IT Accessibility Guidelines

IT Accessibility Guidelines were originally signed on May 1, 2015, by Kelli Trosvig, Vice President for UW Information Technology and CIO. An updated version of the Guidelines was signed on March 31, 2017, by Aaron Powell, Interim Vice President for UW Information Technology and CIO. The UW guidelines were adopted by UW Bothell and updated with a link to UW Bothell’s Progress and Plan on June 26, 2019, by Christy Long, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Information Technology and CIO. Sheryl Burgstahler, Director of Accessible Technology Services, is the UW’s IT Accessibility Coordinator; issues regarding IT policy interpretation and implementation can be directed to her at sherylb@uw.edu. Ana Thompson, Learning and Access Designer, is UW Bothell’s contact for accessibility; questions regarding IT Accessibility, assessment and consultation services, and workshops and institutes for staff and faculty can be directed to her at thomana@uw.edu.

Purpose

The purpose of this document is to provide guidance to campus units and individuals employed by the University of Washington (UW) for fulfilling the UW’s commitment to equal access to information technology (IT) and complying with the UW Policy—IT Accessibility. Following the guidelines helps to ensure that people with disabilities have access to the same services and content that are available to people without disabilities, including services and content made available through the use of information technology. IT procured, developed, maintained, and used by the UW should provide substantially similar functionality, experience, and information access to individuals with disabilities as it provides to others.

The UW makes its offerings accessible to individuals with disabilities in accordance with UW Policy—IT Accessibility, UW Administrative Policy Statement 2.3, UW Executive Order 31, and Washington State Policy #188. The underlying foundation for the policies and the UW’s IT Accessibility Guidelines is Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and the Amendments Act of 2008.

Definition

The UW has adopted the definition of “accessible” used by the U.S. Department of Education in resolutions with postsecondary institutions regarding civil rights complaints about the inaccessibility of their IT.

“Accessible” means a person with a disability is “afforded the opportunity to acquire the same information, engage in the same interactions, and enjoy the same services as a person without a disability in an equally effective and equally integrated manner, with substantially equivalent ease of use. The person with a disability must be able to obtain the information as fully, equally, and independently as a person without a disability (source: Resolution Agreement: South Carolina Technical College System, OCR Compliance Review No. 11-11-6002).

Scope

IT covered by the guidelines supports administrative, research, and academic applications, including the following examples:

  • Websites
  • Video and audio content
  • Electronic documents
  • Desktop, mobile, and cloud-based applications
  • Content and learning management systems
  • Email and calendars
  • Library resources
  • Computers and peripherals
  • Information kiosks, telephones, digital signs, and other electronic equipment
  • Classroom technologies

Standards

Technologies and standards evolve at a rapid pace. The UW looks to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 Level AA, developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), for guidance in meeting its IT accessibility commitments. WCAG 2.0 provides success criteria for measuring web accessibility, as well as provides useful metrics for products and services that are not specifically web-based. Where an IT product cannot be brought into compliance, campus units are responsible for providing an individual with a disability equivalent access.

Progress and plan

The University of Washington has a lengthy history of proactively addressing IT accessibility issues. Its IT Accessibility Progress and Plan describe past efforts and future plans as it strives to ensure IT developed, procured, and used at the UW is accessible to individuals with disabilities.

Resources

The following resources can assist the UW community in understanding and meeting its accessibility goals. These resources can also be used as a reference for vendors and contractors providing IT products and services to the UW.

Resources and support for IT accessibility

Additional campus resources

Legal and policy requirements

Approval

Aaron Powell
Interim Vice President for UW Information Technology and CIO
March 31, 2017

UW Bothell adoption

Christy Long
Assistant Vice Chancellor for Information Technology and CIO
June 26, 2019