Accessibility 

Overview

Accessibility in higher education implies the creation of a barrier-free learning environment in order to ensure that all students are able to experience all aspects of their educational experience and focus on the main objective: learning.

Guidelines

The University of Florida (UF) is making a crucial commitment to digital equity by requiring all its courses to fully comply with UF’s Electronic Information Technology and Communications Accessibility (EITCA) Policy. This institutional mandate is not isolated; it is a direct response to, and aligns with, updated federal guidelines. Specifically, the UF EITCA Policy mirrors the requirements set forth by the  U.S. Department of Justice’s updated Title II regulations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). 

The University of Florida requires full digital accessibility compliance for all courses by April 24, 2026. Instructors must ensure all digital materials (documents, videos, platforms, etc.) meet accessibility standards to be perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust. These updated regulations focus on ensuring that state and local government services, including those provided by public universities, are accessible online to all UF community members.

Tools and Strategies to Enhance Online Accessibility

The UFIT Center for Instructional Technology and Training assists faculty in creating online course content by outlining 8 steps to course accessibility. Additional resources are available below to help develop accessible online content.

Step 1: Assess your Situation

The journey to full compliance begins with evaluating your course’s current accessibility. Consider running a preliminary accessibility check on all your course materials, including videos, PDF documents, and textbooks. Doing this front-end work before the semester begins can help your semester run more smoothly. Review a quick overview of digital accessibility best practices to understand the steps you may need to take. 

The Center for Instructional Technology and Training is launching a new service to help instructors learn how to remediate course files to make them more accessible. This will make courses more usable for all learners, especially students with disabilities. A great place to start is the Ally course accessibility report, located in Instructor Tools within Canvas. Instructional support assistants will provide an overview of accessibility concerns within the course, evaluate what content to remediate, and work with instructors to improve the overall course accessibility score. Throughout the consultation, the instructional support assistants will model remediation techniques for content in Canvas, Word or Google documents, PowerPoint presentations or Google Slides, spreadsheets, videos, and PDFs.

To get started, submit an Accessibility Consultation request.

Step 2: Remove Unused Files

Once the initial audit is complete, the next critical action is to streamline content by eliminating unnecessary files. 

TidyUP is a Canvas file management tool that identifies unused content in course sites, showing instructors which files, pages, and folders are actively used and where. This helps maintain course organization by enabling the cleanup of outdated content between semesters. Primary users are instructors and course developers.

Step 3: Fix the Easy Issues

Immediately implement quick wins for usability and structure to address the most common accessibility barriers. Follow the CITT’s recommendations to consider how your Canvas course site design uses key practices to support screen reader users and assistive devices. Instructors should use proper heading tags instead of font size or bold formatting to create a navigational structure that allows screen reader users to skip between sections efficiently. When creating links, write descriptive text that explains the destination rather than using generic phrases like “click here” or displaying URLs, since screen reader users navigate by tabbing between links and need meaningful context. 

All images must include alt text descriptions, which can be added through Canvas’s embed image tool, and instructors should avoid placing text within images that may become pixelated when magnified by screen readers. Color should never be the sole means of conveying meaning, given various forms of colorblindness, so instructors should use bold or italic text instead of color coding. Finally, maintaining sufficient contrast between text and background colors ensures readability for users with low vision. These accessibility practices not only support students with disabilities but also enhance overall usability for all learners.

To check external resources, consider using SiteImprove. UF provides this cloud-based tool that automatically identifies web accessibility issues in accordance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (A, AA, AAA) and monitors broken links, misspellings, and outdated contact information. Each College or administrative unit with third-level domains is assigned one SiteImprove Administrator for access.

Step 4: Check Video Accessibility

Once files have been organized, consider the media files. When videos rely solely on visual elements, they exclude viewers who cannot see them. To make your videos accessible to everyone, include audio descriptions that explain important visual information, ensuring all students can fully engage with the material.

UF provides faculty and staff with access to Mediasite, a platform for creating and sharing rich media presentations. A unique feature of this service is its ability to record and upload videos with multiple streams, allowing viewers to see the presenter and their computer screen content simultaneously. UFIT also provides free captioning for Mediasite videos with a 2-week advance notice. Eligible content includes DRC requests, distance/online courses (80%+ online), General Education courses, high-enrollment reusable videos, and undergraduate courses. Face-to-face lecture capture and self-funded sections aren’t eligible but can access UF pricing through the Administrative Captioning Office.

Step 5: Ditch PDFs, Create Documents

PDFs can create compatibility issues with screen readers. Consider using alternative file types. If you choose to use Word files, UF IT has provided a guide to creating accessible documents. UF’s IFAS Communications department has also put together a useful Word accessibility resource guide to provide support to faculty and staff. 

SensusAccess is a document conversion system that converts documents into accessible formats. Log in with your Gatorlink credentials to upload files and download edited, accessible versions.

Step 6: Polish your PowerPoints

When creating and sharing lecture slides for students, consider starting with a departmental UF-branded template. Ensure each PowerPoint is fully accessible by using appropriate color contrast, adding alternative text to images, giving each slide a unique title, and verifying the reading order flows logically. 

If you’re not sure where to start, UF’s IFAS Communications department has created a helpful Accessibility in PowerPoint Lecture and a PowerPoint Accessibility Guide for faculty and staff.

Step 7: Remediate Remaining PDFs

While many documents can be converted to alternative formats, sometimes a PDF is required. In these instances, you can ensure your PDFs are accessible using Adobe Acrobat Pro. UF IT provides a helpful guide for how to use this program.

Step 8: Plan for the Future

Ultimately, these efforts culminate in the final step – establishing a strategy for ongoing accessibility maintenance. Consider using some of the resources and strategies below: 

  • Engage Students – Many students are aware of how they learn best. Providing a welcoming opportunity for students to talk with you about their needs can save you time and frustration.
  • Provide Multiple Formats – Give students the opportunity to access materials and course content in a number of ways, such as video, podcast, study guides, checkpoints, and class notes. This helps by providing access to materials in a multitude of ways. All materials are not created equal. It is important to check that all students have access to the material for their course in a way that they can best understand it.
  • Disability Resource Center (DRC) – Students may not be aware of all the resources available on campus to assist them. The DRC celebrates disability identity as a valued aspect of diversity and champions a universally-accessible campus community that supports the holistic advancement of individuals with disabilities. Students may not know about the DRC, tutoring centers, and other resources designed to help them be successful at UF. Providing that information is vital.
  • Recite Me – Professors can encourage students to use Recite Me, a cloud-based accessibility toolbar that allows website visitors to customize content for their reading and comprehension needs. UF Mercury-branded websites can easily integrate this tool with the provided code, enhancing inclusivity with no software installation required.

References:

To register, login to my.ufl.edu, then navigate to My Self Service > Training and Development > myTraining and search for “UF_GET807v_OLT” by using the Activity Search field in the upper right hand corner.