{"id":22110,"date":"2026-02-10T15:06:33","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T21:06:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/?p=22110"},"modified":"2026-02-10T15:06:33","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T21:06:33","slug":"why-accessibility-is-important","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/why-accessibility-is-important\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Accessibility is Important"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><div align=\"center\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/pixabay.com\/illustrations\/accessibility-disability-1682903\/\" title=\"accessibility\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/accessibility-1682903_640.jpg?resize=338%2C480\" alt=\"Various icons of people on a blue background, emphasizing diversity and the importance of accessibility.\" height=\"480\" width=\"338\"><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<\/p>\n<p>This year marks the 36th anniversary of the <a href=\"http:\/\/adata.org\/learn-about-ada\">Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)<\/a>, a law ensuring that people with disabilities have the same rights and opportunities as everyone else. In education, accessibility is about more than compliance; it\u2019s about equity and inclusion.<\/p>\n<p>According to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gao.gov\/products\/gao-24-105614\">U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report<\/a>, about 21% of college students report having a disability, including visual, hearing, cognitive, and motor impairments. Many more choose not to disclose their disability and often struggle quietly through their coursework.<\/p>\n<h2>Creating Accessible Learning Environments<\/h2>\n<p>Accessible course materials give all students a fair opportunity to succeed. Every day, some students encounter barriers such as:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Images or videos they cannot see<\/li>\n<li>Documents that screen readers cannot interpret<\/li>\n<li>Audio they cannot hear<\/li>\n<li>Websites or platforms that cannot be navigated without a mouse<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Chances are, you already have students in your courses who face these challenges\u2014even if they haven\u2019t disclosed them.<\/p>\n<p><div align=\"center\">\n<a href=\"https:\/\/freesvg.org\/handicappedaccessiblesign\" title=\"Accessibility symbols\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/freesvg.org\/img\/HandicappedAccessibleSign.png?resize=300%2C300&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"A set of four signs designed to communicate accessibility for people with disabilities.\" height=\"300\" width=\"300\"><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<\/p>\n<h2>Upcoming ADA Compliance Requirements<\/h2>\n<p>In 2024, the Department of Justice <a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidehighered.com\/news\/government\/colleges-localities\/2026\/01\/21\/higher-ed-prepares-new-era-ada\">updated Title II of the ADA<\/a> to require all publicly funded organizations, including colleges and universities, to conform to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) developed by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/about\/\">World Wide Web Consortium<\/a>.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Most institutions must comply by April 24, 2026.<\/li>\n<li>Smaller municipalities and districts (under 50,000 people) have until April 26, 2027.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Non-compliance can result in lawsuits and significant penalties\u2014so now is the time to ensure your materials meet accessibility standards.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>While Brightspace is accessible to persons with disabilities, uploaded content may not be. Instructors should make a conscious effort to make sure content is accessible.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h2>How Brightspace Supports Accessibility<\/h2>\n<p>Our Brightspace Learning Management System (LMS) is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.d2l.com\/accessibility\/\">built with accessibility in mind<\/a> and meets WCAG requirements. However, while the platform itself is accessible, uploaded course content may not be. It\u2019s up to instructors to make sure their materials\u2014documents, media, and links\u2014are accessible to all students.<\/p>\n<h2>Practical Steps You Can Take<\/h2>\n<p>Making accessible content doesn\u2019t have to be complicated. A few simple practices go a long way:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Use clear headings and descriptive hyperlinks<\/li>\n<li>Add alternative text (alt text) for all images<\/li>\n<li>Provide captions for videos and transcripts for audio<\/li>\n<li>Ensure documents (especially PDFs) are screen-reader friendly<\/li>\n<li>Avoid using color alone to convey meaning<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Even small efforts make a big difference. Not only will your materials support students with disabilities, but you\u2019ll also improve the learning experience for everyone. Plus, if you reuse your course content each semester, accessibility updates you make now will continue to pay off in the future.<\/p>\n<p>In an upcoming series of blog posts, I will go into more detail on the things you can routinely do when you create content and setup your Brightspace courses to make them accessible.<\/p>\n<p><small>Image credits:<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/pixabay.com\/illustrations\/accessibility-disability-1682903\/\">Image<\/a> by cris renma from <a href=\"https:\/\/pixabay.com\/service\/license-summary\/\">Pixabay<\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/freesvg.org\/handicappedaccessiblesign\">HandicappedAccessibleSign<\/a> by Free SVG is licensed <a href=\"https:\/\/freesvg.org\/pages\/about-us\">CC0<\/a><\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This year marks the 36th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a law ensuring that people with disabilities have the same rights and opportunities as everyone else. In education, accessibility is about more than compliance; it\u2019s about equity and inclusion. According to a U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, about 21% of college <a href=\"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/why-accessibility-is-important\/\" class=\"more-link\">...continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> \"Why Accessibility is Important\"<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2,403],"tags":[16,402],"class_list":{"0":"post-22110","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-accessibility-kneads","7":"category-brightspace","8":"tag-accessibility","9":"tag-brightspace","10":"h-entry","11":"hentry","12":"h-as-article"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p82MQk-5KC","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":13936,"url":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/the-importance-of-accessibility-in-education\/","url_meta":{"origin":22110,"position":0},"title":"The Importance of Accessibility in Education","author":"Janice Florent","date":"June 23, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"This year marks the 29th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This law was enacted to make sure that people with disabilities have the same rights and opportunities as everyone else. It is extremely important for students with disabilities to have access to accessible course content. Statistics show\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Accessibility Kneads&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Accessibility Kneads","link":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/topic\/accessibility-kneads\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"accessibility icons","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/accessibility-1682903_640.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":21437,"url":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/brightspace-tip-515-accessibility-checker\/","url_meta":{"origin":22110,"position":1},"title":"Brightspace Tip #515: Accessibility Checker","author":"Janice Florent","date":"May 12, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Thursday, May 15th, is Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD). GAAD aims to get you talking, thinking, and learning about digital access\/inclusion and people with different abilities and talents. Accessibility is about everyone. It is extremely important for students with disabilities to have access to accessible course content. The Brightspace Editor\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Accessibility Kneads&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Accessibility Kneads","link":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/topic\/accessibility-kneads\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"celebrate GAAD heading with disability icons","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/celebrate-GAAD.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":20390,"url":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/brightspace-tip-448-accessibility-checker\/","url_meta":{"origin":22110,"position":2},"title":"Brightspace Tip #448: Accessibility Checker","author":"Janice Florent","date":"May 12, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Thursday, May 16th, is Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD). GAAD aims to get you talking, thinking, and learning about digital access\/inclusion and people with different abilities and talents. Accessibility is about everyone. It is extremely important for students with disabilities to have access to accessible course content. The Brightspace Editor\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Accessibility Kneads&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Accessibility Kneads","link":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/topic\/accessibility-kneads\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"celebrate GAAD heading with disability icons","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/celebrate-GAAD.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":15367,"url":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/brightspace-tip-156-accessibility-checker\/","url_meta":{"origin":22110,"position":3},"title":"Brightspace Tip #156: Accessibility Checker","author":"Janice Florent","date":"May 19, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Thursday, May 21st, is Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD). GAAD aims to get you talking, thinking, and learning about digital access\/inclusion and people with different abilities and talents. Accessibility is about everyone. It is extremely important for students with disabilities to have access to accessible course content. The Brightspace HTML\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Accessibility Kneads&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Accessibility Kneads","link":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/topic\/accessibility-kneads\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"celebrate GAAD heading with disability icons","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/celebrate-GAAD.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":16794,"url":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/brightspace-tip-232-accessibility-checker\/","url_meta":{"origin":22110,"position":4},"title":"Brightspace Tip #232: Accessibility Checker","author":"Janice Florent","date":"May 17, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Thursday, May 20th, is Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD). GAAD aims to get you talking, thinking, and learning about digital access\/inclusion and people with different abilities and talents. Accessibility is about everyone. It is extremely important for students with disabilities to have access to accessible course content. The Brightspace HTML\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Accessibility Kneads&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Accessibility Kneads","link":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/topic\/accessibility-kneads\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"celebrate GAAD heading with disability icons","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/celebrate-GAAD.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":18267,"url":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/brightspace-tip-319-accessibility-checker\/","url_meta":{"origin":22110,"position":5},"title":"Brightspace Tip #319: Accessibility Checker","author":"Janice Florent","date":"May 17, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Thursday, May 19th, is Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD). GAAD aims to get you talking, thinking, and learning about digital access\/inclusion and people with different abilities and talents. Accessibility is about everyone. It is extremely important for students with disabilities to have access to accessible course content. The Brightspace Editor\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Accessibility Kneads&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Accessibility Kneads","link":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/topic\/accessibility-kneads\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"celebrate GAAD heading with disability icons","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/celebrate-GAAD.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22110"}],"version-history":[{"count":28,"href":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22110\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22138,"href":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22110\/revisions\/22138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}