Iowa State University has created a digital accessibility policy to help the university community succeed within a digitalized campus. The university is committed to taking measures to support equal access to information, programs, and activities delivered through its official web and online resources.

View the Digital Accessibility Policy

Policy Timeline and ISU's ITS Digital Accessibility Journey

November 2018

Formation of the Digital Accessibility Team.

March 2019

Procurement contracts updated with WCAG 2.1 AA language.

September 2020

Creation of the ISU Digital Accessibility Policy.

November 2020

Digital Accessibility Toolkit launch.

July 2021

Digital Accessibility added as a component of software reviews.

January 2022 - May 2022

  • ISU internal digital accessibility policy was implemented.
  • Department staff initiate inventory of all digital resources.
  • The Digital Accessibility team provides guidance through consultations, webinars, and adding tools to the Digital Accessibility Toolkit.
  • The Digital Accessibility team conducts "road show" of attending meetings with leadership, departments, faculty senate, student senate, graduate and professional student senate, classes, and groups around campus. 

July 1, 2022

  • Department staff create plans to utilize existing university resources for education and professional development related to digital accessibility.
  • The Digital Accessibility team provides a template and guidance.

July 1, 2023

  • Department staff continue education efforts and work to create new digital content in compliance with this policy.

January 1, 2024

  • The university’s public-facing web page content must achieve a 90% or higher score using web evaluation software (Siteimprove) with automatic scoring and no serious errors.
  • The Digital Accessibility team provides education and training to department mentors.

April 24, 2024

August 1, 2024

  • All online courses must have a passing score of 80% or higher and no serious errors as scored by the university’s scoring tool.
  • The Digital Accessibility team provides education and training to faculty and/or department mentors.

August 1, 2025

  • The university’s public-facing web page content must achieve a 95% higher score using web evaluation software (Siteimprove) with automatic scoring and no serious errors.
  • All online courses must have a passing score of 85% or higher and no serious errors as scored by the university’s scoring tool.

April 24, 2026

  • Effective April 24, 2026, all new digital content produced and purchased must comply with this policy.
  • The Digital Accessibility team conducts regular audits of all sites and works with departments.

The Digital Access Roadmap

The digital accessibility policy is part of the larger Digital Access Roadmap. The roadmap is not a policy; rather it is the vision and foundation for campus-wide digital accessibility best practices.

The roadmap proposes measurable outcomes for campus-wide adoption of Inclusive Design and Universal Design for Learning as the institutional framework for digital content development and compliance with digital accessibility requirements by following Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0/2.1 Level AA (WCAG 2.0/2.1 AA).

View the complete Digital Access Roadmap in the ISU Service Portal. 

Roadmap Outcomes

Activities: Promotional and educational events and activities, dissemination of “Accessibility in Mind” vision.

Assessment: Annual Report of Activities (including supporting documentation of need, fit and results) included within the Information Technology Services Annual Report.

Activities: Education events and activities, dissemination and updates of guidelines and educational materials and events.

Assessment: At least three development teams integrating accessibility in their development as documented by the Digital Accessibility team.

Activities: Education and training activities and events.

Assessment: At least one event per semester.

Activities: Education and reviews.

Assessment: At least 10 reviews and corresponding remediation plans as documented by the Digital Accessibility team.

Activities: Sustained periodic communication and interaction.

Assessment: Data on active member list, activities.

Activities: Testing/vetting continuously updated website.

Assessment: Website updates and traffic data.

Activities: Policy adoption.

Assessment: All of the above.