Digital Accessibility Liaison Resources
Liaisons play a critical role in advancing digital accessibility at UW–Madison by communicating, connecting, and advocating for digital accessibility within their units by:
- Helping to socialize information within their units as university-wide communications and resources are released.
- Elevating digital accessibility by advancing awareness and encouraging action.
- Sharing feedback. This is a university-wide effort, and we recognize that each division faces unique challenges. If you have questions, suggestions, or feedback, we want to hear from you.
Below are resources you can use to advance the accessibility of your own digital content or share with others to ensure materials are digitally accessible to all.
Get Started: Learn the Basics
These introductory resources will help you and your university colleagues quickly build an understanding of digital accessibility.
- Fundamentals of Digital Accessibility – Key concepts and simple practices for making your materials more accessible.
- Digital Accessibility for the Modern Workplace – Brief, beginner‑friendly videos to help everyone at the university to work towards digital accessibility.
Take Action: Be Aware of Resources and Design Accessible Materials
Reference these tools and resources to raise awareness and ensure your own digital materials are accessible.
- Become familiar with and raise awareness about digital accessibility fundamentals
- Learn about a variety of digital accessibility topics in the Make It Accessible guides
- Test various document formats for digital accessibility.
- Apply digital accessibility best practices to your email communications.
- Add alternative text to images, graphics, and photos that are not merely decorative.
FAQs
No. Start with new content and high-use materials, including public-facing and high-use websites. Focus on steady, meaningful progress. For more details, please see How to follow the ADA rule.
Yes, in the digital accessibility liaison toolkit, you’ll find checklists, guides and templates for you to share or adapt for your areas.
No. You are responsible for improving digital materials over time, not interpreting federal requirements.
Liaisons are not expected to act as a compliance officer or provide legal oversight. Digital accessibility liaisons support the university’s mission of creating a welcoming and inclusive community for everyone, including people with disabilities, through advocating for digital accessibility, connecting their unit to university resources, and communicating updates.
No, however, PDFs are often not the best format for sharing digital content. Many people turn to them because they believe they are not editable. This is not true. PDFs can be easily altered or exported into editable documents.
In addition, they require special attention to ensure that they are accessible for all users. For this reason, we recommend avoiding or minimizing use of PDF files.
Alternatives can include read-only versions of Word documents or Google Docs, or, for web content, creating HTML web pages instead of PDFs. These formats are typically easier to edit, test and maintain for accessibility over time.
If a PDF is necessary, start with an accessible source document before converting it to PDF. Building accessibility into the original file – such as proper headings, readable tables, and descriptive links – can significantly improve the accessibility of the final PDF. Learn how to make an accessible PDF.
Here are two additional resources on this topic:
Get Help: Reach Out for Additional Information
Center for User Experience:
The Center for User Experience can provide additional information on how to create more accessible, usable, and inclusive digital content for all students, faculty, and staff. Request consultation through the Center for User Experience website.
Office of Compliance:
If you have questions related to the scope of the new federal rule for the Americans with Disabilities Act, contact the ADA Coordinators in the Office of Compliance.