Accessibility Connections
- For accessibility in online learning and education, join the UDAT working group.
- Attend one of the Digital Accessibility Liaisons' monthly trainings.
- Connect with us on ASU's #accessibility Slack channel.
What is accessibility?
ASU is a comprehensive public research university, measured not by whom it excludes, but by whom it includes and how they succeed
President Michael Crow, ASU
Digital accessibility means making your course, website, and other online content accessible to everyone, regardless of their abilities or the device they are using. Often, simple changes can improve access to digital content for people with disabilities, including:
- Visual (e.g., blindness, low vision, color blindness)
- Auditory (e.g., deafness, hard of hearing)
- Motor (e.g., paralysis, cerebral palsy, missing/damaged limbs)
- Cognitive (e.g., learning disabilities, brain injury, psychiatric disorders)
A large portion of ASU's online audience has some form of disability that makes accessing the Internet difficult.
19.4%
of U.S. undergrads have
a reported disability
25%
of student veterans*
have a disability
Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2021)
* There are over 7000 student veterans at ASU.
Most of us experience temporary or situational disabilities, such as having a broken arm or being without audio in a very loud (or very quiet) environment. Making a site or course more accessible benefits users with disabilities, but it also makes it more usable for everyone.
From Microsoft's Inclusive Toolkit Manual | View Text Version | View Large Version | Download PDF
Laws and standards
All ASU employees contributing to digital content share the responsibility of ensuring that content complies with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1, level AA, in order to adhere to state and federal law (the Americans with Disability Act), the ASU IT Accessibility Standard and ASU's charter.