Digital Accessibility
What is Digital Accessibility?
Digital accessibility is all about making sure that everyone, regardless of their abilities, can access and use online content. At the Center for Teaching Excellence, we are committed to creating a digital environment where all students, faculty, and staff can easily navigate and interact with online courses and other digital content.Why is Digital Accessibility Important?
As educational experiences move online, ensuring accessible digital content is crucial to supporting the needs of our learning community. In addition, it is important to remember, the Final Rule, approved by the Department of Justice, requires compliance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA accessibility standards for all web content and mobile apps by April 24, 2026, for public entities serving over 50,000 residents. Please note that TAMU system is adopting WCAG 2.2 standards. Explore Our Resources
The Center for Teaching Excellence has curated resources to help you create accessible content. Additionally, we offer workshops and department trainings on digital accessibility. Explore these opportunities below.
IT Accessibility Technology services
- IT Accessibility Website
- ADA Title II FAQs (Requires Texas A&M University login credentials)
Creating Accessible Content with Microsoft Word
Digital Accessibility Trainings
Explore our full range of trainings below and find the one that fits your learning goals and schedule.
CTE Digital Accessibility Trainings | |
|---|---|
Thursday, February 6 (9:30 - 10:00 a.m.) | |
Tuesday, February 11 (1:00 - 1:45 p.m.) | |
Thursday, February 20 (9:30 - 10:00 a.m.) | |
Tuesday, February 25 (1:00 - 1:45 p.m.) | |
Thursday, March 6th (9:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.) | |
Thursday, March 20th (9:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.) | |
| Thursday, April 3rd (10:00 a.m. - 10:45 a.m.) |
Check out: CTE’s upcoming Digital Accessibility workshops by visiting our CTE Calendar of Events
More Training Opportunities
Texas A&M System Digital Accessibility Course
We recommend completion of the TAMU System digital accessibility course that can be found in TrainTraq:Course Number - 2114218 Digital Accessibility Awareness
Course Information: This course provides an introduction to digital accessibility. Participants who successfully complete this course should be able to define digital information resources, apply universal design principles, and understand the benefits of digital accessibility. The intended audience for this course is all persons within the Texas A&M University System who provide, acquire and consume digital information resources. This includes but is not limited to all employees of the A&M system.
Council for Academic Technology and Innovative Education (CATIE) Trainings
Description: To help support the accessibility initiatives across the Texas A&M University System, the CATIE work group on Accessibility & UDL is providing training sessions on accessibility tools for all system members. These trainings are free and led by digital instructional material accessibility experts within the TAMU System. These trainings will be offered the third Friday of each month from 11am-12pm via Zoom. See more information below.
CATIE Accessibility Trainings Information
| Topic | Trainer | Date & Time |
|---|---|---|
Overview of available tools | Dr. Justin Carrell (Tarleton State University) Dr. Kelley Shaffer (Texas A&M University) | Friday, February 21 (11 a.m. - 12 p.m.) |
(Office) 365 Accessibility Checkers & Export Options | Major Stewart (Prairie View A&M University) | Friday, March 21 (11 a.m. - 12 p.m.) |
Acrobat Pro/PDF Remediation | J.J. Hernandez (Texas A&M International University) | Friday, April 18, (11 a.m. - 12 p.m.) |
LinkedIn Learning Courses
Foundations of Accessible eLearning
Description: This course explores accessibility and fairness in eLearning, giving you strategies based on best practices to creating accessible digital content for all.Duration of Course: 51 minutes
Foundations of Accessible eLearning Course Link
Creating Accessible PDFs
Description: This course teaches how to create accessible PDFs using tools like Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Adobe InDesign. It covers the importance of accessibility, key features of accessible PDFs, and how to remediate existing files using Adobe Acrobat. Also, this course explains how to test PDFs with screen readers, use third-party tools for faster remediation, and references relevant Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) success criteria.Duration of Course: 5 hours 33 minutes
Creating Accessible PDFs Course Link