Digital Accessibility

• Department of Psychology: Amanda Schmit (amsuchy@umn.edu) and Silke Moeller (smoeller@umn.edu) are the departmental experts and are available for assistance and consultation.
  • Many other staff members are also trained and ready to help with fixing and auditing accessibility issues.
• The Office of Digital Accessibility (ODA) provides services to help all faculty and staff develop, maintain, and procure accessible digital content.

The Office of Digital Accessibility suggests the 3R Framework as a flexible framework for guiding accessibility work:

• Remove outdated and unused content.
• Revise and Review the remaining content to ensure it meets accessibility guidelines.
• Right First: Create or locate new materials that are accessible from the start.
  • This step should become as routine as using spell check on your files before sending them out. While helpful, spell check is not always accurate, so a manual review is also necessary.

The 7 core Digital Accessibility Skills apply to content created in all digital formats (documents, websites, course websites, slide decks, etc.). These skills are crucial because they:

• Applies to most types of digital content.
• Impact the largest number of people.
• Are transferable from tool to tool.

ODA’s website has many resources to help clarify these skills.

It is strongly recommended to avoid creating PDFs. Instead, use tools like Google and Microsoft for your files. This recommendation is due to the difficulty of making existing PDFs accessible using Adobe Acrobat, even for professionals.

• If you must have a PDF: Create content in Google Docs/Slides and use Grackle to generate the PDF.
• Host documents on websites (Google Workspace): This allows files to be view-only and prevents downloading.
• Don't worry about documents no longer used: Use library material and web-based documents.
• For complex PDFs still in use: Contact the Office of Digital Accessibility (ODA) for consultation and strategy.

The university utilizes a variety of accessibility checkers and tools to ensure our digital content is accessible to all users. Here are some of the key tools around the university:

• Microsoft Office: Includes accessibility checkers for Word documents, PowerPoint presentations, and Excel spreadsheets. These tools can also be used for Google products if they are downloaded and opened in Microsoft Office.
• Grackle: Designed for Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides. It helps identify and fix accessibility issues within these documents.
  • Note: Grackle does not work with Microsoft files (file names ending with a .docx, .pptx, .xlsx, etc.) opened in Google Drive. You must use the Microsoft accessibility checker or convert them to Google Drive Files.
• Universal Design Online Content Inspection Tool (UDoIT): Used within Canvas, this tool checks course content for accessibility issues and provides suggestions for improvement.
• Editori11y: An accessibility checker for Drupal sites, ensuring that web content meets accessibility standards.
• Formula Creators
  • Overleaf - LaTeX: Overleaf is a tool that allows online, collaborative LaTeX editing and assignments in Canvas. (requires a subscription)
  • Texthelp - Equatio: An equation creator for Google Docs and Slides, making it easier to create accessible mathematical content.

These tools are essential for maintaining accessibility standards and ensuring that all users can access and interact with our digital content effectively.

The Digital Accessibility Badging Program teaches you how to create content in an accessible way. In each self-paced online course, you will learn skills that apply to your everyday work. You may choose to take as many courses as you like. You will receive a digital badge highlighting the skills you demonstrated in the final project for each training.

• Digital Accessibility: Foundations