Meeting Accessibility Requirements
Creating accessible digital content is the right thing to do—it allows all university community members to access our educational materials and participate in campus life. But it’s also the law. The Department of Justice final rule mandates that all university content must be made accessible by April of 2026. Learn more about the rule.
Due to this rule, all digital content produced by the college―instructional materials in courses, department web pages, faculty web pages, social media content, podcasts, videos, and more—must be made accessible.
Our training opportunities will help faculty and staff learn about accessibility and start updating documents to make them accessible.
What is digital accessibility?
Digital content includes everything we create that is distributed digitally―PowerPoint slides and PDFs in courses, websites that represent our departments, social media content, podcasts, and more.
Accessible content conveys its message to all users, including those with disabilities. Alt tags on images, properly structured PDF documents and data tables, appropriate color contrast, and video captions are a few features that make content accessible to all users.
Spring 2025 Digital Accessibility Training
The Digital Wellness Committee of the Dean’s Council will sponsor several trainings in partnership with the Office of Digital Accessibility in Spring 2025. Please see the schedule below.
Session 1: What and Why? January 22
Build your foundational knowledge of accessibility requirements, how accessibility makes our experience more inclusive, and why accessibility is required.
Session 2: High-Level Overview of Best Practices | March 19
Learn about the best practices for digital accessibility for various content types, including web pages, images, course content and more.
Session 3: Train the Trainer (In-person practice)
Become a confident accessibility champion prepared to assist and teach others. Participants will learn how to use accessibility checkers in Word, PowerPoint, and Blackboard Ally; how to resolve those errors; and how to teach these skills to other members of the college community.
Continuous Training
Members of the college community, and especially members of the Digital Accessibility Committee, are encouraged to take on roles as Digital Accessibility Ambassadors, Accessibility Advocates, or Digital Delegates actively promoting more inclusive and accessible digital experiences.
We recommend participating in the Teaching Towards Inclusive Excellence program offered by the USC Center for Teaching Excellence. Contact Dre Drummond for more information and to sign up.
Digital Accessibility Contacts
The college’s digital accessibility plan is a collaboration between several staff in the Office of the Dean. Please reach out with questions.
Dre Drummond, Associate Director for Engagement, AD125@email.sc.edu
Focus: Training, workshops, inclusive digital practices
Lydia Frass, Director of Assessment and Distributed Learning, LFRASS@mailbox.sc.edu
Focus: Instructional content, Blackboard
Bryan Gentry, Director of Communications, brgentry@sc.edu
Focus: Websites and social media
David Mullaney, Director of Information Technology Services, mullaney@sc.edu
Focus: Accessibility technology and software
Resources
The Office of Digital Accessibility maintains this accessibility toolbox with up-to-date resources and guides. The following tools may be especially helpful.
- Accessibility Cheat Sheats - Check out these one-page quick start reference guides for the most common best practices for Word, PowerPoint and Modern Campus CMS.
- Blackboard Ally Quick Start Guide ―Learn how to check the accessibility of your course content.
- CTE’s Accessible Syllabus and Schedule Templates - CTE has created accessible syllabus and weekly schedules for instructors. Download what you need – then edit the boilerplate language while keeping the file formatting.
- Gamecock Accessibility Checker―This Google Chrome extension allows you to diagnose accessibility challenges on sc.edu web pages.
- Making accessible documents―Discover accessibility tools built into the software you use to create documents, from your CV to your new presentation slides. There are even ways to make scanned documents more accessible.
- Making math equations accessible―Learn how to display equations accessibly using MathML, including how to convert LaTeX content to this format.
USC’s Digital Accessibility Support Offices
The Office of Digital Accessibility and the Student Disability Resourse Center serve as consultants to faculty, staff, campus partners and students on issues related to accessibility and accommodations. They provide guidance and resources to help with digital accessibility.