In previous years, the policies, guidelines and standards pertaining to the design of official and instructional web pages varied widely among University of Wisconsin campuses. This is no longer the case. In addition to the UW Extension, 11 of the 13 UW campuses are now committed to an accessible design of their web sites (categories 1-4 below). Also, efforts are afoot at the UW-La Crosse to formulate an accessible web policy. This leaves only one campus-- the UW-Superior--without a readily discernible (web-published) comprehensive accessible web policy (or a plan to develop such). (I'd be happy to stand corrected.)
Roughly, UW web accessibility policies can be categories as follows:
- Stand-alone accessible web design policies requiring
compliance with the W3C Guidelines or the "Access Board" Standards (Sect. 508):
- UW-Green Bay (June 6, 2001): Web Accessibility Policy
- UW-Madison (originally issued: December 6, 2000; revised October 22, 2001): Policy Governing World Wide Web Accessibility.
- UW-Extension (August 28, 2001): UW-Extension policy governing World Wide Web accessibility and Internet program delivery systems (Equal Opportunity Policy No. EO 007A)
- UW-Parkside (2001): Web Accessibility
- General web design policy which includes a mandate for compliance with at least one of the following: W3C-WAI guidelines, Section 508 standards, or UW-System accessibility policy
: - UW-Green Bay (Nov. 6, 2001): Policies and Procedures for the Campus Web Site
- UW-Oshkosh (rev. May 23, 2001): University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Web Policies and Procedures
- UW-River Falls (n.d., added after April 2001): Summary of UW-River Falls and UW-System Requirements for Department and Organization Web Pages and Web Help for Campus Developers--Accessibility for All
- UW-Stout (March 5, 2001): Web Publishing Standards--Technical Information
- Stand-alone accessible web design policy which
mandates accessibility but does not require (but may recommend) compliance with
any the following: W3C-WAI guidelines, Section 508 standards, or UW-System
accessibility policy:
- UW-Eau Claire (2000; last rev. March 20, 2002): Accessible Web Pages
- UW-Stevens Point (May 10, 1999): UWSP Guidelines for Accessibility of UWSP Web pages on the Internet
- UW-Whitewater (n.d.): Web Accessibility Guidelines. [A more stringent plan, that would place this campus' policy in category 1, has been drafted April 21, 2001.]
- General web design policy which
includes a mandate for accessibility
but does not require (but may recommend) compliance with any the following:
W3C-WAI guidelines, Section 508 standards, or UW-System accessibility policy:
- UW-Milwaukee (last rev. Oct. 3, 2001): University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Web Page Standards
- UW-Platteville (May 1, 2001): University of Wisconsin - Platteville World Wide Web Policy
- Web-related policy which emphasizes readability by a broad range of browsers, including
text-based Lynx, but does not reflect any cohesive concern for barrier-free accessibility
and understanding of the ADA, Section 508 or the W3C-WAI
guidelines:
- currently none in this category
- Web-related policy which calls for a few accessible design features (excluding
broad-range browser readability) but does not reflect any cohesive concern for barrier-free
accessibility and understanding of the ADA:
- currently none in this category
- Web-related policy which contributes close to nothing to web-page
accessibility:
- UW-La Crosse : World Wide Web Policy Statement (Nov. 24, 1995; updated Oct. 17, 2002) and Web Style Guide. (Accessibility Guidelines are currently being drafted by the newly created Universal Access to Information Technology Committee. A draft version, dated March 31, 2002, is posted at http://www.uwlax.edu/AccessTech/meetings.htm.)
- UW-Superior (n.d.): UW-Superior Web Publishing Guidelines. (Concern for web accessibility seems to occur only sporadically--as in the following two instances: a list of web accessibility resources provided by Computing & Media Services and a statement by the Distance Learning Center, according to which "UW-Superior makes every effort to assure accessibility for everyone who takes an online course." A comprehensive Web Accessibility Policy could not be located.)
- No web policy found:
- currently none in this category
Printer-friendly version of this page
University of Wisconsin System Web Accessibility Policies
Web Page Accessibility on University of Wisconsin Campuses: Spring 2002 Survey Data
Created by Axel Schmetzke, Library, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
Last updated
11/03/02
.
Comments, corrections, updates, etc. are welcome! aschmetz@uwsp.edu
