Digital Accessibility Basics
Distance Education is committed to supporting faculty in using digital tools and creating digital content that provides greater access to everyone. At APSU, accessible course design is crucial because it ensures that everyone has an equal opportunity to access learning materials and participate in courses regardless of abilities or disabilities. Accessible course design is also required by law under the Americans with Disabilities Act (opens new window) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (opens new window).
Our team is here to support faculty in making digital instructional content ADA-compliant by providing guidance and resources while encouraging departments to collaborate on discipline-specific accessibility solutions. The information provided on this website is meant to provide a starting point and quick reference to improve the accessibility of existing digital content and guide you to keep accessibility basics in mind when creating new content. The digital accessibility basics outlined here do not replace the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.2 Level AA (opens new window), which are the technical standards required for compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Required Minimum Syllabus Template Preferred Online Course Syllabus Template
Digital accessibility, or web accessibility, means that websites, tools, and technologies are designed and developed so that people with disabilities can use them. This ensures that users can perceive, understand, navigate, interact with, and contribute to the Web across a wide range of disabilities, including auditory, cognitive, neurological, physical, speech, and visual. Accessibility also benefits people without disabilities, such as those using mobile devices, older adults with changing abilities, or people experiencing temporary disabilities, situational limitations, or limited bandwidth. In short, web accessibility creates digital experiences that work for everyone.
To make your online courses accessible, we have created pages, from getting started with accessibility to next steps. We have also included pages covering key practices, including:
- Using easy-to-read, high-contrast text (opens new window)
- Organizing content with proper headings (opens new window)
- Correctly formatting tables (opens new window)
- Writing descriptive hyperlinks (opens new window)
- Providing alternative text for images and graphics (opens new window)
- Ensuring captions or transcripts are available and accurate for videos and audio (opens new window)
- Ensuring all documents pass a built-in accessibility checker
These resources are designed to break the process into manageable steps, so you don’t feel overwhelmed when working toward accessibility in your courses. Distance Education has a team of Instructional Designers available to support you in learning more about each of these practices and resolving accessibility issues.
If you need additional guidance on creating accessible materials for your online course, our Instructional Design team would be happy to assist you! You can request an Instructional Design Consultation (opens new window), specifying your needs, and a member of our team will reach out to assist you or set up an appointment. For more information about our services, visit our webpage for Instructional Design Consultations (opens new window).
Our course review program, APSU Online Quality Fundamentals (AOQF) (opens new window), is another way to receive feedback on the accessibility of your course. A qualified peer will review your course for all the criteria of accessibility covered in these pages, and you will have the opportunity to work with a member of the Instructional Design team while you work to address any accessibility issues in your course that need remediation.
For additional accessibility resources, please check out the following: