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Why Digital Accessibility is Important
Digital accessibility means that websites, applications, and other digital content are designed, developed, and written to be accessible and usable. Making digital content accessible is essential for people with disabilities, helpful for everyone, and supports UW values by fostering a diverse and inclusive community.
On April 24, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) published a new rule on digital accessibility under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This rule requires the University’s web content, including academic course content, to be accessible starting on April 24, 2027. The new minimum standard for compliance is meeting Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Version 2.1, Level AA. Learn more about the new rule and UW's ADA Digital Accessibility Initiative
Work on the UW Digital Accessibility Initiative is ongoing and updates will be added to this page as they become available.
Get started cleaning up Canvas and your digital documents with these resources and video tutorials
Teaching@UW is the go-to resources for faculty. Additionally, these Accessibility in Action videos created by colleagues in UW Continuum College cover multiple accessibility topics common in digital documents and Canvas. They are short, and get right to the point. They are designed to help you get started checking accessibility and fixing errors.
Because the videos are short, they don’t go into great detail about each topic—but they will get you started. We encourage you to check the additional resources, and schedule a 1:1 consultation to go over any questions you may have.
Schedule a 1:1 consultation with your UW Tacoma Office of Teaching Excellence team.
Accessibility Tools in Canvas
- Overview of Accessibility Tools in Canvas
- Using the Ally Accessibility Report -A great place to start to find out your accessibility score.
- Clean up course files with TidyUp - A great way to archive or delete unused files and content in your Canvas courses before you run your score.
- UDOIT - A slightly more advanced checker.
Accessibility Tools for webpages
Microsoft Office Accessibility Checkers
Google Accessibility Checker
PDF Accessibility Remediation Tool
Starting an Accessibility Journey: 5 Easy Tips - Mary-Colleen Jenkins, UW ATS (February 2025)
Making Course Materials Accessible (Canvas pages, syllabi, handouts, assignments, images, recordings, slide decks, etc.)
UW Library Article Scanning Service
Strategies for Online Classes and Meetings
Accessibility Tools for Canvas (TidyUp, Ally, UDOIT)
Think Before you Create a PDF
PDFs can pose real barriers for users with disabilities. They often require extra steps to make accessible, are difficult to navigate on mobile devices, and aren’t easily updated. Worse, they can interrupt the seamless experience we strive to provide across our websites and digital platforms.
It’s better to use tools that have built-in editors and create web-friendly formats, like Microsoft Word, Google Docs, Qualtrics, or web platforms such as Microsoft or Google forms. These tools are designed to produce content that is more accessible for people with disabilities, easier to read on mobile devices, and quicker to update when things change.
Look for alternatives to PDFs for course articles and when creating new content, choose an alternative format. If you have a document that must remain a PDF, utilize the UW's Little Forest PDF Remediation Tool.
Tools for daily use
Accessibility Tools for Canvas (TidyUp, Ally, UDOIT)
Accessibility Tool for Checking Websites (DevBot)
Alt Text Tools
- Image Accessibility Creator – resource from Arizona State University to help draft Alt Text and Long Description for images and complex graphics and charts.
- Math Detective – resource for generating draft alt text for images of math formulas.
Microsoft Office 365 Web and Desktop Accessibility Checker
Tips for everyday tasks
Hosting Accessible Meetings and Trainings
Working with Vendors (Procurement)
Strategies for Online Classes and Meetings
Visualization Data and complex content
Forms (Harvard University)
Email (Harvard University)
Creating Accessible Videos & Audio
Building Accessible Websites (Drupal accessibility tools, etc.)
Policies and standards set requirements that shape our digital accessibility work, and guidelines clarify how we meeting them.
Training Opportunities
Hands-on
- Accessible Technology and UWT Events
- Office of Teaching Excellence Drop-in Support
- Teaching@UW addresses accessibility in all of its workshops and programs.
- UW Teaching Technologies Online Office Hours
Self-paced
- Teaching Online 101 (Beginner & faculty focused)
- Accessibility 101 (Beginner, Intermediate)
- Deque Training (Beginner, Intermediate, Advance)
- LinkedIn (Beginning, Intermediate, Advance)
Custom Training and Workshops
UW-IT Accessible Technology Services is available to offer trainings or workshops on any aspect of digital accessibility for UW groups. To request a training, tell us a bit about your needs in an email to help@uw.edu, or submit your request via the Accessibility Consultation Form (requires a UW NetID).
Limited PDF Support
Avoid using PDF's if you can. PDFs can pose real barriers for users with disabilities. They often require extra steps to make accessible, are difficult to navigate on mobile devices, and aren’t easily updated. UW Tacoma IT has limited PDF remediation assistance for instances where an alternative to using a PDF is not possible. To learn more, visit How to Submit PDF's for Remediation
The Accessible Technology Events page is your hub for upcoming events, meetings, and webinars focused on digital accessibility at the University of Washington. Whether you’re a developer looking to join a Web Accessibility and Usability Meetup or a faculty member interested in our Course Accessibility Lunch & Learn, you’ll find opportunities to build your skills and connect with colleagues. Check back regularly for new events and webinar archives.
How to get HELP
Connect with your Faculty Council for Digital Accessibility Representative
Staff members across UW offer digital accessibility support and consultation, from clarifying requirements to teaching how to make digital content accessible. Send a detailed message to help@uw.edu – this will be routed to a relevant team who can best address your needs, and status be tracked through our online ticketing system.
Become a Digital Accessibility Liaison
Digital Accessibility Liaisons are excited to learn more about digital accessibility and to build their own skills so they can share what they learn with their units. They do so in several ways:
- Network with colleagues and communicate online via a Microsoft Teams workspace.
- Meet as a group several times per year for training and discussion.
- Continue to learn about how to make digital content, from websites to course materials to videos, more accessible.
- Help to promote digital accessibility within their units.
New tools for improving course document accessibility
- Grackle – an extension for Google Workspace that adds an accessibility checker to Google Docs, Slides, and Sheets. It automatically checks your documents, presentations, and spreadsheets for accessibility and guides you through fixing any issues found.
- TidyUP helps identify content you no longer need in your Canvas course so you can archive or delete it, allowing you to focus your attention on the materials that students will access.
We recommend running TidyUP as a first step in making your courses accessible. - UDOIT helps you identify accessibility issues with course materials in Canvas and address them quickly, including converting PDFs into Canvas pages that are easier to make accessible. Much like the Ally accessibility checker in Canvas, UDOIT offers immediate feedback and quick fixes for your course content.
UW Digital Accessibility Initiative
Learn about UW’s initiative to comply with the Department of Justice’s digital accessibility rule by April 2026. This includes governance, project management, and sustainability plans to ensure ongoing accessibility across UW’s digital ecosystem.
Learn About the ADA Digital Accessibility Initiative
Do you have questions about the ADA Digital Accessibility Initiative and UW's current work to meet the ADA Rule on digital accessibility? Email digitalaccess@uw.edu
Report an Digital or Physical Barrier
Did you or someone you know encounter an obstacle to access? We are committed to making our digital and physical campuses accessible for all.
