Digital Accessibility Compliance Under ADA Title II and WCAG 2.1 AA

Tulane University is dedicated to ensuring that all members of our community, including individuals with disabilities, have full and equal access to our programs, services, and activities. Digital accessibility is an essential part of Tulane’s mission to create, share, and preserve knowledge that empowers individuals, organizations, and communities to think critically, learn continuously, and lead with integrity and wisdom. Achieving this commitment requires collaboration across the entire university. Every department and role has an important part in maintaining compliance with ADA Title II and WCAG 2.1 AA standards. The following sections outline the key responsibilities that support this shared goal.

Operational Responsibilities

 

University leaders, including Presidents, Provosts, Vice Presidents, CIOs, Deans, Department Chairs, and Directors, play a pivotal role to advancing and sustaining digital accessibility across campus. 

Key responsibilities:

  • Ensure compliance with digital accessibility mandates required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
  • Allocate appropriate resources (time and funding) to support training to create accessible digital content.
  • Foster a culture of accessibility throughout the university.
  • Collaborate with the Goldman Center for Student Accessibility and the Office for Campus Accessibility to improve digital access across all Tulane campuses.

Faculty members are responsible for providing all students equitable access to course materials and learning environments. 

Key Responsibilities:

  • Create and share Word, PowerPoint, and PDF files in accessible formats.
  • When possible, select textbooks available in both digital and print formats.
  • Host course videos in Canvas/Yuja with accurate captions, transcripts, and audio descriptions as needed.
  • Use accessible platforms, such as Zoom, for online classes and virtual meetings.

Web developers, content managers, and authors help ensure Tulane's websites are accessible to everyone. By designing and maintaining the templates used across colleges, schools, and departments, they help create inclusive, public-facing web resources for everyone.

Key responsibilities:

  • Ensure Drupal and Wordpress templates meet WCAG 2.1 AA standards.
  • Register Tulane managed websites with DubBot for automated accessibility testing and monitoring.
  • Participate in web accessibility trainings.
  • Schedule accessibility testing and audits (annually or bi-annually).
  • Web Content Managers/Authors: Request manual web accessibility testing when making significant updates to departmental websites.
  • Web Developers: Request manual web accessibility testing during any major redesign of Drupal or WordPress templates.

Librarians manage a broad range of digital resources and play an integral role in ensuring that collections, databases, audio and video content, and e-reserves are accessible to all members of the Tulane community.

Key responsibilities:

  • Ensure that frequently used library resources, such as databases, PDFs, and LibGuides, comply with WCAG 2.1 AA standards.
  • Verify that online services, including chat tools and room-reservation systems, are accessible to all users.
  • Collaborate with IT and Procurement to ensure that any digital solutions purchased or licensed by the library meet WCAG 2.1 AA standards.

The Department of Procurement Services is responsible to adhere to university policies and accessibility requirements regarding procurement. 

Key Responsibilities:

  • Include WCAG 2.1 AA standards and applicable accessibility regulations in all RFPs, contracts, and purchasing agreements.
  • Collaborate with faculty and staff to obtain Voluntary Product Accessibility Templates (VPATs) or Accessibility Conformance Reports (ACRs) from vendors.
  • Partner with IT and ILC to review all technology purchases for accessibility compliance.

Students contribute to digital accessibility by identifying and reporting barriers that limit equitable access to academic materials and campus resources.

Key Responsibilities:

  • Report issues such as image-based PDFs, images without alt text, or videos without captions when encountered in courses or on Tulane websites.
  • Consider partnering with the Goldman Center for Student Accessibility to create or join a student group focused improving digital accessibility at Tulane.

Please review Tulane's Web Content & Document Accessibility Guidelines to learn more about digital accessibility best practices to create and maintain digital content.