Saemann Student Center with beautiful flowers in foreground

Web Accessibility

Web Accessibility Coordinator: Chris Knudson, Strategic Marketing & Communication
Web Accessibility Committee: Barb Schultz, Information Technology Services; Nicole Willis, Academic Resource Center; Renae Johnson, Wartburg Store; Rachel Clark, faculty representative; Karen Thalacker, legal counsel

Statement
In accordance with federal and state law, Wartburg College strives to provide equal opportunity in all educational and administrative services, programs and activities. Facilitating equal and effective access is the responsibility of all college staff and faculty. That responsibility includes ensuring that websites and web services provided or utilized by the college are consistent with the law and the college’s commitment to accessibility.

Purpose
The purpose of this policy is to facilitate and verify that information provided through the college websites (online content) is accessible to students, prospective students, employees, guests, and visitors with disabilities, particularly those with visual, hearing or manual impairments or who otherwise require the use of assistive technology to access information.

Applicable Parties
This policy applies to all staff, faculty and student employees at the college. However, it is most applicable to the following: Marketing & Communication, Information Technology Services, Vogel Library, and any staff, faculty or student employee who creates, edits, posts or maintains online content as part of his or her official college functions.

Policy

The following provisions apply to all online content acquired, published or hosted by the college or used to conduct business or activities. Online content includes content provided or developed by third parties (e.g. vendors, video-sharing websites such as YouTube, Vimeo, software-as-a-service providers, and other open sources) that the college chooses to make available via the web.

1. Web Accessibility Standards

  • WCAG 2.0 Level AA conformance shall be the technical standard for evaluating the accessibility of online content at Wartburg College.
  • As technologies advance, the college will continue to consider, and may adopt, additional standards at the recommendation of the Web Accessibility Committee; however, in no case should any additional standards be interpreted as diminishing or negating the existing technical standard.

2. Implementation

  • 2.1 The Web Accessibility Coordinator will:
    • Have sufficient knowledge, skill and experience to understand and employ the accessibility standards;
    • Be housed in the Marketing & Communication Office;
    • Chair the Web Accessibility Committee;
    • Conduct regular audits to measure online content against the Web Accessibility Standards;
    • Document and evaluate all problems identified through audits.
  • 2.2 Web Accessibility Coordinator contact information:
    • Chris Knudson, director of Marketing & Communication, (319) 352-8580
  • 2.3 The Web Accessibility Committee will:
    • Consist of (at a minimum) a participant from each of the following offices or organizations: Information Technology Services, Marketing & Communication, Accessibility Services, and a legal representative for the college as needed.
    • Develop and define procedures to ensure that online content meets Web Accessibility Standards;
    • Develop procedures to ensure that content that does not meet the Web Accessibility Standards is evaluated and, if necessary, remediated within a reasonable period of time.
  • 2.4 The Information Technology Services Department will:
    • Work with the Web Accessibility Coordinator to incorporate Web Accessibility Standards compliance validation into the technology review process;
    • Assist Web Accessibility Committee in developing methods for tracking compliance with training requirement(s).
  • 2.5 All units and programs will:
    • Ensure that online content meets or exceeds the Web Accessibility Standards;
    • Review Web Accessibility Standards before acquiring any third-party product or service that provides or hosts online content.

3. Training

Submit a recommendation to the Web Accessibility Committee.

3.1 The Web Accessibility Committee will:

Develop and execute a training program to educate staff, faculty and student employees who, as part of their official functions, create, maintain, post or distribute information with online content to students, employees, guests, and visitors with disabilities;

Develop a system for verifying that all of the individuals identified above complete the training requirements of this policy.

3.2 The Web Accessibility Coordinator will:

Review each request for an exception to ensure that the proposed approach provides equal and effective access; and