Events Archive

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• Third-Party Vendor Accessibility Due Diligence: Barb led a detailed discussion on the university's responsibility for ensuring third-party vendor tools and applications are accessible, outlining a due diligence process and sharing a comprehensive checklist with participants including Michelle, Mark, Angie, and others.
  • University Responsibility for Vendor Accessibility: Barb explained that the university is responsible for the accessibility of all third-party vendor tools and applications used by students, staff, or the community, emphasizing the need to prioritize remediation efforts based on the impact of the tool on participation in university programs.
  • Vendor Accessibility Checklist Overview: Barb introduced and reviewed a vendor accessibility checklist document, which includes an email template for contacting vendors, a list of required documentation (such as VPATs and accessibility roadmaps), and guidance on documenting product details and usage.
  • Evaluating and Documenting Accessibility: The checklist instructs users to request a VPAT or conformance report, review known issues and workarounds, and document the accessibility lead's contact information; it also recommends performing a quick internal accessibility check using keyboard navigation, screen readers, and color contrast assessments.
  • Risk Assessment and Final Recommendations: Barb described a stoplight model for rating accessibility risk (green, yellow, red) based on the severity of barriers and vendor responsiveness, and advised that major barriers or high-risk tools should be escalated to department heads for decision-making, with all findings and recommendations documented.
  • Coordination for Campus-Wide Vendor Tools: In response to Angie's question, Barb clarified that her team manages due diligence for widely used campus tools (e.g., Nelnet, FormAssembly, Atlassian), and committed to creating a shared spreadsheet to track which vendors have been reviewed, coordinating with Aimee Elliott and encouraging departments to check before duplicating outreach.
• Accessibility Office Hours and Support Resources: Barb announced recurring virtual accessibility office hours, coordinated by UIT and UMC, to provide support and answer questions for webmasters and staff preparing for the Title 2 deadline, with Emily and others assisting in sharing booking links and resource information.
  • Office Hours Schedule and Booking: Barb shared that virtual accessibility office hours will be held every Friday from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM until the Title 2 deadline, with a booking link posted in the University Webmasters Community of Practice Teams channel for participants to sign up and submit questions in advance.
  • Session Structure and Expectations: Barb clarified that the office hours are intended for answering questions and helping participants overcome roadblocks in their accessibility remediation work, but are not designed for staff to remediate content on behalf of attendees.
  • Additional Faculty Support: Barb directed participants to the Center for Teaching Excellence, which offers resources and Thursday office hours specifically for faculty needing help with accessible course materials and PDFs.
• PDF and Flipbook Accessibility Guidance: Barb addressed questions from Mark, Michelle, and others regarding the accessibility requirements for PDFs, scanned documents, and flipbooks, providing guidance on remediation priorities, exceptions, and best practices for creating accessible content.
  • Flipbook Accessibility Challenges: Barb explained that PDF flipbooks, such as those created with ISSUU, often disrupt semantic structure and are generally not accessible, recommending that content be provided in accessible HTML or tagged PDF formats, and that a more accessible alternative be made available if flipbooks are used.
  • Remediation of Scanned PDF Consents: In response to Mark's question, Barb advised focusing on making future patient consent forms accessible by moving to online forms, while gradually remediating older scanned image PDFs by tagging them for accessibility, starting with the most recent and frequently used documents.
  • Exceptions for Pre-Existing Documents: Barb clarified that under ADA Title 2, pre-existing conventional electronic documents (such as PDFs, Word, and Excel files) uploaded before the compliance deadline are generally exempt from remediation unless they are required for participation, but this exception does not apply to videos or HTML content.
  • Faculty and Staff Process Improvement: Kim raised concerns about managing large volumes of PDFs from faculty, and Barb recommended leveraging the Center for Teaching Excellence for faculty training and resources, emphasizing the importance of setting accessibility tags in source documents before PDF creation.
• Video Captioning and Audio Description Requirements: Barb clarified for participants that all videos, whether public-facing or internal, must have captions according to WCAG 2.1 AA guidelines, and explained when audio descriptions are required, addressing a recurring question from the group.
  • Captioning Requirements for Videos: Barb stated that captions are required for all prerecorded videos with audio, regardless of whether they are public or internal, and referenced WCAG 2.1 AA guideline 1.2.2 as the standard.
  • Audio Description Guidelines: Barb explained that audio descriptions are only required if visual information in the video is necessary to understand the content, such as when a presenter does not verbalize slide content that is essential for comprehension.
  • Remediation Prioritization: Barb recommended prioritizing captioning for the most recent and critical videos, especially those required for participation, and working through large video collections in a triaged manner.
• Site-Wide Accessibility Banners and User Accommodation: Kim and others inquired about placing site-wide banners to communicate ongoing accessibility improvements, and Barb relayed guidance from OGC, recommending banners focus on providing contact information for accommodation requests rather than admitting non-compliance.
  • Banner Messaging Recommendations: Barb advised that banners should not state the site is non-compliant, but instead offer a clear avenue for users to request alternative accommodations if they encounter barriers, and committed to drafting approved wording for the community.
• Color Contrast and Template Updates: Larissa and Roger discussed issues identified by axe monitor regarding color contrast in web templates, with Barb confirming that the team will review and address these concerns as needed.
  • Template Color Contrast Issues: Barb and Roger agreed to investigate and update web templates to resolve color contrast issues reported by axe monitor, and requested specific examples from Larissa to facilitate the process.
• Vendor Cooperation and Documentation of Accessibility Barriers: Mark raised concerns about uncooperative vendors like Atlassian regarding accessibility documentation, and Barb advised documenting all issues and refusals, applying pressure where possible, and noted ongoing efforts to obtain VPATs for such tools.
  • Handling Uncooperative Vendors: Barb recommended that departments document accessibility issues and vendor refusals to remediate, communicate the legal obligations to vendors, and escalate persistent problems, while noting that her team is actively working on obtaining VPATs for widely used tools like Atlassian.

Follow-up tasks:

• Vendor Accessibility Checklist Sharing: Resolve the permissions issue preventing some participants from accessing the vendor accessibility checklist document in the meeting chat. (Barb)
• Flipbook Accessibility Guidance: Add the official stance on flipbooks and their accessibility limitations to the digital resources websites for reference by webmasters. (Emily, Digital Experience Team)
• PDF Accessibility Resource Links: Notify Sravi and UMC that the links for the resources site dedicated to document accessibility are not working and coordinate to have them fixed. (Barb)
• Banner Wording for Accessibility Compliance: Draft a site-wide accessibility banner message, run it by OGC for approval, and post the approved wording to the community for use by webmasters. (Barb)
• Third-Party Vendor Due Diligence Coordination: Create and share a spreadsheet in the Teams channel listing campus-wide third-party vendor tools and the status of accessibility due diligence, coordinating with Amy Elliott and relevant departments. (Barb)