Getting Started with Accessibility

The University of Arkansas is committed to creating welcoming spaces, services and experiences that are accessible for everyone. Accessibility is not an afterthought but an integral part of intuitive and universal design that removes barriers before they arise.

What is accessibility?

Accessibility is the degree to which a product, device, program, service, resource, or environment is available to a given user. If a building on campus has a wheelchair ramp leading to its main entrance, that entrance is accessible to wheelchair users. If a lecture includes sign language interpreters, that lecture is accessible to attendees who are deaf or hard of hearing and who understand sign language.

What is accessible technology?

Accessible technology is technology that has been designed so that it can be accessed by all users. This includes electronic documents, websites, software, hardware, video, audio, and other technologies.

Technology serves people with a wide variety of needs. They have a wide variety of characteristics, and we cannot assume that they’re all using a traditional monitor for output, or keyboard and mouse for input. Consider these users: 

  • Most individuals who are blind use either audible output (products called screen readers that read web content using synthesized speech), or tactile output (a refreshable Braille device). 
  • People with learning disabilities such as dyslexia may also use audible output. This is often referred to as Text-to-Speech (TTS). 
  • Those with low vision may use screen magnification software that allows them to zoom in to a portion of the visual screen. 
  • Many others with less-than-perfect eyesight may enlarge the font on websites using standard browser functions, such as Ctrl + in Windows or Command + in Mac OS X. 
  • Individuals with fine motor impairments may be unable to use a mouse and instead rely exclusively on keyboard commands or use assistive technologies such as speech recognition, head pointers, mouth sticks, or eye-gaze tracking systems. 
  • Those who are deaf or hard of hearing are unable to access audio content, so video needs to be captioned, and audio needs to be transcribed. 
  • Many people use mobile devices including phones, tablets, or other devices, which means they’re using a variety of screen sizes and gestures or other user interfaces for interacting with their devices and accessing content. 

Our responsibility:

As a state-funded university and public entity, the University of Arkansas is impacted by the U.S. Department of Justice’s April 24, 2024, rule, updating its regulations for Title II of the American with Disabilities Act (ADA). The final rule has specific requirements to ensure that web content and mobile applications are accessible to people with disabilities.

These updated regulations impact faculty and staff at the U of A who create or interact with digital content including online course material, documents, emails, websites, and digital forms.

These types of digital content must meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA standards. The new Title II rule puts an increased emphasis on the WCAG standards that include the following four principles: perceivable, operable, understandable and robust.

There are many actions faculty and staff can take to improve digital accessibility, including:

Faculty and staff at the U of A are required to abide by the new rule and its requirements by the April 24, 2026, compliance date.

Training: Creating accessible content

Learn how to create files in various software that meet accessibility compliance standards, including WCAG 2.1. This page will continue to grow with additional training articles.

Review relevant information such as trainings and workshops on TIPS that will aid in compliance.

This website provides a growing number of how-to pages with step-by-step guides for making particular types of content accessible: