Digital Accessibility in Teaching

Digital Accessibility in Teaching

At UO, we have committed to making our digital content - from applications to webpages - meet the standards that allow full use by people with disabilities. This page offers an overview of:

What digital accessibility means and why it matters

"Providing accessible digital content at the University of Oregon is important to creating a campus experience in which everyone feels they belong and can be successful."

- President Karl Scholz (Around the O) 

What digital accessibility means

As Digital Accessibility at UO, states, it "...refers to designing digital content so that it can be fully used by people with disabilities. 'Digital content' includes anything used or viewed on a computer or mobile device, such as: web pages; Microsoft Word documents; PowerPoint presentations; PDFs; Canvas courses; streaming videos; email; software and mobile apps, and much more."

Content that is digitally accessible meets specific standards. Instructors can find a checklist of digital accessibility basics for an overview of common considerations, and are strongly encouraged to take the asynchronous Digital Content Accessibility training to learn how to apply the standards.

Why accessible content matters

Our institution is committed to creating content that people with disabilities (whether students, employees, and/or others) can access. This commitment is codified in UO's Information and Communications Technology Accessibility policy. Our institution also has legal obligations under federal civil rights laws that correspond to digital accessibility. 

In addition to our institutional commitments and obligations, digital accessibility supports student success. Having accessible course content is crucial for many students (both ones who have AEC accommodations and ones who do not), and is relevant for a wide variety of disabilities, including non-apparent disabilities.

What do students say?

Students are clear that digitally accessible course materials support their success (and that inaccessible materials can be a barrier. The following student comments are excerpted from Practitioner Guide: Accessibility. While these comments only represent a fraction of what students say about digital accessibility, it's a reminder of the needs--and benefits--we may not always be aware of.

  • "The subtitles and audio transcript that is available when the instructor uploads lecture videos has been extremely helpful. As someone with ADHD, this helps me to write my notes and keeps my focus better."
  • “I would have loved to see captions on the lectures as this is an online course. As someone with auditory processing issues, I really struggled at times to understand course material that was only presented in audio and with no visible video of the instructors face to aid in understanding.”
  • “I would have really liked subtitles on the weekly videos and the interview videos. Subtitles are just a really helpful way to keep track of what was said, which can make for better notes and understanding.”
  • “In the future it would be helpful to be able to use text to speech on pdf texts (or all texts that are required) because I haven't been able to get a diagnosis of dyslexia, but it's still difficult to keep up with the readings. So, if the all texts could be accessible, even if students don't have school provided accommodations, it would be helpful.”

How can we make content digitally accessible?

Learn digital accessibility basics

Learn basic techniques that transfer across applications by taking the asynchronous online Digital Content Accessibility Training, which was co-created for UO faculty and staff by faculty and staff (in the Instructional and Administrative Content Accessibility Advisory Collaborative). This training:

  • Is for anyone "who creates or edits digital content, including Word documents, PDFs, videos, flyers, emails, electronic textbooks, PowerPoint presentations, spreadsheets, charts, Canvas courses" and other applications.
  • Takes an estimated 2-3 hours to complete
  • Is offered on two platforms (find links to both on UO's Digital Accessibility Training webpage):
    • MyTrack: available to all UO employees; receive badge after completion
    • Canvas Community: available publicly; return to it any time

Need a reminder after you've taken the training? Check out the Basic Digital Content Accessibility checklist!

Screenshot of Accessibility Training for Digital Content module "start course" page

Learn to create accessible digital content with UO's MyTrack training!

make your course materials accessible

  • Pope Tech for Canvas:
    • PopeTech is a "simple, easy-to-use tool that is integrated into the Canvas interface. It allows you to do real-time checks on your content and fix accessibility errors before you publish content for students." Read more about it at Pope Tech Dashboard and Accessibility Guide.
    • In 2025, UO expanded it's version of the tool to include an instructor dashboard, which allows instructors to view accessibility issues across pages and courses through an instructor dashboard. Whether you've been using this tool for several years already or are just now noticing it in your Canvas courses, it will hopefully save you time in identifying where your Canvas pages might be inaccessible and what you can do to fix it.
  • Consultation with TEP and UO Online:
    • if you have a digital accessibility issue with course materials that you're not sure how to address, you can contact our teams for a consultation, and we will think through it together. If we aren't certain about next steps, we will consult with the Digital Accessibility Architect to try and get you the information you may need.
  • Connect with the Libraries to find a more accessible version of a reading: