Creating clear, consistent, and intuitive content is essential for everyone, as it reduces confusion and enhances understanding. By organizing text effectively and using accessible fonts, we help users easily navigate materials and grasp important concepts without struggling with formatting or sensory characteristics. This approach supports a wide range of needs and fosters an environment where all learners can succeed.

• Readability: Ensure all content flows naturally from left to right, top to bottom. This makes it easier for everyone to follow along. 
• Chunking: Break up large blocks of text with meaningful headings. This helps learners quickly find what they need. 
• Headings: Use nested and sequential headings to keep things organized. 
• Instructions: Provide clear instructions if learners need to interact with the content. 
• Sensory Characteristics: Avoid relying solely on sensory characteristics (like location or size) to convey meaning. This ensures everyone can understand. 
• Font Styles: Don’t depend only on font styles (like bold or italics) to make a point. Use clear language instead. 
• Lists: Use numbering and bullet tools for lists to keep them neat and easy to follow. 
• Spacing: Limit the use of consecutive blank spaces to avoid confusion. 
• Font Size: Make sure all text is at least size 10 font for readability. 
• Font Choice: Use sans serif fonts or the system default font, and limit to three different fonts to keep things simple. 
• Other font examples: Arial, Tahoma, Trebuchet MS, and Verdana 
• Acronyms: Spell out uncommon acronyms the first time you use them (e.g., UTSA for The University of Texas at San Antonio). 

Approximately 15-25 minutes for every page

Providing meaningful and concise alternative text for images, or marking an image as decorative when appropriate, is essential for helping everyone understand the purpose of the image. This ensures smoother navigation for all users, including those using screen readers, and enhances the overall user experience.

• Alt Text: Always provide meaningful and concise alternative text or alternative text and captions for images. This helps everyone understand the image’s purpose. 
• Text as Image: Avoid using text as an image unless absolutely necessary. This keeps content accessible. 
• Decorative Images: Use decorative images sparingly and tag them correctly to avoid clutter. 

Less than 5 minutes for every basic image and 20-30 minutes for every complex image.

We want everyone to easily read our content, so ensure theres enough contrast between the text and background and that color isn't the only way to convey important information. This helps make our materials more accessible and improves readability for everyone, ensuring a smoother and more efficient experience.

• Contrast Check: Use tools like the WebAim Color Contrast Checker to ensure your colors meet contrast requirements. This makes text easier to read.
• Color Meaning: Don’t rely on color alone to convey meaning. Include text explanations so everyone understands. 

Less than 5 minutes for every page

Ensuring our tables are accessible benefits everyone by making the information easier to understand. Avoiding merged or blank cells and including a header row helps screen readers convey data accurately, while meaningful captions provide context making the table easier to understand. Using tables for data only, rather than scanned or image-based formats, creates a clearer and more user-friendly experience.

• Cell Use: Avoid using merged or blank cells in tables. This keeps data easy to understand and navigate. 
• Header Row: Always specify a header row to help screen readers convey the data accurately. 
• Alt Text: Provide meaningful and concise alternative text and table captions. 
• Data Only: Use tables only to convey data, not for layout purposes. This ensures clarity. 
• Images: Images of tables are completely inaccessible and should be avoided. 

Approximately 10 minutes for every 30 cells

Making URLs meaningful and descriptive helps everyone understand the content theyre accessing. Keeping complete URLs unlinked and in brackets ensures easy copying without disrupting assistive technology. Also, informing users how hyperlinks will open helps prevent confusion and supports smooth navigation.

•  Descriptive Links: Link URLs to meaningful and descriptive text. This helps students know what to expect.
•  Full URLs: If you need to include the full URL, keep it unlinked and in brackets to avoid confusion.
• Avoid "Click Here": Be specific about where the link will take them instead of using phrases like "click here."
•  Link Behavior: Inform students how hyperlinks will open to reduce confusion. Canvas already does this.

Less than 5 minutes for every hyperlink

By providing clear audio, accurate captions, detailed transcripts, and audio descriptions, we make video and audio materials easier for everyone to engage with. Adding flexible playback controls and ensuring visuals are clear and effective helps us support a wide range of needs and create materials that enable success.

Media Quality and Controls

Ensure your audio is clear and free of background noise, and give students control over how they watch and listen— this flexibility helps everyone engage with content at their own pace. 

• Audio Quality: Ensure clear audio with minimal background noise. This makes it easier for everyone to listen.
• Media Controls: Provide control over media playback so students can engage at their own pace.
• Titles: When possible, include concise and descriptive titles for videos to give context. 

Color and Visual Content

Be careful about using color to convey meaning in visuals. Not everyone sees color the same way. Don't rely on color alone to convey meaning; always check that your color contrast is accessible for students with visual impairments. 

• Color Use: Avoid using color to convey meaning and ensure good color contrast.
• Flashing content: Avoid flashing or blinking content. 

Captions and Transcripts

Auto-generated captions aren’t enough! Double-check them for accuracy and always provide full transcripts so no one misses out on your content. 

• Captions and Transcripts: Verify quality captions and provide accurate transcripts to make content accessible.
  • Note: Panopto and newer YouTube videos provide transcripts based on captions. 

Accessible PowerPoints and Outlines

When you use PowerPoints to create narrated lecture videos, share the accessible version or an outline with students.  

• PowerPoints: Share accessible PowerPoints or outlines with videos to support learning. 

Video Descriptions and Audio Descriptions

Every video should have a video description to give students context. Tell students what it’s about, why it matters, and if they need to watch it (or can listen). This is different from audio descriptions, which are also necessary. Audio descriptions are narrations that describe key visual elements in content, allowing students to engage with material they might otherwise miss. – As a note, include for videos that need AD, please write in the Video and Audio reference sheet. Request AD early for accommodations.  

• Descriptions: Create video descriptions and audio descriptions for key visual elements to enhance understanding.
  • Answer the following questions: What am I watching? Why am I watching it? Who is in the video? Where am I in this video? Tell students when to treat the video as a podcast and listen to or read the transcript.
• For Older Videos: Provide full transcripts with audio and video content.
• For New Videos: Follow the guidance in AD in a Couple of Minutes. 

For videos that need AD, please write in the Video and Audio reference sheet. Request AD as needed early for accommodations.

We create an environment that supports a wide range of needs by following WCAG 2.0 AA guidelines and ensuring that publisher content and vendor software align with these standards. When we collaborate with publishers and vendors who prioritize accessibility, we encourage them to enhance their products, creating better experiences for everyone.

Review Content: Ensure content is reviewed and approved before use to maintain accessibility standards.

Reviews can take 2-4 weeks. Request publisher and vendor reviews early.

By ensuring external content meets accessibility guidelines, we make it possible for everyone to fully engage with and benefit from the resources, helping to support success.

• Navigation Steps: Provide clear steps for navigating multiple web pages to avoid confusion. 
• Engagement: State if students need to review images and videos on the webpage. 
• Distractions: Review websites for excessive pop-ups and ads to keep focus on the content. 
• Follow Guidelines: Adhere to previous accessibility guidelines for Standards 1-6. 

Reviews can take 2-4 weeks. Request external content reviews early.

By proactively creating accessible materials, we can ensure everyone can effectively engage with what we create, fostering a supportive and productive environment. Together, we can achieve this by using best practices like adding descriptive headings, providing alternative text for images, and ensuring all digital materials meet accessibility guidelines.

Follow Guidelines: Adhere to previous accessibility guidelines for Standards 1-6 for all created files using MS Office, PDFs, InDesign, etc.

Remediation time depends on the type of files being created.

By using Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles, we can work together to create flexible environments that meet a wide range of needs, helping everyone engage more effectively and achieve success. This involves offering multiple ways to present information, providing content in different formats, allowing various methods to  demonstrate  knowledge, and building a supportive environment for growth and learning.

UDL is a versatile practice, but we want some core elements to be available in courses. 

• Student Resources: Include a list of resources, the Student Disability Services syllabus statement, and remind students to share their accommodation letters early in the semester to ensure they receive the support they need. 
• Readings: Provide a list of readings and articles at the beginning of the course for easy access, so students can obtain remediated copies when needed. 
• Student Success: Include a statement in the course asking students to contact you if they need to discuss ways to succeed in the course or how to effectively implement their accommodations. 

Varies depending on elements added to the course.