35 Digital and / or Web Accessibility Initiatives
Accessibility and Universal Design in Services and Program Delivery
During this period, two key initiatives took place to focus on universal design in services and program delivery by the Student Success Centre, including:
- Intentionally incorporating Universal Design for Learning in workshop development and delivery, helping to ensure workshops were accessible for all.
- Facilitating programming for incoming students on the transition from high school to university learning, with an emphasis on navigating academic skills and support in a post-secondary context.
These strategies helped to ensure that the services provided by the Student Success Centre (Writing and Academic Skills) were accessible and inclusive to students with disabilities.
Contributors: Student Success Centre: Writing and Academic Skills (Sean Beaudette, Jenna Storey)
Advancing Web Accessibility: AODA Compliance Enhancements on the Health Sciences Library Website
The Health Sciences Library website, recognized as an institutional website, was required to meet the university’s deadline for Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) compliance by the end of 2024. Numerous improvements were made to the site, ensuring it met the necessary accessibility standards. These included:
- Converting PDF documents to HTML pages where possible,
- Organizing headings in a logical and hierarchical manner to improve navigation for users with disabilities,
- Replacing vague link text (e.g., “click here”) with descriptive text that provides context about the link’s destination,
- Fixing broken skip links to allow users to bypass repetitive content and navigate directly to the main content of the page,
- Ensuring all form fields were properly labeled and accessible to assistive technologies.
As a result of these efforts, the HSL’s website accessibility score reached an impressive 90%. This score reflects the significant strides made towards creating an inclusive and accessible online environment for all users.
Contributors: Health Sciences Library (Susanna Galbraith, Jennifer McKinnell)
Ambassador Model for Student-Generated Content on Digital Platform
Starting in May 2024, Student Accessibility Services (SAS) hired a new student staff position, communications assistant (SAS ambassador), to increase student-generated content and opportunities to incorporate student voices on its digital channels (SASMacU Instagram Page, website, email marketing). This role works closely with the Student Success Centre (SSC) content team alongside subject-matter experts in SAS to create informative, relevant and engaging content related to accessibility at McMaster and academic accommodations processes.
Contributors: Student Accessibility Services (Mei-Ju Shih, Leon Cox); Student Success Centre (Danielle Collado, Elizabeth DiEmanuele, Jeffrey Low, Julia Millington)
New Student Portal for Academic Accommodations
In August 2024, Student Accessibility Services (SAS) launched its new MySAS Portal, a streamlined hub for students with academic accommodations at McMaster. Development of the portal involved multiple rounds of feedback and consultation from students, staff and faculty partners, to ensure that a diverse range of perspectives and experiences were included in the design. Additionally, SAS developed a new section on its website to accompany the portal launch, providing detailed instructions using multiple accessible formats to help users navigate the new MySAS Portal.
Contributors: Student Accessibility Services (Mei-Ju Shih, Leon Cox), Student Affairs Technology Team (Sean Beaudette, Mike Sowerby, Jeffrey Low, Jacqueline Hampshire, Anup Samuel, Kyle Faiczak)
Pilot Project: Enhancing Accessibility of Digital Course Material
The aim of this pilot project is to assess a developed framework for converting digital course material into an accessible format, in line with the 2025 AODA deadline. The evaluation encompasses both the resources necessary for implementing the framework and its functionality, with a focus on identifying areas for potential enhancements or modifications. As part of this initiative, six teaching assistants (TAs) were recruited and trained to convert digital course material throughout the semester. Following their training, these TAs conducted a comprehensive content audit and proceeded to develop and execute a plan for remediating the course material. The pilot primarily emphasizes ensuring that digital materials are compatible with screen readers, have sufficient color contrast, and include closed captioning files for all embedded videos in PowerPoint presentations, addressing key aspects of digital material accessibility. The pilot project’s subsequent phases will address the utilization of AI tools and digital accessibility for other document types. This project underscores our dedication to inclusivity and aims to cultivate a culture of accessibility within the Faculty of Engineering.
Contributors: Faculty of Engineering
Relaunch of McMaster’s Inclusive Teaching and Learning Resource Webpage
The Accessibility tab on Paul R. MacPherson Institute’s webpage was renamed and revised to include Universal Design for Learning and new resources were added. Resources focus on getting started in understanding accessibility and UDL in teaching and learning as well as practical supports and strategies to promote accessibility / digital accessibility and UDL in teaching and learning.
Contributors: Paul R. MacPherson Institute for Leadership, Innovation and Excellence in Teaching (Aasiya Satia)
AODA Web Accessibility Compliance
McMaster University has been working diligently to meet its web accessibility obligations under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). The University is on track to complete a comprehensive Web Accessibility Compliance Workplan by December 2024. Key progress includes establishing a web accessibility governance structure, providing new support resources for website administrators, and conducting over 52 consultations and training sessions. Additionally, a new scoring system has been implemented to measure and track compliance progress. The University is set to file ‘in compliance’ to AODA Section 14 website and web content accessibility on all institutional core websites of the University by December 2024.
Contributors: University Technology Services (Clark Cipryk, Gregory Iarusso), Equity and Inclusion Office (Paula Hearn)