Digital Accessibility

Digital accessibility is the inclusive practice of removing barriers that prevent access to websites and other digitally shared content by people of diverse abilities. The University of Texas at Dallas is committed to maintaining an accessible website.

UT Dallas must comply with the Texas Administrative Code 206.70 Accessibility standard and the Americans with Disabilities Act. All webpages containing official University information that are built, updated or revised must comply with it. TAC 206.70 establishes only a minimum standard for accessibility; developers, designers and content editors at UT Dallas are encouraged to go beyond the minimum whenever possible.

Your Role in Digital Accessibility

What Makes Digital Content Accessible?

A good foundation for understanding digital accessibility is provided by the World Wide Web Consortium, which outlines four principles of accessibility in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1. These principles are:

• Perceivable: Information and user interface components must be presentable to users in ways they can perceive. For example, images that convey information must have a text alternative that can be read allowed by a screen reader.
• Operable: User interface components and navigation must be operable. Interfaces must be usable by a variety of input and navigation methods. For example, menus should be navigable by keyboards and other types of input devices.
• Understandable: Information and the operation of user interface must be understandable. Ask yourself, will visitors to this webpage understand any jargon used? Will the site structure make sense to visitors? Will interactive features, such as forms or pop-ups, be intuitive? Think about the mindset and abilities of the likely visitors to a webpage.
• Robust: Content must be robust enough that it can be interpreted by a wide variety of user agents, including assistive technologies. Be sure to test webpages using a variety of devices and browsers, as well as with different input methods (such as keyboard navigation) and interpretation methods (such as screen reader audio output).