Body
Policy Statement
The University of Wisconsin-Platteville is committed to making its websites accessible to all
users. In accordance with this commitment, this digital accessibility policy is established to
improve the user experience for individuals with disabilities.
Applicability
This policy applies to all UW-Platteville websites and its digital content.
Purpose
The purpose of this policy is to be compliant with: Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as
amended (29 U.S.C. §794d)
Audience
This policy applies to all UW-Platteville faculty, staff, and students engaged in the procurement,
creation, production, or revision of digital content.
Definitions
- Accessibility standards: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1. Level AA
- Digital content: Any electronic content that is created or procured on behalf of
UWPlatteville. This includes, but is not limited to, websites hosted on the domain
www.uwplatt.edu; the UW-Platteville Sharepoint site; any official university social media
accounts; audiovisual materials, such as videos or podcasts; and downloadable documents
made available through the university website, such as PDFs, PowerPoints etc.
- Exceptions: Where a university website or digital content cannot be in compliance with
accessibility standards as per Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1.
Policy Implementation
All digital content owners must ensure that any new digital content that is created or procured,
or content that undergoes substantial revisions, conforms to the accessibility standards.
UW-Platteville is committed to doing its best to remove digital content barriers and establishing
a continuous process for reviewing and improving all digital content in order to ensure it is
accessible to all users.
Digital content creators must request an exception to this policy if they feel they cannot bring
their content into compliance. Exception requests must be submitted to senior leadership. If an
exception is granted, the digital content creator may be required to make the content available
in an alternative, accessible format.
Roles and Responsibilities
Senior Leadership (each unit’s dean, chair, director) is responsible for establishing
mechanisms to ensure that digital content within their areas conform to this policy by:
- Ensuring that digital content in their area has identified digital content
owners
- Digital content owners attend a training on creating/maintaining
accessible content.
Digital Content Owners
- Each unit’s dean, chair, or director will designate digital content owner(s)
for the digital content that falls under their purview.
- Digital content owners are responsible for the accessibility of their sites
and must hold content creators, developers and other necessary parties
accountable for ensuring the site’s accessibility