Accessible Technology Services
History of going beyond
The University of Montana has a history of going beyond simple barrier elimination. The ADA Team, Office of Disability Services and UM administration consistently aim at optimal solutions to equal access. Universal accessibility is part of the UM's culture. The Office of Disability Services for Students directly supports registered students and their professors. The Equal Opportunity & Affirmative Action Office provides FAQs about Information Technology Accessibility. Information Technology's goal is assist the university community's goals and culture by demonstrating how to use campus software to achieve equal access and universal design.
Staff and faculty should create only universally accessible content and documents, emails and web sites. Specific goals and techniques are discussed under each section:
The Examples page offers brief insight into several disabilities and assistive technology.
Relevant training
Shortcourses are routinely available on Document Accessibility, Captioning, PDF accessibility and the Camtasia products. Please visit the training area of this website (IT) to see when the next one is scheduled.
Support
If you have questions, please call Janet Sedgley at 243-5452.
Basic level of accessibility
In general, common sense and a few basic guidelines such as these, provide a basic level of accessibility:
- Organize your information well and make sure that organization is readily apparent.
- Provide information in alternative forms. When information is shared auditorily (such as a pod or screencast) provide that information in captions (preferred) or as a transcript. When information is shared in only visual form (images and color), provide alternative text explanations
- Use standard structure and markup so that adaptive equipment can work as it should. (For example, the JAWS screen reader can find headers to announce in Word when standard heading styles are used. Individuals using a screen reader can understand the structure of the document if <h1>s contain <h2>s which contain <h3>s.)
- Create selection areas and navigation that can be selected without large movements or precise pointing.