Extend the Core Skills

Summary

Once you have learned the core skills, keep learning and practicing even more skills!

The University of Minnesota is committed to the idea that accessibility is everyone's everyday work. 

All you have to do is start small. For example:

Then use the Filter and Sort Options below and review what you learned, or learn even more skills!

Accessibility Skills Pages and Events

Displaying 61 - 70 of 98

Links

You can improve both the usability and accessibility of links by making them concise, descriptive, and meaningful out of context.

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Lists

Lists are structured ways of organizing content. Presenting a “wall of text” in a document or website can discourage reading. Instead, present key concepts, sequences, and like items of more than two as lists where possible.

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Make ARIA Sing Event on

ARIA is an important accessibility component that ensures complex web applications will work well with screen-reading software. However, when used incorrectly it can actually make accessibility worse.

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Mental Health & Accessibility Event on

Join the Accessibility Ambassadors for a presentation and discussion about mental health issues and digital accessibility by Kim Doberstein from OIT Application Development.

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Mobile Testing for Accessibility Event on

Join the Accessibility Ambassadors for a presentation and discussion about mobile testing by Accessibility Ambassador Amy Drayer from UMN Libraries.

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Online Meetings

Online meetings are a great way to collaborate. While any meeting will benefit from good meeting etiquette, online meetings require even greater attention to appropriate preparation and conduct to be successful. 

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PDFs, RTFs, and BRFs, Oh My! Event on

Plan for Accessibility

Consider accessibility as you begin every project. Even if you have limited time, take on just one aspect now, and tackle others later. That way you may not have to retrofit materials upon request, which ultimately can take more time, resources, and money.

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Promote Digital Accessibility

Build awareness and practice skills with the Cultivate Inclusion Challenge!

Provide Accessible Content and Events

All digital content and in-person and online events should all be as accessible to the widest range of audiences as possible, no matter what format it is presented in. After you learn the accessibility core skills, you can extend them by learning more about content and events presented in different formats.

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Authors, Designers, and Editors

When you think about accessibility laws and related University policies, you might think they apply only to course and website content.

But at the University of Minnesota, we create thousands of digital content products each day. These can be in a variety of formats, and should all be as accessible to the widest range of audiences as possible

Instructors

The more you make your course accessible, the fewer accommodation requests you may receive.

In addition, more students will be able to better learn from and navigate your course materials and classroom experiences, even if they have different learning styles and abilities.

Leaders and Managers

Leaders can communicate a clear and achievable vision for digital accessibility within the organization.

Managers can drive action by communicating a vision, establishing clear goals and expectations, and providing resources and training.

Check out Promote Digital Accessibility for ideas.

Presenters

You can make your presentations and events you host more inclusive.

For example:

  • Verbally describe your slides while presenting.
  • Include alternative text for images.
  • Provide captions, audio descriptions, and transcripts.

Students

When you produce digital assignments, apply the core skills and your instructors and the students you collaborate with will be better able to understand them, even if they use assistive technologies.

Technology Purchasers

Before a big purchase, the wise shopper gathers requirements, performs research, and reviews potential solutions.

At the University, your digital technology pre-purchase checklist must include an evaluation of the extent to which a product is accessible and how a vendor meets accessibility standards.

Web Developers

From a developer's perspective, the goal is to code a website or web application that, at minimum, meets Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) AA standards and follows the POUR guiding principles of accessible technology.