In the early years (1999-2001), the policies, guidelines and standards pertaining to the design of official and instructional web pages varied widely among University of Wisconsin campuses. Since 2002, this is no longer the case. The picture, as it currently reveals itself, is as follows: In addition to the UW Extension, 11 of the 13 UW campuses have a policy in place that calls for web accessibility. At two institutions, the policy unambiguously mandates compliance with the applicable parts of Section 508; a similarly clear mandate for (level A) compliance with the W3C/WAI's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) has been adopted by three campuses. Five of the remaining campuses either merely recommend compliance with WCAG or Section 508, or use language too vague to constitute a clear-cut requirement. While UW-Milwaukee's general web policy urges designers to "avoid design choices that create difficulties for persons with physical disabilities," it does not endorse either WCAG nor Section 508. This leaves two campuses, the UW-La Crosse and the UW-Superior, without an accessible web policy. At the UW-La Crosse, such policy has been worked on for at least a year, but it appears that the institution has not yet approved the proposed document. At the UW-Superior, the need for an accessible web policy has been acknowledged, but no specific measures in this direction are described on its web site. Finally, some institutions may pursue revisions of their current policies, but the extent to which this is happening is difficult to fathom: Speaking for my own institution, the UW-Stevens Point, a policy is currently being drafted that would not only add mandatory compliance with Section 508 standards to the already existing recommended compliance with WCAG, but that would also put in place practical implementation measures.
Campus | Posted/Last Revised | Section 508 | WCAG-A* | WCAG-AA* | WCAG-AAA* | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UW-Eau Claire | 10/8/2002 | recomm. | recomm. | recomm. | recomm. | "Committed to universal access." |
| UW Extension | 8/28/2001 | mandatory | recomm. | recomm. | recomm. | |
| UW-Green Bay | 6/6/2001 | mandatory | recomm. | suggested | ||
| UW-La Crosse | Accessibility policy is being drafted. | |||||
| UW-Madison | 11/1/2001 | mandatory | ||||
| UW-Milwaukee | 10/3/2001 | Mandates accessibility; includes some specific design features. | ||||
| UW-Oshkosh | 5/23/2001 | mandatory | ||||
| UW-Parkside | 2001 | mandatory ? | mandatory ? | mandatory ? | Ambiguous language. | |
| UW-Platteville | 5/1/2001 | recomm. ? mandatory ? |
recomm. ? mandatory ? |
recomm. ? mandatory ? |
Ambiguous language; Use of both "should" and "must". | |
| UW-River Falls | n.d., added after April 2001 | recomm. | "Should," not "must," language. | |||
| UW-Stevens Point** | 5/1-/1999 | recomm. | recomm. | recomm. | New policy mandating Section 508 compliance is being drafted. | |
| UW-Stout | March 2001 | mandatory | ||||
| UW-Superior*** | None found. Need for Web accessibility policy has been acknowledged. | |||||
| UW-Whitewater | n.d. | recomm. | Proposed Plan (10/23/01); if adopted WCAG-A compliance would become mandatory. |
Notes and updates:
*WCAG refers to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines issued by the W3C/WAI.
**Stevens Point's new "Online Accessibility Policy" draft also incorporates Section 508 compliance.
***Pending approval by the administration, the Superior campus will soon adopt a comprehensive technology accessibility policy, which includes a Section 508 compliance mandate for web design: See http://www2.uwsuper.edu/infotech/IITS/Policy/technology_accessibility.doc.
Yellow-on-blue version of this page
University of Wisconsin System Web Accessibility Policies
Web Page Accessibility on University of Wisconsin Campuses: Spring 2003 Survey Data
Compiled/created by Axel Schmetzke, Library, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
Last updated
06/14/03
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Comments, corrections, updates, etc. are welcome! aschmetz@uwsp.edu