What the Office of Accessibility Services is working on to make UVM more accessible.
Current Projects
Here are the current accessibility projects the Office of Accessibility Services is working on. If you have questions on any of these, or are interested in taking part, please get in touch.
| INITIATIVE | DESCRIPTION | STATUS |
|---|---|---|
| UVM Accessibility Roadmap | OAS is drafting a plan for how UVM can get in full conformance with WCAG 2.1 AA-level digital accessibility standards by April 2027. | In progress. First draft available for campus review in January 2026. |
| UVM Department Accessibility Contacts | OAS has formed an advisory group of representatives from UVM departments who lead accessibility efforts in their departments, and provide OAS with feedback on accessibility work. | Active. Group meets monthly, and enrollment is continuing. |
| UVM Digital Accessibility Steering Committee | OAS is forming a digital accessibility steering committee. Responsibilities of the committee include: working together to anticipate, troubleshoot, support, and resolve the practical needs of our campus community. | In progress. Recruitment for this committee is underway. |
| OAS/ETS Accessible Software Group | OAS is partnering with UVM Enterprise Technology Services (ETS) on a group that will review existing and incoming software to make sure it meets WCAG 2.1 AA-level accessibility standards. | In progress. Public launch in February 2026. |
| Campus Accessibility Hub | OAS is building the central online space for accessibility policies, resources, education, remediation, and outreach. | In progress. OAS has begun adding policies, resources, remediation, and outreach, but needs campus partners to ensure all audiences needs are met. |
| Campus Digital Accessibility Audit | As part of the UVM Accessibility Roadmap, OAS is conducting an audit of UVM websites, multimedia, documents, social media, and courses, using industry-standard sampling techniques. All artifacts are being audited against WCAG 2.1 AA-level digital accessibility standards. | In progress. Initial results available for campus leadership in January 2026. |
| State of Digital Accessibility tour | OAS has prepared an overview of the state of digital accessibility at UVM as of Fall 2025, along with information on moving towards full conformance with WCAG 2.1 AA-level digital accessibility standards by April 2027. | Active. Overview was presented to campus stakeholder groups and campus leadership in Fall 2025. Presentation will be available on OAS YouTube channel in December 2025. Updated Spring 2026 overview to be available in February 2026. |
| Faculty Accessibility Fellows Program | The Faculty Accessibility Fellows Program is for faculty who wish to become champions of accessibility in their departments and units. Fellows would provide leadership, advocacy, and guidance to campus leadership around accessibility as it pertains to courses and faculty concerns. | Pre-launch. OAS is currently seeking campus partners to launch this program. |
| Elevator outage and campus construction updates SMS alert service | OAS created an opt-in email alert service for the UVM campus community to get real-time updates on elevator outages and campus construction. Service will be expanded to SMS. | In Progress. SMS alert system planned for Spring 2026; tools currently being evaluated. |
| Accessibility education and outreach | OAS has begun offering digital accessibility drop-in hours, workshops, and courses for the campus community. | Active. OAS began offering digital accessibility drop-in hours in Fall 2025. In January 2026, they will begin offering monthly workshops, and in Summer 2026, they are offering a non-credit accessibility course for UVM staff. |
In addition, the Office of Accessibility Services provides a number of digital accessibility services, including captioning, transcription, audio description, Optical Character Recognition (OCR) scanning, ASL interpretation, .pdf remediation, website accessibility audits, and Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR) reviews.
Completed Accessibility Initiatives
Completed Projects
Here are the completed accessibility projects the Office of Accessibility Services has worked on.
| INITIATIVE | DESCRIPTION | STATUS |
|---|---|---|
| Elevator outages and campus construction notices email service. | OAS created an opt-in email alert service for the UVM campus community to get real-time updates on elevator outages and campus construction. Service will be expanded to SMS. | Completed. The email service is up and running, with identified personnel at OAS and at Facilities Management sustaining the flow of realtime information. |
| Report an ADA Barrier | Create a campus-wide streamlined reporting system for identifying and eliminating accessibility barriers on campus. | Completed. The form remains up and running, and data is available to the campus for the first year of operation. |