UCOP IT Accessibility Program

Maybe it's a website, a video, an application, or a training course. If you get to it from a computer, phone, or other electronic device, it needs to be accessible to people with disabilities. To understand the issues, watch this video about students with disabilities.

For students, employees, the general public – technology can be the great equalizer, letting them participate in and contribute to all kinds of programs, activities, jobs, classes... But if the technology isn't accessible, they're shut out.

The UCOP IT Accessibility Work Group helps UCOP departments ensure that IT components of their initiatives are accessible. For more information, read the UCOP IT Accessibility Program description (PDF).

Top Issues

  • Procurement. Often big applications or projects are managed through RFPs. Talk to local or systemwide Procurement right away about accessibility, follow the accessible procurement guidelines, and ask ITS for assistance.
  • Surveys: You’ll get more responses if your survey is accessible to everyone. Use an accessible survey creation tool and follow guidelines for creating accessible surveys.
  • Online Training: All roles need to know about accessibility – from designers to technologists to writers to procurement professionals. Short, informative online accessibility courses are available to everyone at UCOP through Siteimprove.
  • Accessibility Review: All content posted to the UCOP website must be accessible. To ensure this, a pre-publication accessibility review process has been implemented. See the Cascade Help site for more information.
  • PDFs: Any PDF posted to the web or distributed broadly should be accessible. Follow the easy guidelines for converting Word documents to accessible PDFs.
  • Prioritization: Ensuring accessibility means planning, extra time, and sometimes more resources. Be sure you know what projects are a high priority for accessibility by using this prioritization tool.
  • Videos: Videos have to be captioned, clear and simple. Follow the guidance for transcripts and captioning. Consult with ITS if you need technical assistance. 

People in Accessibility

The UCOP IT Accessibility Work Group is composed of volunteers from different departments who are charged with helping UCOP uphold the UC IT Accessibility Policy.

Systemwide Standards, Resources, and Information

UCOP works closely with a UC systemwide group of web accessibility experts and utilizes information and resources provided at the systemwide level.

  1. Standards and Best Practices
  2. Resources for Web Developers
  3. Resources for Content Providers
  4. Siteimprove Tipsheets: Documents, websites, videos, email
  5. Productivity Tools and Accessibility: Zoom, DocuSign, etc.