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Policies and Procedures for Accessibility on the Web

SUNY Canton is committed to making digital content accessible to individuals with disabilities. All content that appears on the SUNY Canton website or connected to third party sites will need prior approval from the Director of Public Relations/Web Designer.

Content on the Website

Content will appear on the main campus website in one of two methods:

  1. Content sent to the Office of Public Relations to be created/edited/uploaded by the Director of Public Relations/Web Designer.
  2. Webpage updates will be generated using Terminalfour CMS. Those updates will be sent directly to the Director of Public Relations/Web Designer for approval, prior to going live on the site.

New or Modified Content

New or modified content will be reviewed for quality and accessibility compliance. The standards that will be reviewed include, but are not limited to:

  • WCAG 2.1 Level AA standards and any subsequent WCAG updates.
  • Content must be readable. Text size and color contrast must meet the minimum WCAG 2.1 Level AA standards.
  • Each page must include unique page titles to describe topic or purpose.
  • A clear progression of headings (H1, H2, H3, etc.) must be present.
  • Underlined content will not be accepted. Underlines are reserved for hyperlinks only.
  • Content must utilize alt tags to describe photos and images.
  • Use of italics <em> and/or bold <strong> should be used to draw attention to content instead of color.
  • Links will avoid the text “Click Here” or ‘Read more” in favor of more descriptive hyperlinks.
  • Content containing an <iframe> must contain a title that accurately describes the content and type (video, navigation, etc.)
  • Keyboard accessibility

Quality Assurance

  • SUNY Canton will scan the website for accessibility errors and issues with SiteImprove website scanner. Full reports will be generated every six days, or as needed. Random manual tests will also be performed with the WAVE web scanner to ensure compliance.
  • Manual reviews of the website will also occur frequently to identify and correct accessibility errors that may not show up in scans.

PDF Review

  • When appropriate, PDF documents will be converted to a web page.
  • PDF documents will be scanned with Adobe Acrobat for OCR Text accessibility before upload to the website.
  • PDF titles will be reviewed for existence and accuracy.
  • PDFs will be reviewed to ensure that alt tags are used to accurately describe images.
  • Adobe InDesign’s Accessibility plugin will be used to ensure large scale cross-media publications will be fully accessible in PDF.

Video Content

All of the following should occur before release to the public.

  • Video content will be uploaded to YouTube or Panopto.
  • SUNY Canton will allow YouTube and/or Panopto to perform an automated caption scan of each uploaded video. This will create a baseline that is generally 80-90% correct.
  • SUNY Canton will then review the captions and make needed updates to correct misspellings, add punctuation, and delineate various speakers.

Other Documents (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)

  • When appropriate, Microsoft Office documents will be converted to a web page.
  • Should the documents not be easily converted into a web page, they will be converted to PDF, where appropriate (see PDF Review for policies after conversion).
  • Any links that direct to Office formatted content will follow all web standards for content.
  • Special aria tags will be used to alert a screen reader to the type of document.
  • Images will be reviewed to ensure that alt tags are available for images contained within.
  • The “Check Accessibility” function in Office should be utilized to identify and correct all Office accessibility errors prior to conversion or upload.

Social Media Accessibility

Social media administrators should take steps to reduce barriers to access for individuals with disabilities by enabling screen-reader compatibility, captioning videos, and adding descriptive text on images. Most major social media platforms provide access solutions for individuals with disabilities, but all administrators must do their part to alleviate any barriers. 

Vendor Material

  • Vendor material includes third party websites, course modules, documents, and video.
  • All vendor material should be in compliance with all SUNY Canton Accessibility Policies. Content that fails compliance will not be permitted on the SUNY Canton website.
  • Vendor material should come pre-captioned or transcribed.
  • Compliance of purchased content is the responsibility of the vendor. Should a vendor be unable or unwilling to comply or provide reasonable accommodations, those services will not be procured in the future.

Accessibility Assistance

Should you encounter inaccessible content or functionality on the SUNY Canton website, please contact the Web Designer:

Travis Smith
Director of Public Relations/Web Designer
SUNY Canton
MacArthur Hall 214
34 Cornell Drive
Canton, NY 13617
315-386-7417
smitht@canton.edu

Complaints/Grievances:  Complaints that a SUNY Canton program, service, or activity is not accessible to persons with disabilities should be directed to the Office of Student Accessibility Services.

In addition, the State University of New York has a Discrimination Complaint Procedure that may be utilized to file a complaint of unlawful discrimination on the basis of disability.

Student Accessibility Services

Students may contact the Office of Student Accessibility Services for specialized resources and services to assist with website navigation. Student Accessibility Services staff members are available to work with students with physical, learning, psychological, medical, or other disabilities to help them better understand the nature of their disability, develop self-advocacy skills, and to determine appropriate access plans. All specific information provided concerning a disability is confidential and is released only with the student’s consent.

Megan Riedl
Directory of Student Accessibility Services
Miller Campus Center 235
34 Cornell Drive
Canton, NY 13617
315-386-7392
riedl@canton.edu