Ohio State is Working to Improve Digital Accessibility

Ohio State is working to achieve full digital accessibility, an environment where everyone can use content on Ohio State’s websites, web applications and digital offerings.

Accessibility is integral to the university’s academic and administrative work because Ohio State serves a diverse population of faculty, staff and students with varying abilities of hearing, movement, sight and cognition. Updating our digital accessibility policy will clarify standards for those who purchase and design digital resources, enabling them to seek out the key features that will make our digital offerings accessible to everyone.

Last fall, the President’s Cabinet and Senior Management Council approved an Interim Digital Accessibility Policy, formerly known as the Web Accessibility Policy. We put the new policy in place to enable employees to become involved in making accessibility a reality at Ohio State. Everyone who makes decisions about digital resources is responsible for making our offerings accessible. Digital accessibility benefits the university by:

• Setting a high bar to create and deliver educational resources that are inclusive and supportive of populations with varying levels of ability or disability. This aligns with our values, and is the right thing to do for those we serve.
• Creating an exceptional user experience and environment for our diverse audiences. We will attract the very best talent by providing everyone with digital content they can easily access.
• Providing leadership among our higher education peers and encouraging universal adoption of similar policies.
• Providing everyone at Ohio State with the same basic user experience. We will provide accommodations and support to ensure an equal, inclusive experience. 

With this new policy, Ohio State now adheres to the World Wide Web Consortium’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 standards. Anyone creating digital content at Ohio State is responsible for creating content that complies with Ohio State’s Minimum Digital Accessibility Standards (MDAS).

As a next step we have asked Ohio State leaders -- vice presidents, deans and chairs -- to designage Digital Accessibility Coordinators in their college/departments/units by Friday, March 15.

If you are passionate about giving everyone in the Ohio State Community an equitable experience to access digital content, watch for more information about this effort as our plans unfold. If you have specific questions about the Digital Accessibility Policy, contact us at das@osu.edu