Welcome to the Course Accessibility Self-Paced Spring Cleaning Guide!

USM Digital Accessibility Spring Cleaning Logo

This collection of resources is designed for faculty who want to improve course accessibility but cannot attend our synchronous Spring Cleaning events on January 8-9.

You can work through these materials at your own pace, focusing on the areas most relevant to your courses. We estimate the complete path takes 4-6 hours, but you can break it into smaller sessions or focus on specific modules.


How to Use This Resource:

  • Start with "Getting Started" to build foundational knowledge
  • Review "Core Principles & Standards" to understand accessibility frameworks
  • Complete the "Hands-On Audit" to evaluate your own course
  • Dive deep into one or more Focus Areas based on your course content needs

🎯 Getting Started (Foundation Module)

Estimated time: 45-60 minutes

Understanding Disability & Accessibility

  • Read (CAST)
  • Read
  • Read (National Center on Disability and Journalism)
  • Read (Medium)

Understanding Disability Types & Barriers

  • Read (WebAIM)
  • Read (WebAIM)
  • Read (WebAIM)
  • Read (WebAIM)
  • Read (WebAIM)

📋 Core Principles & Standards (Framework Module)

Estimated time: 60-75 minutes

Accessibility Frameworks

  • Review (University of Maryland DIT Office)
  • Read (Web Accessibility Initiative)
  • Watch (CAST)

Practical Guidelines & Tools


🔍 Hands-On: Audit Your Course (Action Module)

Estimated time: 90-120 minutes

Complete Your Module Accessibility Audit

Follow these steps to evaluate one module/week of your course:

  1. Gather Materials: Select all materials from one module (syllabus section, readings, slides, videos, assignments, assessments)
  2. Evaluate Each Item:
  3. Document Your Findings: For each material, identify:
    • At least one accessibility strength
    • At least one potential barrier for students with different disabilities
    • One specific, achievable improvement
  4. Prioritize Improvements: Create a list of 3-5 accessibility improvements, noting:
    • Which groups with disabilities (visual, auditory, etc.) would benefit
    • Estimated time/effort required
    • Resources or support needed
  5. Begin remediating!

🎨 Deep Dive: Choose Your Focus Area(s)

Select one or more areas based on your course content needs

Focus Area 1: Data & Visual Communication

For courses with charts, graphs, images, diagrams, or visual data

Alternative Text Fundamentals

  • Review the
  • Explore
  • Review

Complex Images & Data Visualization

  • Read
  • Review (Valerie Morrison)
  • Read (Equidox)
  • Read (Whitney Lewis)
  • Explore
  • Review (Brandeis University)

Specialized Visual Content

  • Read (Digital Accessibility Handbook)
  • Read (The 508 Advantage)
  • Explore (Accessibility.com)
  • Read (Scot Vinkle)
  • Explore (Teach Access)

Focus Area 2: Written Content & Document Accessibility

For courses with PDFs, Word documents, PowerPoint presentations

Document Accessibility Essentials

  • Read (Verbit)
  • Read (WebAIM)
  • Read (Equidox)

Platform-Specific Guidance

  • Explore (Open educational resource, includes Word, PowerPoint, Video, Math, and PDF chapters)
  • Review (Texas Tech)

Focus Area 3: Multimedia Design & Production

For courses with videos, audio content, animations, or social media elements

Video & Audio Accessibility

  • Read
  • Read
  • Explore for adding audio descriptions to YouTube videos

Animated & Social Content

  • Read (mary.codes)
  • Read (AbilityNet)

🎉 Congratulations on completing the Digital Accessibility Learning Path!

Share your experience and audit findings through this . Submitting the survey with examples of your remediated materials allows us to write a letter of support for your faculty dossier and to publicly name you as a Digital Accessibility Faculty Champion.