Accessibility

The University of Texas System Administration is committed to providing a website that is accessible to its customers. The accessibility policy was approved and became effective January 13, 2005.

Implementation of this policy will be incremental. All new pages will be made accessible before publishing. Existing pages will be made accessible as they are updated as or as required by necessity.

View the Accessibility Policy
Review the Web Accessibility Standards of Operation
Review the Accessibility Guidelines

If you encounter a site while accessing the pages of UT System Administration, which you cannot utilize due to a disability please contact the IT Accessibility Coordinator via the link below for rectification of the issue or accommodation. To contact the IT Accessibility Coordinator, email accessibility@utsystem.edu.

You may also call the UT System Administration Compliance Hotline at 1-877-217-2426.   For more information about the Compliance Hotline go to https://www.utsystem.edu/offices/systemwide-compliance/reporting-suspected-noncompliance.

 

Review the Web Accessibility Standards of Operation

The University of Texas System Administration provides a work environment that affords equal access and opportunity to otherwise qualified individuals with disabilities, in compliance with Sections 503 and 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Consistent with this, UT System Administration strives to provide web-based services that are accessible to all members of the University community.

As stated in Texas Administrative Code, Title 1, Part 10, 206 Subchapter (c) (206.70), it is the policy of the State of Texas that, "All new or changed web pages and web content shall comply with the standards described in this subchapter" for accessibility.

The subsections of this document comprise the UT System Administration Web Accessibility Standards of Operation. These standards are established to achieve the following:

  • Provide an accessible Web presence that enables all members of the university community to have full access to university information, programs and activities offered through the Web; and
  • Establish minimum accessibility standards for web pages.

For specifics regarding the web accessibility policy requirements see the Web Accessibility Guidelines.

For specifics regarding the plan to achieve accessibility see the Web Accessibility Plan.

Audience

The UT System Administration Information Accessibility Standards of Operations applies to all individuals responsible for designing, developing, and maintaining the UT System Administration web pages.

Web Accessibility Standard

UT System Administration departments use the Internet for publishing information, communicating with the public and business partners, and for delivery of applications in support of departmental missions. To ensure that UT System Administration department web pages are accessible despite physical, sensory, or environmental or technological barriers, UT System Administration adopts the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) as the standard for web accessibility.

Web pages published or hosted for or by UT System Administration must comply with the current Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).

Training

Web accessibility and standards must be taught to and reinforced with UT System Administration department web publishers responsible for designing, developing, and maintaining the UT System Administration web pages. To continuously reinforce web accessibility awareness and web design techniques, UT System Administration departments are charged with providing their web publishers with providing accessible web page design and web accessibility standards training.

Web Accessibility Coordinator

In accordance with Texas Administrative Code, Title 1, Part 10, 206 Subchapter (c) (206.71), the UT System has appointed the EEO officer as the web accessibility coordinator. This person with the assistance of the Accessibility Coordination Team for EIR Remediation (ACTER) will monitor the UT System website for compliance to this policy and work with the departments to train the web publishers and ensure that all web pages are accessible.

Web Accessibility and Usability Testing

The public and business partners access the UT System Administration website through various workstations, Internet connections, and web browser applications. To ensure that UT System Administration web pages are designed with consideration for the types of Internet connections available, departmental web publishers are responsible for the testing their web pages for accessibility and usability prior to making them available to the public.

Web Accessibility Link

Texas Administrative Code, Title 1, Part 10, Chapter 206 Subchapter (c) (206.74) requires that the Home Page and Key Public Entry Points of the UT System Administration website include an “Accessibility” link. To meet this requirement, the Home Page and Key Public Entry Points of the UT System Administration website shall include a link to a web page to be maintained by the Office of Technology and Information Services (OTIS) that contains the following information:

  • UT System Administration’s Accessibility Policy.
  • UT System Administration’s Web Accessibility Guidelines.

 

Definitions

Accessible: A web page that can be used in a variety of ways and does not depend on a single sense or ability.

Generally Accessible Internet Site: A website that provides for graceful transformation, and making content understandable and navigable.

Graceful Transformation: Concept and language derived from W3C standards for accessible websites. See "Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0" available at the World Wide Web Consortium website.

Home Page: The initial page or entry point to a website.

Key Public Entry Point: A web page specifically designated for members of the general public to access official information from an agency.

State Website: A state agency-owned, -operated by / or for, or -funded website connected to the Internet, including a state agency’s home page and any key public entry points.

University Community: All individuals that may have an interest in university information, programs and activities offered through the Web. These include but are not limited to faculty, staff, current and prospective students, legislators and government officials, state agencies employees, patients, donors, business partners, etc.

Usability: A web design criteria that focuses on user performance, ease of navigation, is understandable, and is visually appealing.

W3C: World Wide Web Consortium. Additional information and copies of the current standards and recommendations are available through the World Wide Web Consortium website .

Web Page: A document specifically designed for members of the public to access official information from an agency via the Internet.

 

Website Accessibility Procedures & Guidelines

Web Publishers Training

The Web Accessibility policy requires that web publishers be trained in designing and creating accessible web pages. Web publishers can utilize the following resources to attain this training:

  • Accessibility training hosted by UT Austin and scheduled through the Thompson Conference Center.
  • Hands-on training programs hosted by Knowbility.
  • The WebAIM – Web Accessibility In Mind website. Extensive resource for self-paced learning about accessibility and staying current on techniques and issues. Check lists to verify web page accessibility are available for download.

Creating and Maintaining Web Documents

  • Complete the following steps when creating new or maintaining existing web pages.
  • Create and verify content for the web page.
  • Create the web page based on a template (departmental or top tier) that incorporates the UT System look and feel.

Apply techniques learned in accessibility training to ensure priority one* accessible web pages as defined by the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).

  • Test for Accessibility in accordance with WCAG.
  • Test functionality by viewing through browser.
  • Publish to production website.
  • Access the production site via a web browser and test the web page for functionality.

*The requirement is priority one but we would like to aim for priority two in order to provide a better experience for our customers.

Testing Techniques

Web publishers not using DreamWeaver to develop pages will use testing tools appropriate for their development environment.

Complete the following steps prior to publishing a document on the System Administration website:

View the web document using the following browsers

  • Internet Explorer
  • Netscape
  • Optional: IBM Homepage Reader and JAWS

View the web document in the following platforms:

  • Windows
  • Macintosh

Test the web document using the following Accessibility Checking Tools

 Review the web page(s) for issues that the automated checking tools cannot identify (e.g., color contrast or text alternatives to items conveyed with color.)

 Test the web page(s) after publication to ensure it functions the same way on the production server as on the development server.
Consider asking the O.T.I.S. Webmaster to review the web page(s).

 

Complete the following steps after major changes or redesign. These steps are intended for overall website changes, as opposed to single page changes, and for high-profile, public-facing web pages.

  • Test the web pages in an environment including people with disabilities.
  • Perform a usability tests on the web pages. A more usable page is a more accessible page.

Compliance

UT System Administration makes every effort to maintain an accessible website. The steps below apply when encountering an inaccessible web page:

  • Web publisher or web user sends email to grp-webteam@utsystem.edu.
  • The Web Team will contact the department web publisher and department head via email. The email message includes a deadline for making the web page accessible.
  • OTIS shall remove from the production website all web pages not accessible by their corresponding deadline.
  • Upon specific request, the owner of the inaccessible web page shall make the information available in an alternate format to any individual needing