By April 2027, all active courses need to align to UW’s digital accessibility requirements.
Instructors and academic personnel play a critical role in creating an accessible learning environment. By creating and maintaining accessible course content, you help ensure access and inclusion for all students. The University will support instructors and academic personnel who follow UW policies, standards, and guidance related to digital accessibility.
The expectations outlined below highlight key practices for creating accessible course materials and provide guidance on how to prioritize accessibility improvements over time. Focus on making steady, meaningful progress, beginning with the content and courses that will have the greatest impact.
Expectations
- Create Accessible Course Materials from the Start
Design, develop, and update course materials to align with UW accessibility standards from the outset, focusing first on content you create, including:
- Syllabi
- Assignments and handouts
- Presentation slide decks
- Images and diagrams
- Videos and recorded lectures
- Use UW-Supported Tools
Use centrally supported tools to help create and maintain accessible content, including:
- Canvas Learning Management System
- Panopto lecture capture
- Zoom video conferencing
- Little Forest for pdf remediation
- TidyUp for cleaning up course files in Canvas
- MathPix for making scientific content more accessible
- Check and Improve Accessibility
Use provided accessibility tools and checkers to evaluate course materials and support continuous improvement.
- Work to achieve a baseline accessibility score of at least 80%, then develop a plan to improve by 5% to 10% annually.
- Progress matters more than perfection. Focus on making steady and meaningful improvement.
- Document accessibility efforts as evidence of inclusive and equitable teaching, a core element of effective teaching in UW’s Faculty Code.
- Select Accessible Reading Materials
Choose course readings that are available in accessible formats and support a wide range of learner needs. Best practices include:
- Using UW Library resources and consulting subject librarians when selecting course materials.
- Choosing the most current edition of textbooks whenever possible.
- Providing web-based (HTML) versions of readings instead of PDFs or scanned documents whenever available.
- Seek Support When Needed
Engage UW accessibility resources when working with complex, highly technical, or difficult-to-remediate content.
- Consult UW accessibility offices and support services for guidance.
- Find out if your materials qualify for an exception or submit an exception request when available tools, resources, and support are insufficient to meet UW technical standards for course content.
Prioritization Guidance
Prioritize courses that:
- Serve as prerequisites for other courses
- Have high student enrollment
- Regularly include students receiving accommodations through Disability Resources for Students (DRS)
Recommended Actions
- Remove outdated or unused digital course materials. TidyUP can help with Canvas courses.
- Run accessibility checkers on documents and files before uploading them to your Canvas course.
- Enable automatic captioning in Panopto and Zoom for recorded content.
- Review course accessibility scores regularly and address issues through making steady progress.
- Elevate complex or highly technical remediation needs to UW’s central accessibility resources for support.
- Incorporate accessibility improvements into routine course updates and revisions.