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Accessibility: Overview

Web Accessibility at Walden

Web accessibility is designing, building, and editing online content to provide equal access to information and functionality, regardless of disability or the technology people use to interact with the content.  Web accessibility ensures that anyone who uses our websites, forms, and other online tools and resources can interact with our content in the same way.  Accessibility allows all users to perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with the online content.

It is important that all the content presented by the university is equally accessible to all students at Walden.  We need to consider the needs of those with hearing and vision impairments, as well as cognitive disabilities.  There are obvious accessibility considerations—for the blind, for the deaf—and less obvious considerations, such as red/green colorblind.  We use the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG) standard as our measure to ensure accessibility.

If you are interested in learning more about web accessibility, the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), a section of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), has excellent accessibility resources.  The W3C developed the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) standard.

Additional Accessibility Resources

  • Wikipedia has a good article regarding web accessibility. 

  • Student Wellness and Disability Services is also an excellent resource for accessibility resources.  Web Specialist Cleiby Cristerna (cleiby.cristerna@adtalem.com) can answer accessibility and technology questions. 

  • We use a tool called Site Improve to scan Walden websites and identify code-based accessibility issues. The tool also detects SEO issues, broken links, and other standard web checks. Content the Associate Director, Content Management (Lisa Raymond, lisa.raymond@mail.waldenu.edu) for more information on how Site Improve is used in academicguides, Quick Answers, and the student catalog and handbook.

  • Finally, WebAIM has developed a tool to check web pages for accessibility issues.  

Americans with Disabilities Act

From the ADA website: What is the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)?

"The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) became law in 1990. The ADA is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life, including jobs, schools, transportation, and all public and private places that are open to the general public. The purpose of the law is to make sure that people with disabilities have the same rights and opportunities as everyone else. The ADA gives civil rights protections to individuals with disabilities similar to those provided to individuals on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, age, and religion. It guarantees equal opportunity for individuals with disabilities in public accommodations, employment, transportation, state and local government services, and telecommunications. The ADA is divided into five titles (or sections) that relate to different areas of public life."

ADA applies to all products and services provided by Walden, from the waldenu.edu marketing site to the classroom, student portal, student and faculty communications, and departmental websites.  

ADA doesn't include specific requirements, rather, requirements are determined as cases work through the legal system.  It is generally accepted that the Departments of Education and Justice expect websites to adhere to WCAG 2.0 AA standards. The WCAG 2.1 standard was officially released in June 2023. It will take 6 months to a year before it begins to show up in legal rulings.

In the past, it was enough to say "we are working on it" when presented with accessibility complaints.  That is no longer the case. A number of prominent cases in the higher education field have clearly indicated the government's expectations towards web accessibility. Except for truly cutting-edge technology, web accessibility is required in any online tool.

Universal Design

Universal Design describes the idea that products are designed and built to be usable to the greatest extent possible by everyone, regardless of their age, ability, or status in life.

Whenever possible, accessibility should be built into online content, not tacked on as an afterthought or an accommodation. It is quite expensive to fix accessibility issues after the product launch, so writing and creating content with accessibility in mind is cost-effective as well.

Universal Design Resources