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Digital Accessibility FAQs

WSU Accessibility Statement 

Washington State University is committed to fostering an inclusive and accessible environment for all students, staff, faculty, and visitors who participate in WSU’s programs or services. WSU will ensure that students, faculty, staff, and visitors have access to university facilities, technology, and information needed to have an equal opportunity to succeed in their education, employment, and community activities. 

In addition, WSU is committed to complying with state and federal laws regarding individuals with disabilities, including, but not limited to: Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504), the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA), Washington State Office of the Chief Information Officer Policy 188, and Washington State RCW 49.60. 

Read the full University Accessibility Statement on the Access at WSU website.  

About digital accessibility

Digital accessibility refers to the practice of designing and developing digital content, applications, and services in a way that ensures they can be used by everyone, including people with disabilities. It means creating an inclusive digital environment where all employees, students, and visitors can access and interact with digital resources without barriers.  

Digital accessibility is everyone’s responsibility. All WSU employees who create and publish digital content (such as email, documents, multimedia, social media posts, and websites) are responsible for making sure their digital content is accessible and provides an inclusive experience. This involves a commitment to accessibility policies, regular training, and the use of accessible design and development practices across all digital platforms. Review the Core Concepts on the WSU Digital Accessibility website to learn more about creating digital content.  

WSU policies, Washington state policies, and ADA guidelines 

The following policies help WSU comply with Title II of the Americans with Disability Act (ADA) of 1990 and its 2008 Amendments, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. 

WSU’s commitment to providing equal access to electronic and information technology for all students, staff, faculty, and others with disabilities. 
This policy follows Washington State USER-01 Accessibility Policy; University policies and guidelines, including WSU’s Executive Policy Manual EP15; state and federal guidelines, regulations, and laws, including Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 USC Sec. 701 et seq.); the Americans with Disabilities Act, as amended (42 USC Sec. 12101 et seq.); and Revised Code of Washington (Discrimination—Human Rights Commission) RCW Chapter 49.60

The responsibility and procedures for ensuring the accessibility of materials and information provided through WSU’s electronic and information technology. 

Yes. There are state and federal laws that require WSU to ensure all digital content is accessible to all users.  

  •  Washington State policy (USER-01 Accessibility Policy): This policy establishes the expectation for state agencies that people with disabilities have access to and use of information and data and be provided access to the same services and content that is available to persons without disabilities unless providing direct access is not possible due to technical or legal limitations.2 

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Version 2.1, Level AA is the technical standard for state and local governments’ web content and mobile apps. WCAG, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, is a set of guidelines that say what is needed for web accessibility, such as requirements for captions for videos. WCAG is developed by the World Wide Web Consortium.

In limited situations, some kinds of web content and content in mobile apps do not have to meet WCAG 2.1, Level AA. A summary of those exceptions is available on the ADA.gov website.  

Yes. All documents posted online must be accessible, except in limited situations where certain criteria are met. Refer to the ADA.gov website for a summary of the exceptions.  

Yes. All documents posted online as course materials must be accessible.

Yes. Emails are considered digital content. Below is a list of resources to help you make your emails accessible: 

Failing to ensure digital accessibility denies access and exposes employees and the institution to legal liability. Under EP 7, creators must consult with the ADA Coordinator/Compliance and Civil Rights (CCR) if they believe making specific content accessible would constitute a fundamental alteration or undue burden AND must still provide alternative access for people with disabilities. 

People can submit complaints to the Information Technology Accessibility Coordinator for their campus or on the Compliance and Civil Rights website. 

Policies & guidelines

Submit your question

Can’t find the answer to your digital accessibility question? Submit your question using the form below.

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Documents

There are many reasons why PDFs and other documents should not be posted online including the following: 

  • A web page or online form is almost always a better option 
  • They hinder web performance in search. This is bad for SEO 
  • They require multiple steps to access. Additional clicks and software are necessary to access the content 
  • They are not mobile friendly 
  • They make it impossible for people to act immediately 
  • They are harder to track in analytics unless special reports are developed 
  • They cause difficulty in navigation, affecting the user experience 
  • They are less likely to be kept up-to-date because it takes extra steps to update the file, export, then reupload 
  • Here is an excellent article from NN/g, Avoid PDF for On-Screen Reading. 

All CAHNRS and Extension websites have Gravity Forms, a WordPress plugin for building online forms, activated by default.  Users can easily convert their Word and PDF forms into automated, intuitive, and accessible online forms. The CAHNRS web team provides regular training on WordPress plugins to the college community. Pre-recorded video training is also available in the CAHNRS YouTube training library.  

If the document is accessible, you can post it or share it online, but you should be certain there isn’t a better alternative.  

Example: if the PDF is meant to be printed, it can be posted online. It still needs to be accessible, however.  

Example: If the document is a form, it should be converted to an online form, if possible. Document forms are difficult to access, fill out, and submit, adding barriers for users.  

Microsoft and Adobe have training available. It’s best to make the native document accessible before converting it to a PDF. Some of the most common accessibility errors are: 

  • Improper heading structure 
  • Missing alternative text 
  • Non-descriptive link text 
  • Inaccessible tables 
  • Missing audio transcript or video captions 
  • Improperly formatted lists 

Here are some resources to get you started with developing accessible documents:  

Adobe 

Microsoft 

Microsoft and Adobe have built in accessibility tools to help you make your document accessible. Refer to the list of resources provided above under “How can I make my document accessible?” 

Yes. If you are posting an event flyer to your website to advertise an upcoming event, the flyer must be accessible. Consider creating an event using the Events Calendar plugin for an HTML version of your event instead. If y0u choose to create an online event and a flyer, the flyer must still be accessible. Refer to the list of resources provided above under “How can I make my document accessible?” 

Accessible means all “students, faculty, staff, and visitors have access to technology and information needed to have an equal opportunity to succeed in their education, employment, and community activities.” Read the full University Accessibility Statement on the Access at WSU website.  

Accessible means all visitors have equal access. Some visitors may have a disability and have difficulty accessing the content if it does not meet compliance.  

All WSU employees who create and publish digital content (such as email, documents, multimedia, and websites) are responsible for making sure their digital content is accessible and provides an inclusive experience. 

Email

Yes. Review the Make your Outlook email more accessible to people with disabilities for step-by-step instructions on how to make your email messages accessible.

Social Media

Refer to the Social Media page on the Digital Accessibility website for a guide on making your social media posts accessible.

No. Preexisting social media posts are one of the exceptions covered in the ADA rule. Refer to the Summary of Exceptions in the ADA Fact Sheet for more information.

Video

Yes, you can post videos to YouTube, but they must include captions.

Captions: Synchronized, verbatim, timed text displays of a video’s spoken audio content. Text versions of non-speech sounds (e.g., alarm sounding) are also captioned when they provide meaningful information.

If you use the auto-sync option in YouTube, you must review and update the caption to ensure grammar and punctuation meet WGAG 2.1 compliance. Visit the YouTube support page to learn how to add subtitles and captions in YouTube.

Visit the Audio and Video page on the Digital Accessibility website for more information.

Training and support

The University has developed a comprehensive Digital Accessibility website for the WSU community. Refer to this site often as new material is added regularly. You will find links to policies, trainings, upcoming events, testing tools and guides, announcements and more. Make sure to subscribe to their monthly Digital Accessibility newsletter.  

There are many free tools to help you test the accessibility of your website. Refer to the WSU Digital Accessibility website for a list of testing tools.  

There are numerous training opportunities available to WSU employees. Here is a list of options to get you started:  

In some cases, your content does not need to be updated. Archived web content is one of the exceptions.   

Web content that meets all four of the following points does not need to meet WCAG 2.1, Level AA: 

  • The content was created before the date the state or local government must comply with this rule, or reproduces paper documents or the contents of other physical media (audiotapes, film negatives, and CD-ROMs for example) that were created before the government must comply with this rule, AND 
  • The content is kept only for reference, research, or recordkeeping, AND 
  • The content is kept in a special area for archived content, AND 
  • The content has not been changed since it was archived. 

Refer to the ADA.gov website for a full summary of the exceptions.