Chief Information Officer
The CIO has the final responsibility for digital accessibility compliance at USC.
Measuring Digital Accessibility
The most recent version of the WCAG Level AA guidelines are the compliance standard for digital accessibility at the university.
Regular Accessibility Reviews
All digital content and properties associated with the university will receive a regular accessibility review. These reviews are conducted by the Director of Digital Accessibility through an audit process and are sent to the site manager or digital property owner, outlining any accessibility issues found and exactly how to fix them.
Auditing Digital Content & Properties Procedure »
Major Roles and Their Responsibilities
These are the primary digital accessibility roles at the university. Others also participate in the process whenever they make decisions or do work that leads to digital content or properties associated with the university.
Director of Digital Accessibility
The Director of Digital accessibility leads all digital accessibility efforts at the university, oversees the Digital Accessibility Committee and serves as a resource for all other roles when it comes to accessibility compliance.
Digital Accessibility Committee
The Committee is made up of accessibility experts from key areas of the university who discuss high-level strategic portions of the effort and help ensure USC is on track for digital accessibility compliance.
Digital Strategy Team
The Digital Strategy team in the Office of Communications & Public Affairs participates as part of the Committee and oversees all new major digital initiatives, ensuring they are in sync with accessibility efforts.
Student Disability Resource Center Representatives
Representatives from the Student Disability Resource Center serve on the Committee and help guide digital accessibility efforts especially as they relate to educational content, assistive technology expertise and the needs of students at the university.
Faculty & Instructors
All faculty members and instructors at the university are responsible for providing accessible educational materials to their students including content shared via an online classroom, Blackboard, email or any other platform.
Digital Platform Business Owners
Those wanting to build or implement a new digital product, tool or service at the university are responsible for ensuring that it complies with accessible guidelines, whether it's a digital property built in house or by a third-party vendor.
Site Managers
Each site built and managed in the university's content management system Omni CMS has at least one assigned Site Manager who oversees the quality, accuracy and accessibility of their site's digital content.
Content Creators
Even content that is not created specifically for a digital context must follow digital accessibility guidelines if there's a chance it could be shared online. Content creators are responsible for ensuring their work complies with accessibility standards and for making updates to their content if accessibility issues are found.
Division of IT
All new digital content and properties developed by the Division of IT should be built with accessibility compliance in mind. In-house developers are responsible for going through accessibility training and ensuring their work gets an accessibility review from the Director of Digital accessibility before launch.
Procurement
When reviewing new digital contracts, Procurement staff and those involved in the procurement process must ensure the new platform, tool or property complies with accessibility guidelines. All new digital purchases should be reviewed by the Director of Digital Accessibility and any issues found must be fixed or have a plan in place for remediation before the contract can be finalized.