About Content Management: Web Accessibility Policy

FINAL DRAFT

To provide equal access to online information, website design and content meets WCAG 2.0 standards

Policy Scope

Online information includes:

• academicguides.waldenu.edu websites
• academicanswers.waldenu.edu (Quick Answers)
• videos and webinars, live and recorded
• social media
• tutorials
• calendars and events
• student and faculty email communications

Scope Excludes

• Recommended content not created by the institution or required for coursework.
• Recommended content that is not central to understanding a concept.

Why WCAG 2.0?

•     It is the ISO standard, ISO/IEC 40500:2012
•     It is the standard recommended in the proposed update to the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Standards and Guidelines in Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act and Section 255 of the Communications Act.
•     It is the standard expected by the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights and the Department of Justice.

What is AA?

WCAG guidelines have three levels: A, AA, AAA. A is the minimum level, AAA is the most robust.

Why AA?

•     AA is the standard expected by the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights and the Department of Justice.
•     AAA is too restrictive to apply to an entire website. For example, AAA requires sign language captioning for all audio. The policy includes AAA standards where applicable.

Departments perform a yearly content audit to ensure information is accurate, necessary, and meets style and accessibility standards.  Content audit includes:

• All website home pages
• All Quick Answers
• All forms
• Controlled sample of
  • pages within each website
  • videos
  • classroom pages
  • student/faculty communications

All content will undergo an accessibility review prior to publication.

Vendor applications housing content owned or created by the university, required for coursework, or provided as a university service must be tested and conform to the policy unless the Walden Student Wellness and Disability Services provides an exception and a plan to provide accommodations for the application.

Example of vendor applications:

• Grammarly
• Webinar platforms such as Adobe Connect/Skype for Business
• LibGuides (academicguides.waldenu.edu platform)
• Facebook

Vendor applications housing content owned or created by the university, required for coursework, or provided as a university service must be tested and conform to the policy unless Student Wellness and Disability Services provides an exception and a plan to provide accommodations for the application.

Example of vendor applications:

• Grammarly
• Webinar platforms such as Adobe Connect/Skype for Business
• LibGuides (academicguides.waldenu.edu platform)
• Facebook

All web developers, content developers, and curriculum designers will undergo initial training in web accessibility standards, best practices, and Universal Design, and annual refresher training and professional development.

As technology changes at a rapid pace and web accessibility standards and best practices take time to catch up, innovative technology can be excused from this policy provided a compliant version of the technology (that may not be equal) is available.

The Web Accessibility Policy is reviewed annually to incorporate new WCAG AA standards and best practices and adopt AAA standards as feasible.

• New content published after March 1, 2018, must conform to the policy. 
• Existing content will be reviewed and updated to conform to the policy by December 31, 2018.
• New vendor applications must conform to the policy beginning July 1, 2019.
• Existing vendor applications will be reviewed and updated to conform to the policy or replaced by December 31, 2019.