Getting Started with Digital Accessibility
You don't have to do everything at once. You just have to start.
Creating accessible content can feel daunting—especially when you are looking at content across multiple courses, programs, or departments. You may have years of accumulated content: hundreds of documents, videos, multimedia files, PDFs, and external resources that you use regularly. With all this content, it can be hard to know where to start.
Thankfully, you don’t need to fix everything at once, and you aren’t expected to become an accessibility expert overnight. You just have to start! This page is designed to help you take that first step.
Remember: the goal is progress, not perfection. There is no such thing as the ideal accessibility journey, and waiting until you can “perfect accessibility” will only stall your progress. So, get in there. Get messy. And grow your digital accessibility skills as you go.
Your Guide to Getting Started
Use the following resources to get started with digital accessibility. Work through them in order, or jump directly to the guidance that best fits your needs.
Understand Digital Accessibility
Before you begin making edits to your content, it is important to understand what digital accessibility is and why it matters. Understanding how people may interact with your digital content can help you recognize potential accessibility barriers, allowing you to make more informed decisions when creating and sharing materials.
Understand Digital Accessibility
Prioritize Accessibility Efforts
Not sure where to start? You don't have to address all of your documents at once. Learn how to identify the content that needs your attention first.
Learn Accessibility Essentials
Before you begin making accessibility changes, become familiar with a few foundational practices that can help improve the accessibility of your digital content.
Learn Accessibility Principles
Build Accessibility into Your Workflow
Considering accessibility from the beginning is one of the best ways to improve it. Learn how to build accessibility into your workflow to save time and reduce the need for corrections later.
Build Your Accessibility Workflow
Check Your Work for Accessibility
Once you've created or updated your content, take time to review it for potential accessibility barriers. Accessibility checkers can help identify some common accessibility issues you may have missed, but they can't catch everything. Learn how to combine automated checks with manual reviews to identify potential barriers and make improvements before sharing your content with others.
Keep Learning
While this page provides a starting point for building your accessibility skills, digital accessibility is a broad and evolving topic. As you continue practicing, many accessibility concepts and techniques will become more familiar. TTaDA offers a variety of learning resources to help you continue developing your skills.
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Attend Accessibility Workshops: TTaDA offers a wide range of live workshops designed to support your accessibility journey. Register for upcoming sessions through Learning Stream.
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Watch On-Demand Videos and Tutorials: Access TTaDA’s library of pre-recorded workshops and video shorts for learning at your convenience.
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Take the Online Digital Accessibility for Teaching and Learning Course: Work through this self-paced course to learn more about digital accessibility concepts and tools. Complete the course to earn a digital badge.
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Find On-Demand Training through LinkedIn Learning: UND provides access to LinkedIn Learning, which includes on-demand training on a variety of topics. TTaDA has curated a list of recommended trainings for those who want to explore digital accessibility in more depth.
Seek Help
Whether you have a question, need help with your content, or want to work through an accessibility issue one-on-one, UND offers several ways to get support. Visit our Help and Support page for more assistance.
- Submit an Accessibility Assistance Ticket
- Request an Instructional Design Consultation
- Book an Appointment with the Accessibility Lab
- Connect with campus partners like the Civil Rights & Title IX Office and the Student Disability Resources Office.
Accessibility Tips
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Accessibility is a marathon, not a sprint. Apply yourself, but don’t be afraid to stop, catch your breath, and walk. Learn one or two easy fixes, then stop. Come back later and learn another one or two slightly harder fixes, then stop. Give yourself plenty of time to redesign, rework, or completely replace inaccessible course resources, if needed.
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Don’t be afraid to make "fixes" multiple times. Any skill worth learning takes practice. For example, you might find that making your syllabus accessible is daunting at first. By your second, third, or fourth syllabus, though, you’ll be a pro. AND you’ll be able to apply those same concepts to your other materials. Once you’ve done it a few times and learned what works for you and what doesn’t, it will become second nature.
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Accessibility is never easy, but it is habit-forming. We don’t expect every step of this accessibility journey to be “easy.” But we do know that, with practice, accessibility can become a habit and start to feel like second nature. Over time, adding alt-text to an image, checking your headings, or embedding hyperlinks into meaningful text can become a natural part of your workflow.