What is Accessibility?
"Accessible" means that individuals with disabilities are able to independently acquire the same information, engage in the same interactions, and enjoy the same services within the same time frame as individuals without disabilities, with substantially equivalent ease of use.
Are We Required to Make Accessible Content?
Yes, it's the right thing to do and it's a legal requirement (Rehabilitation Act of 1973 sections 504 and 508 as amended, Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 as amended). The University Administrative Manual (section 7,007), stipulates the requirement to meet the UNR Benchmarks for Measuring Accessibility (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines [WCAG] 2.0 Level AA).
Where Can I Get Help with Accessibility?
- The Center for Teaching & Educational Technology offers accessibility training for academic faculty as it relates to Canvas and related tools.
- @One online training courses offer free, self-paced accessibility traning for various content formats.
- The Universal Access Hub provides additional accessibility resources, 1:1 assistance, and document remediation.
- OpenStax provides cost-free, accessible textbooks for courses in Math, Science, Business, and more. Please consider utilizing these textbooks to provide the greatest possible student access in your classes this semester.
Who Can Assist a Student?
Accessible content will serve the needs of most individuals. If you have a student with an accommodation request or specific need, please encourage the student to contact Disability Services for Students (DSS) to arrange any accommodations they may require.
What Materials Must Be Accessible?
- All instructional materials and tools (i.e. video, images, documents, mobile applications, student response systems ["clickers"], etc.)
- Websites, web pages, web-based applications, and social media published or hosted by the University or otherwise used to conduct official university academic and business activities
Who is Responsible for Content Accessibility?
Each college, administrative unit, faculty member, and employee is responsible to ensure compliance for content they create or tools they select and, if notified of non-compliance, is required to remediate.