of Justice announced an extension to the effective date of the ADA Title II Digital Accessibility Rule. The following update from the Digital Accessibility Initiative team is being shared via email with all UW supervisors.

Digital Accessibility Update: Compliance Deadline Extended

Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a one‑year extension to the effective date of the ADA Title II Digital Accessibility Rule, moving the deadline from April 24, 2026, to April 26, 2027. The DOJ noted that this extension reflects the time and coordination required to do this work thoughtfully and sustainably.

Even with this extension, the UW continues to have ongoing responsibilities under other federal and state laws and our new digital accessibility policy.

For UW, this additional time allows us to build on current progress, address remaining compliance issues, reduce long‑term legal risk, and further integrate accessibility into everyday operations so that digital accessibility remains a shared responsibility well beyond the compliance date. For academic units, an additional communication will be sent soon to add more clarity.

What this extension means for UW

Over the past two years, the work of the UW community has already driven meaningful, lasting change across the University. The ADA Title II Digital Accessibility Rule has helped accelerate progress that includes the following accomplishments and more:

Looking ahead

UW’s commitment to digital accessibility remains strong and has only been reinforced by our new policy, along with the systems, resources, and tools now in place to support our shared work. Digital accessibility continues to be a priority for our community, and the progress made over the past two years positions UW well to use this additional time effectively and strategically.

Thank you again for your leadership, partnership, and continued commitment to making our digital spaces accessible and inclusive. Over the coming year, please stay connected through the Digital Accessibility website and blog for regular updates, training opportunities, shared resources, and community events.

Digital Accessibility Resources to Share

Post categories: Resources

If you’ve been following our blog, you’re likely already familiar with the key steps organizations must take to prepare for the upcoming ADA Title II deadline for digital accessibility on April 24, 2026.

You’ve learned what compliance looks like, why it matters, and how to begin building more accessible and inclusive digital experiences.

But what if you want to take it a step further?

If you’d like to help colleagues, collaborators, and friends find practical resources and quick tips for creating accessible documents, presentations, spreadsheets, emails, and other digital content, we have links for you to bookmark and share.

Digital Accessibility Quick Cards for Microsoft

These straightforward, task‑based guides offer quick tips for creating accessible content in Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Excel.

Grackle for Google Docs

For teams using Google Workspace, Grackle provides accessibility checking and guided remediation directly within Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides. Find more information on the Grackle at UW web page.

Accessible Technology Website

UW’s Accessible Technology site is a central hub for digital accessibility best practices, tools, and guidance for websites, documents, courses, social media, and more. Their Digital Accessibility Checklist is a good place to start.

Teaching@UW: Making Courses Accessible

This Teaching@UW resource outlines high‑impact, practical steps instructors can take to improve the accessibility of common course materials. It emphasizes actions like prioritizing web‑based content, using Canvas, Panopto, and Zoom, leveraging built‑in accessibility checkers, and knowing when to reach out for UW support.

In addition, encourage others to explore the Digital Accessibility training page for on-demand and structured learning options, and check the events calendar for upcoming community events and live sessions. These opportunities make it easier to build skills, ask questions, and stay current as the 2026 deadline approaches and our more accessible future begins.

Sharing these resources helps advance digital accessibility knowledge across UW campuses and supports the University’s new Digital Accessibility Policy (APS 9.0), which was recently announced via this blog and UW Insider. Together, these tools and learning opportunities help us build inclusive, accessible digital spaces as accessibility expectations become part of everyday work.

Digital Accessibility Liaisons Spring Meeting & GAAD

Post categories: Events GAAD

This spring, the UW community has two opportunities to gather to celebrate our community’s digital accessibility efforts: the Digital Accessibility Liaisons Community of Practice Spring Meeting and Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD). Both events will highlight the essential role of shared learning and collaboration in advancing digital accessibility.

Members of the UW community are invited to the Digital Accessibility Liaisons Community of Practice (CoP) Spring Meeting on Tuesday, April 22, from 1:00–2:30 p.m. This online gathering is open to everyone in the UW community who is interested in strengthening digital accessibility across the University.

With the ADA Title II April 24 deadline just days away, we’ll take time to reflect on where we are now, share updates on new tools and evolving procedures, and discuss what’s working and what still needs attention as accessibility continues to become embedded in our everyday practices.

Whether accessibility is a core part of your role or something you support alongside other responsibilities, the Digital Accessibility Liaisons CoP is a space to exchange ideas, ask questions, and build relationships that move this work forward.

Save the Date: UW Global Accessibility Awareness Day on May 21

In addition to the spring meeting, we’re excited to share a save-the-date for UW’s Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) celebration on Thursday, May 21. GAAD is an annual opportunity to spotlight the importance of digital accessibility and celebrate the people and partnerships helping move this work forward across UW.

Registration is available on the Digital Accessibility Calendar, and additional details, including the full agenda, will be provided there and on the UW GAAD web page in the coming weeks, so mark your calendar and check back for updates as the date approaches.

Date: Thursday, May 21, 2026
Time: 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. (various events throughout the day)
Location: HUB 250 and Zoom
Registration: GAAD – May 21 2026

Digital Accessibility Liaisons Spring Agenda

Date: Tuesday, April 22, 2026
Time: 1:00–2:30 p.m.
Location: Zoom
Registration: Digital Accessibility Liaisons Spring Meeting – April 2026

1:00–1:10 — Opening and welcome
1:10–1:20 — How are we doing two days away from the DOJ deadline? 
Updates on new tools, procedures, and current progress
1:20–1:30 — Comments and Q&A
1:30–1:35 — Break
1:35–2:15 — Community partners: Working together to build digital accessibility
Featuring:

  • UW Tacoma
  • UW Bothell
  • UW Medicine

2:15–2:25 — Updates & what’s next
2:25–2:30 — Closing message: How far we’ve come—and looking ahead to an even more accessible future

Visit the Digital Accessibility Calendar to register for this meeting and explore other upcoming events across all three campuses.

We look forward to gathering this spring, reflecting on the progress we’ve made together, and continuing the work of building a more inclusive digital experience for members of the UW community and our visitors.

March Updates to UW Supervisors

Post categories: Accessible documents

As the University of Washington prepares for the ADA Title II digital accessibility deadline on April 24, 2026, the Digital Accessibility Initiative (DAI) team continues to share practical guidance to help units create inclusive, compliant digital experiences. In our March update, supervisors were encouraged to help their teams prioritize key accessibility efforts and take advantage of UW-supported tools and training. 

This month’s focus includes Grackle for Google Workspace, a new accessibility checker available to all UW students, faculty, and staff. Grackle makes it easier to identify and fix accessibility issues directly in Google Docs, Slides, and Sheets—supporting WCAG 2.1 AA standards and UW policy.  

Supervisors were also reminded of best practices for accessible online classes and meetings, including using live captions, sharing materials in advance, and reviewing auto-generated captions for accuracy. 

Website owners were encouraged to actively use DubBot, UW’s website accessibility checker, to remediate issues and prioritize high-traffic, public-facing content. The DAI team also highlighted the importance of keyboard accessibility, an essential but often overlooked requirement. 

Everyone is invited to build their skills by attending upcoming digital accessibility events, joining community meetups, and taking free online training. Small steps, taken together, will make a big difference for our accessible future. 

Grackle for Google Apps Now Available for UW

Post categories: Accessible documents Tools

Grackle is now available at no cost to all UW students, faculty, and staff. Grackle is a suite of accessibility checker add-ons for Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides that makes it easier to create content that is usable for everyone.

Grackle works directly inside Google Workspace, automatically scanning documents, spreadsheets, and presentations for accessibility issues. It highlights errors and warnings, then guides users step‑by‑step through fixing them to help ensure alignment with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA, ADA Title II, and UW accessibility requirements. For Google Docs and Slides, Grackle can also export PDFs that are tagged for accessibility, a feature that is not reliably supported through Google’s native export tools.

Getting started is simple: just install Grackle Docs, Sheets, and Slides from the Google Workspace Marketplace or the Extensions menu within each app. Once launched, Grackle begins checking your file immediately through its easy‑to‑use sidebar panel.

To learn more, explore installation guides, walkthrough videos, and additional resources on Accessible Technology’s Grackle at UW and UWIT’s UWare websites.

Keyboard Accessibility: An Essential Part of Inclusive Design

Post categories: Digital Accessibility Web Accessibility Post tags:

When we talk about digital accessibility, topics like color contrast, meaningful link text, and alt text often come to mind. But an equally critical, yet sometimes overlooked, piece is ensuring that websites and applications are fully usable without a mouse. Many people rely on keyboard navigation due to mobility disabilities, while others simply prefer it for efficiency. Whatever the reason, keyboard accessibility is fundamental to an inclusive digital experience.

Unfortunately, keyboard access can break easily when custom widgets or scripts override native browser behavior. That’s why every interactive element — links, buttons, form fields, menus, dialogs — must be reachable and operable using the keyboard alone. Equally important is a visible, consistent focus indicator, so users always know where they are on the page.

The good news: testing for keyboard accessibility is relatively simple. Try navigating your site using only the Tab, Shift+Tab, Enter, and arrow keys. Can you reach and operate everything? Is focus easy to see? The answers reveal a lot.

To learn more, including recommended techniques and related Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 criteria, visit the Accessible Technology web page on Keyboard Accessibility.

Additional posts in the Web Accessibility Series:

Connecting With UW Supervisors To Prepare for April 24 and Beyond

Post categories: GAAD Leadership Training

On January 20, 2026, the UW Digital Accessibility Initiative team shared an update with all UW supervisors outlining the April 24, 2026 deadline for digital accessibility requirements and the tools, training, and events available to support this work. This post provides a summary of that message for the UW community; the message is also available online.

Ongoing updates to supervisors will continue through spring 2026 to help make digital accessibility part of everyday practice across the University.

How Supervisors Can Support This Work

Supervisors play an important role in helping teams plan for the deadline and for a more accessible and inclusive UW. In our January 20 message, supervisors were invited to:

  • Share accessibility resources and updates with their teams
  • Encourage participation in training and community events
  • Reinforce accessibility as part of everyday digital work
  • Help teams prioritize accessibility for websites, documents, videos, forms, and course materials

Tools: Accessibility Checkers

Accessibility checkers can help identify common issues such as missing alternative text, low color contrast, and structural problems. UW-supported options include:

  • Built-in checkers, such as those in Microsoft Office applications
  • Course accessibility tools such as Ally and TidyUP
  • DubBot, UW’s web accessibility checker (available by request), along with other tools and extensions

Accessibility checkers are most effective when paired with manual review and informed judgment. Additional accessibility checkers and extensions are listed on Accessible Technology’s Tools web page.

Learn and Connect: Events

Community learning is an important part of UW’s accessibility efforts. UW hosts regular events that offer practical guidance and opportunities to connect with colleagues.
Recurring and upcoming events include:

Visit the Digital Accessibility calendar for full details.

Guidance and Training

UW offers free digital accessibility training and practical guidance for all roles, from beginners to advanced practitioners. The Digital Accessibility Training page brings together recommended learning paths, role-based courses, and how-to resources to help teams get started and build skills over time.

Together, we will make accessibility a shared, sustainable practice for creating and delivering digital content, for the April 24 deadline and beyond.

New Video: Building Digital Accessibility Together 

Post categories: Digital Accessibility Training

As UW prepares to meet updated ADA Title II digital accessibility standards by April 26, 2026, the work ahead is both a responsibility and an opportunity to strengthen our commitment to equity and inclusion. While the deadline is an important milestone, the broader goal is ongoing: creating digital spaces where everyone at the University of Washington can learn, work, and engage fully.

To support this work, the Digital Accessibility Initiative team has released a new video highlighting why digital accessibility matters and where to find resources, training, and support.

As Provost Tricia Serio notes in the video, digital accessibility strengthens UW’s collective impact:

“That’s the way we’re going to have the greatest impact in the world—by unleashing the power of all the talent that is the University of Washington.”

From course materials and research data to websites, documents, and services, digital content touches nearly every part of UW life. Improving accessibility means making sure that content works for people with a wide range of abilities, technologies, and ways of interacting with information. By building digital accessibility skills now, we’re not only preparing for federal compliance, we’re preparing for the future.

Free training, resources, and events

To support this work, UW offers free training and resources designed to meet you wherever you are on your learning path—whether you’re just getting started or looking to deepen your skills.

Available options include:

These resources are designed to be flexible, practical, and relevant to the real work happening across UW campuses every day.

Watch the video and get started

The Digital Accessibility Initiative video offers a brief introduction to why this work matters and how you can get involved. Watch the video, share it with your colleagues, and explore the training and other resources available to you.

Together, we can build digital spaces that reflect UW’s values and ensure access for all.

Resources

Digital accessibility training options
Build accessible course materials
Tools: web and course accessibility checkers
Accessibility basics: techniques, guides, and checklists
Digital accessibility policies, standards, and guidelines
UW digital accessibility offices and services