Ensuring Digital Accessibility: DOJ Ruling and UW–Madison’s Efforts

The Department of Justice (DOJ) made a rule on April 24, 2024, stating that state and local governments must make their websites and apps accessible to people with disabilities. The goal of this rule is to remove digital barriers so disabled individuals can ​seamlessly ​access public services and information provided through digital tools and electronic resources without needing a reasonable accommodation. Universities like UW–Madison with a total population of 50,000 or more are expected to be in compliance by April 24, 2026.

Understanding the DOJ ruling

The new DOJ ruling is an update to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), ensuring that all parts of American society that rely on the internet and digital content are more seamlessly accessible for disabled individuals. Some of the requirements include text descriptions for images, known as “alt text,” so that people who are blind and use screen readers understand the context, and captions in videos for people who are deaf or hard of hearing.

As a state institution, UW–Madison must comply with this ruling. This means course materials, websites, and all digital tools and resources used in university programs must be accessible for all users.

This is a crucial step towards digital inclusion, ensuring that everyone, regardless of their abilities, can access and benefit from online public services.

Digital accessibility at UW–Madison

UW–Madison has made significant strides and improvements in digital accessibility well before the DOJ ruling. The efforts to establish digital accessibility at UW–Madison go back to 2001 when the first web accessibility policy was published. In November 2021, the Web Accessibility Policy was updated to the Digital Accessibility Policy and expanded to include digital media like social media, web applications, course materials, and other resources, along with websites.

In response to the recent DOJ ruling, UW–Madison established the Digital Accessibility University Coordination Committee (DAUCC) to evaluate current digital accessibility practices, identify resource gaps, recommend improvements, and ensure that the university meets the technical standards set by the new rule. The committee submitted its final report to campus leadership at the end of the 2024 calendar year. This report outlined the steps necessary for compliance and provided guidance for the ongoing efforts to create an accessible digital environment.

Most recently, at the recommendation of the committee, campus leadership approved a University Digital Accessibility Implementation to develop the infrastructure necessary for the university to support its content creators – faculty, communicators, IT, academic and university staff, etc. – in creating digitally accessible content. You can expect to receive more information from the project team in the coming weeks.

Resources to support digital accessibility

Digital accessibility is everyone’s responsibility because everyone creates or procures digital content, such as documents and emails. When we prioritize accessibility, we create a more inclusive environment that respects and values all people. This not only helps individuals with disabilities but also improves the overall user experience for everyone. Accessible design often leads to better usability, clearer communication, and more efficient interactions.   

There is a lot that all employees at UW–Madison can do to champion digital accessibility. UW–Madison provides several resources: 

•  Digital Accessibility Liaisons: Connect with your unit’s digital accessibility liaison to ensure all digital content within your unit is accessible.
• Digital Accessibility Community of Practice: Join a community of peers dedicated to learning and sharing best practices across campus. 
• Design Community: Join a community of peers passionate about improving digital experiences through design.  
• Make it Accessible Guides: Reference the make it accessible guides for easy-to-follow resources and guides to implement digital accessibility for websites, documents, images, multimedia, courses, meetings, and more. 
• Digital Accessibility Fundamentals: Familiarize yourself with digital accessibility fundamentals and download the checklist to ensure accessibility with all content that you or your unit create.  

• Center for User Experience: Consult with the Center for User Experience for accessibility evaluations, improving your websites, and more.  

There are also trainings and certifications available online for people to enhance their understanding of digital accessibility.   

• The W3C Web Accessibility Initiative offers a free Digital Accessibility Foundations Online Course. If you are a web developer, programmer, instructional designer, or someone who requires digital accessibility knowledge as part of your job, you can also get a verified certificate for $99.00.  

• The LinkedIn Learning Library has several courses built around digital accessibility. LinkedIn learning is free to UW–Madison employees, and some courses do offer verified certificates for a fee.  

• Microsoft’s Accessibility fundamentals course provides accessibility training for the Microsoft 365 suite of products.