Quantcast

NE North Dakota News

Friday, October 17, 2025

University of North Dakota promotes digital accessibility in response to new ADA Title II rules

Webp z0d24sg6rhe49avpdjdj164yxtvc

Eric Link VPAA / Provost | University of North Dakota

Eric Link VPAA / Provost | University of North Dakota

The University of North Dakota (UND) is advancing its campuswide efforts to comply with new Title II accessibility requirements under the Americans with Disabilities Act. This initiative is highlighted by the "Strive for 85" campaign, which encourages content creators to achieve at least an 85% accessibility score in Blackboard Ultra using the Blackboard Ally tool.

Provost Eric Link stated, “This work isn’t for the few, it’s for all of us.” The campaign aims to ensure that all students, regardless of ability, can access course materials and digital resources.

The Teaching Transformation & Development Academy (TTaDA) is playing a key role in guiding faculty and staff through this process. TTaDA has been providing workshops, resources, and guidance on digital accessibility, which are now being used to address questions from faculty as the University transitions to Blackboard Ultra.

Kristi Embry, an instructional designer with TTaDA, uses analogies to explain the importance of proactive accessibility. “Accessibility is like chocolate chip cookies: the chips are best baked in.” Embry and the TTaDA team emphasize that making content accessible before it is added to courses reduces pressure on instructors and avoids delays for students.

TTaDA recommends several steps for those beginning their accessibility efforts:

- Review UND’s accessibility resources, including TTaDA’s Digital Accessibility webpage, attend workshops, and use Deque University’s training modules.

- Use Blackboard Ally as a starting point to identify and address accessibility issues in course files.

- Approach accessibility as a long-term project, making incremental improvements over time.

- Focus on resources that instructors can control, such as Word documents, PowerPoint presentations, and video content.

The team identifies syllabi, PowerPoint presentations, video content, and text readability as key areas where small changes can have a significant impact. For example, syllabi should be fully accessible at the start of each course, and Microsoft products offer built-in accessibility checkers. PowerPoint presentations should use accessible headings, tables, lists, color, and images. Video content must have accurate captions and audio descriptions to meet WCAG 2.1 AA standards, and transcripts are recommended for accessibility.

To assess current materials, TTaDA suggests using accessibility checkers in Blackboard Ultra, Adobe, and Microsoft products, as well as resources from Deque University and TTaDA’s own website.

TTaDA addressed several misconceptions about digital accessibility:

- “Accessibility limits my creativity”: Accessibility does not restrict design but requires that elements are usable by everyone.

- “TTaDA will fix accessibility issues for me”: TTaDA provides resources and training but cannot remediate content for all faculty due to volume.

- “PDFs are not allowed in Blackboard Ultra”: PDFs can be used if remediated for accessibility, but original Word or PowerPoint files may be easier to work with.

- “I should remove inaccessible content altogether”: Rather than deleting materials, faculty should improve their accessibility.

- “Accessibility is a one-time fix”: Accessibility requires ongoing attention as standards and student needs change.

- “Accessibility only helps students with disabilities”: Accessibility benefits all learners, such as captions aiding those in noisy environments or image descriptions helping those with slow internet.

The TTaDA team recognizes the challenges of achieving Title II compliance but stresses that accessibility benefits all students. “Accessibility does benefit folks with disabilities, no question about it,” they wrote. “The perception, however, is that there are very few people with disabilities. This assumes that all disabilities are visible or that other groups of learners can’t benefit from accessible resources, which is not the case.”

The team uses the analogy of a marathon to describe the ongoing nature of accessibility work. They encourage faculty to view accessibility as a core teaching value and to incorporate inclusive design into course development.

TTaDA’s advice to faculty is to begin making small changes now to build more effective courses that meet Title II requirements and foster an equitable campus environment.

ORGANIZATIONS IN THIS STORY

!RECEIVE ALERTS

The next time we write about any of these orgs, we’ll email you a link to the story. You may edit your settings or unsubscribe at any time.
Sign-up

DONATE

Help support the Metric Media Foundation's mission to restore community based news.
Donate

MORE NEWS