What the Office of Accessibility Services is working on to make UVM more accessible.
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 Liaisons | 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. |
| 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 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 alert service | OAS has created an opt-in email alert service for the UVM campus community to get real-time updates on elevator outages and campus construction. | Active. Email alert system up and running; SMS alert system planned for Spring 2026. |
| 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.