Website & Digital Content Accessibility Review and Remediation Process

Body

ATTENTION UTRGV Digital Content Creators - Action Required: Digital Accessibility Compliance by April 24, 2026 - Under a new Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Title II rule issued April 24, 2024, UTRGV must ensure all web content and mobile apps are accessible by April 24, 2026. Accessibility is not just about meeting standards — it’s about ensuring everyone can fully engage with our digital spaces. 
All UTRGV content must meet the DOJ ADA Title II Web Rule (ADA.gov), WCAG 2.1 Level AA guidelines, and the Texas Department of Information Resources EIR Accessibility Policy
Create. Review. Test. Approve. Publish.
Only publish content that you are 100% certain complies with ADA Requirements. Ensure accessibility review, testing, and approval are completed before publishing as part of your digital publishing process.

Purpose:
This article introduces what digital accessibility is and provides a step-by-step process for reviewing, documenting, and remediating accessibility issues across websites and digital content, including documents, media, and internal resources. It includes required reports, templates, checklists, tools, training resources, and support links.

The information and process below is created to support the following:

  • Website owners and managers

  • Content creators and editors

  • Social media managers

  • Video and multimedia producers

  • SharePoint site owners

  • Research and communications staff

  • Anyone who creates content to share and publish on internal and external sites

What is digital accessibility

Digital accessibility is about making websites, apps, documents, and other digital tools usable by everyone, including people with disabilities. That means designing and building digital content so people can navigate, understand, and interact with it whether they use screen readers, keyboards, voice commands, captions, or other assistive technologies.

Accessible design removes barriers, improves usability for all users, and helps ensure equal access to information and services online.

Watch the video What is Digital Accessibility?

Recommended Process Workflow

  1. Inventory all documents
  2. Prioritize high-traffic or critical documents
  3. Remove unnecessary files
  4. Remediate required files
  5. Replace inaccessible PDFs with HTML when possible

Step 1: Request Accessibility Reports from IT & Download Public PDF Report

Goal: Identify known accessibility issues.

Actions:

What You’ll Receive on the Siteimprove Report:

  • Summary of issues

  • Affected pages or assets

Step 2: Review Existing Documents

Goal: Begin by identifying all documents currently published or stored in locations accessible to the public or campus community.

Actions:

  • Review Common document types include:

    • PDFs
    • Word documents
    • PowerPoint presentations
    • Forms
    • Reports
    • Policies and procedures
    • Guides or instructions

  • Review and prioritize the most trafficked PDFs using the UTRGV Website PDF Google Search Console Performance Report for your department website. 

    • Download the CSV Excel document to sort by highest clicks and impressions to prioritize which PDF to analyze first

  • Determine if the Document Should Be Eliminated or Remediated

    • If the document is no longer necessary, it should be removed rather than remediated.

      Consider eliminating documents that are:

      • Outdated or expired
      • Duplicates of other documents
      • Archived materials that are no longer referenced
      • Old newsletters or announcements
      • Documents replaced by newer versions

Prioritizing Documents

If a large number of documents exist, prioritize remediation in the following order:

  1. Forms and applications
  2. Policies and official documents
  3. Frequently accessed resources
  4. Instructional materials
  5. Archived reference materials

Step 3: Download the Remediation Plan Template (Document Creators Start Here)

Goal: Track and document fixes consistently.

Download Digital Accessibility Remediation Plan - Log Template to get started

Note: Template created by COLTT member: Jessica Sanchez

Use this template to log:

  • Issue description

  • Content type

  • Location (URL / file path)

  • Required fix

  • Status and owner

Step 4: Download Accessibility Checklists

Goal: Ensure consistent reviews across content types.

Primary Checklist

Step 5: Review Your Content Using the Checklists

Goal: Identify and log issues by content type.

Review each applicable content type and document findings in your remediation plan.

Content Types to Review

Watch the video Web Accessibility Perspectives to understand the importance of making digital content accessible.

Step 6: Use Accessibility Checker, Testing & Support Tools

Goal: Use accessibility checking tools to identify and correct issues. Fix and validate all identified accessibility errors before publishing the document.

Accessibility is assessed through a comprehensive hybrid approach: 50% automated analysis using industry-standard tools and 50% manual testing, including screen reader evaluations and hands-on validation of assistive technologies.

 

Recommended Browser Plug-In Tools

Browser Accessibility Plug-In Extension Tools 

  • Deque Axe DevTools Extension. A browser-based accessibility testing tool (Chrome, Firefox, Edge) that allows developers and testers to scan web pages for accessibility violations.
  • How to use:
    1. Open the webpage you want to test.
    2. Open DevTools (F12 or right-click → Inspect).   
    3. Select the "axe DevTools" tab within the DevTools interface.   
    4. Run a full-page scan and review categorized results.
       
  • WAVE - Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool. WAVE is a suite of evaluation tools by WebAIM that provides visual feedback about the accessibility of web content. Its intuitive interface makes it perfect for developers, designers, and content creators at all skill levels.
    • WAVE Browser Extensions. The WAVE Chrome, Firefox, and Edge extensions allow you to evaluate web content for accessibility issues directly within your browser. Extensions run entirely within your web browser; no information is sent to the WAVE server.
  • How to use: 
  1. Web Service
    1. Go to wave.webaim.org
    2. Enter the URL of the page you want to test
    3. Click "Submit," or press Enter
    4. Review the page with WAVE icons overlaid
    5. Click on icons to see details about each issue
    6. Use the sidebar panels to explore different views
  2. Browser Extension
    1. Install the WAVE extension from your browser's extension store
    2. Navigate to the page you want to test
    3. Click the WAVE icon in your browser toolbar
    4. WAVE will analyze the page and display results
    5. Click on any icon to learn more about the issue
  • Understanding the Interface
    • Summary Panel: Overview of errors, alerts, features, and structural elements
    • Details Panel: Itemized list of all issues found
    • Reference Panel: Information about the selected issue
    • Structure Panel: Document outline and landmarks
    • Contrast Panel: Color contrast analysis

Built-In Software Accessibility and Support Tools 

  • Adobe Acrobat Accessibility Checker
    How to use: Use Adobe Acrobat Pro to run a full accessibility check on PDFs, identify issues such as missing tags, reading order problems, and document structure errors, and apply fixes directly within the tool.

  • Microsoft Accessibility Checker
    How to use: Built into Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and PDFs

  • Microsoft Copilot - Use this tool to help create alt-text for images, transcripts, and other uses to support accessibility requirements.

  • Ask Microsoft Accessibility - The Ask Microsoft Accessibility bot is a tool that helps users find information about the accessibility of Microsoft products and services. It uses only the publicly available information on microsoft.com as a reference and does not answer general accessibility questions or questions about code.

  • Accessibility support for enterprise customers - The enterprise Disability Answer Desk (eDAD) is a support resource for organizations that have questions about the accessibility of Microsoft products and product conformance with accessibility standards. The support team can help resolve issues relating to assistive technology, as well as find conformance documentation. The team is available Monday-Friday, 8 AM-5 PM PST.

Watch the video MS National Office Hours - Design for Inclusion: An Accessibility + Copilot Conversation

Accessibility Testers

ADA Compliance Required Before Publishing
Create. Review. Test. Approve. Publish.

Step 7: Training Resources by Content Type

Goal: Help users fix issues correctly.

Web Content

Training link(s):

Documents (PDF, Word, PowerPoint)

Training link(s):

Videos & Multimedia

Training link(s):

Social Media

Training link(s):

Brightspace (LMS) – Faculty Training Resources

These are the official UTRGV-supported training materials for online course instruction:

 

Step 8: Get Help and Support

 

Support Community

Additional Help

Related Articles / Resources

Watch the video Introduction to Web Accessibility and W3C Standards

 

Details

Details

Article ID: 164135
Created
Thu 2/5/26 12:42 PM
Modified
Fri 5/1/26 1:27 PM

Attachments

Attachments (1)

Sort By: Sort Attachments ByName Sort Attachments ByDate
xlsx

Digital_Accessibility_Remediation_Plan_Log_Template.xlsx  · 56 KB Computer

Thu 2/5/26 11:51 AM
;