ADA Compliance for Community College Faculty
Community college faculty often receive the same compliance notices as faculty at large public universities.
Syllabus accessibility guides
Practical resources for faculty who need to make Word syllabi easier to navigate with screen readers, without becoming accessibility specialists.
ADA Compliance for Graduate Course Syllabi
Graduate syllabi are often longer and more complex.
ADA Compliance for Online Course Materials
If you teach online, accessibility concerns often extend beyond the syllabus.
ADA Syllabus Accessibility Checklist for Faculty
Sometimes faculty do not need theory. They need a checklist.
Accessibility Considerations for Multilingual Course Documents
If your course materials include more than one language, accessibility may involve more than setting one document language.
Color Contrast Requirements in Word Documents
You may not think text color is an accessibility issue until a compliance review mentions contrast.
Do Lecture Slides Need to Be ADA Compliant?
A common faculty assumption is that slides shown live do not raise the same accessibility concerns as documents.
Fixing ADA Issues vs Preventing Them From the Start
Many faculty experience accessibility as remediation.
How to Add Alt Text to Images in Word Documents
It is the week before classes begin, and you have just received a compliance notice saying your syllabus or course handout has “images missing alternative text.”
How to Fix Bold Text That Should Be a Heading in Word
It is one of the most common compliance warnings faculty receive.
How to Make Tables Accessible in Word
It is the week before the semester starts, and your compliance notice says your syllabus contains inaccessible tables.
How to Use Word’s Built-In Accessibility Checker
It is the week before classes start and someone tells you, “Just run Word’s accessibility checker.” That sounds useful, except you have never used it.
How to Write Accessible Hyperlinks in Word
It is easy to overlook hyperlinks in accessibility reviews.
Section 508 and Word Documents Explained
It is the same week you are hearing about ADA compliance, and now someone mentions Section 508. You are wondering whether this is a second law, a duplicate requirement, or somet...
Uploading ADA Compliant Documents to Canvas and Blackboard
You fixed your syllabus. Now you need to upload it.
What ADA Title II Means for University Faculty
It is August, and your compliance email mentions ADA Title II. You were expecting notes about headings or alt text. Instead, the warning cites a legal framework you have never had reason to study.
What Does ADA Compliant Syllabus Mean for Faculty?
It is the first week of August. You just got an email from your institution’s Disability Services Office saying your syllabus is not ADA compliant and needs to be corrected before the semester starts.
What Happens When a Student Files an ADA Complaint?
It is the middle of the semester, and you hear from your department chair that a student accessibility complaint has been filed. Maybe it involved course documents. Maybe someone mentioned your syllabus.
What Is Reading Order in a Word Document?
It is possible for a syllabus to look perfectly organized on screen and still be confusing to assistive technology.
What Is a Document Language Tag and Why Does It Matter?
It is the middle of syllabus remediation week, and you have fixed headings, reviewed tables, added alt text, and then your accessibility checker flags something unexpected: “Doc...
What Screen Readers Do to Your Syllabus
It is the week before classes begin, and a compliance email tells you your syllabus may not work with screen readers. You have heard the term before, but you are not entirely su...
What Your Disability Services Office Wants From Your Syllabus
A compliance email from your Disability Services Office can feel vague.
When Does Your Syllabus Need to Be ADA Compliant?
It is a fair question many faculty ask after receiving a compliance email.
When Images Need Alt Text and When They Don’t
A common question is whether every image needs alt text.
Which Course Materials Need to Be ADA Compliant?
A common question after fixing a syllabus is whether compliance stops there.
Why Heading Styles Matter in Your Word Syllabus
It is three days before classes start. You just got an email from your Disability Services Office saying your syllabus has accessibility problems. The message specifically mentions “improper heading structure.”
Why Word Documents Are Easier to Make Accessible Than PDFs
It is common for faculty to think converting a syllabus to PDF makes it safer or more professional.