Educational Technology Services

Accessibility Resources

This page contains information and resources on accessibility in distance education, and applicable laws, policies and procedures. Faculty, staff, and students are encouraged to review these contents to better familiarize themselves with accessibility practices and regulations.

Laws, Policies and Guidelines

ADA Section 508 states that federal agencies must ensure their information and services are accessible to persons with disabilities. The revised 508 Standards include not just IT tools and systems, but electronic content such as documents, web pages, presentations, social media content, blogs, and certain emails.

ADA Section 504 states that "no qualified individual with a disability in the United States shall be excluded from, denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under" any program or activity that receives Federal financial aid.

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, Level AA explains how to make web content (such as text, images, sounds, code or markup that defines structure, presentation) accessible to people with disabilities.

Texas Administrative Code (Rule 206.70 effective April 18, 2020) states that websites and web applications of Institutions of higher education must adhere to Section 508 and WCAG 2.0 Level AA.

UT System Policy on accessibility

UTD’s Statement on Web Accessibility

Provost’s Memo dated January 6, 2020 on Accessible Syllabi

Provost’s Memo dated July 1, 2020 pertaining to the Fall 2020 Academic Calendar and Framework for UT Dallas Fall 2020 Course Schedule.

Tutorials and Guides

Available Tools and Resources

UTD Accessibility page

Report an Accessibility Barrier Form

The AccessAbility Resource Center provides support to students needing learning accommodations, and faculty seeking information on better providing those accommodations to their students.

Accessibility in Higher Education - inclusive pedagogy resources by CTL

Blackboard Ally

MS Teams and Stream - Teams allows faculty to conduct virtual classes with real time close captioning. Stream adds captions to videos for asynchronous viewing.

Office 365 Accessibility Resources - Microsoft has a dedicated accessibility website that serves as a portal for finding their help resources for accessibility.

UTD Syllabus Template (updated in 2019 for screen reader compatibility.)

  • What has changed?

FAQs

Additional Resources