Get Faculty and Staff Involved in Accessibility Testing

How can campus leaders make certain all users of their Web sites have full access to benefit from the content? Following the federal government’s Section 508 guidelines is a great place to start and might also help avoid lawsuits.

The University of Maine is six years into this journey, and our experiences in establishing policy and moving toward full Web accessibility may help other campuses looking to do the same.

First, a bit about Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act passed in 1998. The section requires U.S. government agencies to develop and use information technology that gives employees with disabilities the same access as other employees. (It also requires this of any federal system or Web site the public uses.) Sounds simple enough, but making Web sites fully accessible to people with sight and hearing disabilities can prove tricky.

Let me stress that Section 508 was intended to apply to federal agencies. So why does the University of Maine strive to meet Section 508 guidelines? Because one day, we may have to. California already requires its state universities to comply, and it’s a good idea for any higher education institution to be prepared for similar legislation in its state. And considering that universities and businesses have been sued for failing to provide full access to people with disabilities, it’s better to be safe than sorry.

Besides, it’s good business to make our Web sites fully accessible to as many as possible. It was our center’s job to convince everyone from the Web Office and the IT director to the university president that although we’re not under the gun like schools in California, we should consider Section 508 compliance the right thing to do. We see access to our Web site as a civil right for all.

The University of Maine’s goal is to achieve 100 percent accessibility compliance for all its Web sites. So far we’ve taken critical steps: the development of a formal Web accessibility policy, buy-in to the policy at critical levels, the implementation of strategies to teach developers about accessibility, and the use of validation and repair tools.

Continue to read this article on EdTech