University of Wisconsin–Madison

Resources and support make digital accessibility less overwhelming

The story at a glance

  • Started small — CIMER began by making the six most-used curricula more accessible.
  • Worked together — The team built a working group and partnered with campus accessibility experts.
  • Made it sustainable — Accessibility became an ongoing part of CIMER’s everyday workflow.

Digital accessibility might feel intimidating, but you don’t have to figure it out alone. There are plenty of tools and resources available to help you along the way. That’s what the Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research (CIMER) at UW–Madison learned as it approached digital accessibility.

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“Back in 2023, some folks on our team began to recognize a need to make our content accessible for everyone,” said Stephanie House. She is a researcher and curriculum specialist for CIMER, which provides training for individuals, institutions and organizations across the country to optimize research mentor/mentee relationships.

CIMER’s sheer amount of material makes digital accessibility upgrades a tall task. Its full library comprises dozens of curricula and hundreds of PDFs, from the 68-page “Mentoring Up for Early Career Investigators” to the 106-page “Mentorship Education for Field Geology” and even the 214-page “Mentor Training for Biomedical Researchers.” With so much content, it would have been easy to get overwhelmed, but according to House, CIMER has risen to meet the digital accessibility challenge thanks to a dedicated team, a plethora of resources and a strong support system behind the scenes.

Early on, House recognized the importance of collaboration. CIMER formed a working group to share ideas, refine its strategy and determine task ownership. The team also leveraged digital accessibility resources on campus by seeking expert guidance from the Center for User Experience (CUE) and McBurney Disability Resource Center (MDRC). Free online materials from Axe-Con, the world’s largest digital accessibility conference, have proven to be valuable as well. For CIMER staff, having these resources and accessibility allies helped alleviate feelings of overload and isolation.

CIMER started small by updating its six most commonly used curricula with basic accessibility features, such as heading structure, alternative (“alt”) text and screen reader capabilities. House then met with representatives from CUE and MDRC to get feedback on the improvements and find out what more could be done. From those baby steps emerged CIMER’s formal plan to update existing content and implement new digital accessibility practices that will enhance operability for every user going forward.

“Honestly, it’s been fun for me to do these reviews. I love curriculum development; that’s one of the things I most enjoy about my job. This process has allowed me to go back and look at everything with a more critical lens,” said House.

As she pointed out, digital accessibility doesn’t just aid individuals with visual, auditory, motor and cognitive disabilities. Miniscule changes like font selection, line spacing, mindful color choices and the elimination of media autoplay can have a big impact for those with dyslexia, autism or other language processing challenges.

“We’ve tried to go beyond what the minimum is, because it doesn’t address everything,” said House. “There are all these little things, which I’ve found make our material better for all users. I feel like we’re making our services better at the same time that we’re making things more accessible for people.”

At the recommendation of CUE, CIMER has even placed a blurb on the curricula page of its website, letting visitors know digital accessibility upgrades are in progress. Anyone who needs to access one of the programs that hasn’t yet been updated is invited to reach out to CIMER; House said the team will then make it a priority to make the necessary improvements.

“CIMER is currently updating our full curriculum library to make it digitally accessible. Several of our most frequently used mentor training curricula have been updated to be screen-reader-accessible (learn about the status of our updates). If you would like to request an accessible version of a curriculum that has not yet been updated, or have another accessibility concern, please contact us.”

And while there’s always more to learn and accomplish, for House and the rest of the CIMER team, digital accessibility doesn’t feel as overwhelming as it once did. It has simply become part of their daily workflows. CIMER’s journey is proof that real progress doesn’t require a giant leap; all you need is the willingness to try and the commitment to keep moving forward, one step at a time.