Working Together to Create an Accessible Campus
October 19, 2026
This week’s Teaching Minute is the second in our series about accessibility. Rooted in Our Common Ground, equitable access to learning means that everyone in our community can participate fully. And creating an accessible UVM campus is a shared responsibility.
Not sure where to start? We’re here to help! We’ve gathered resources to help you create more accessible course materials, a key part of meeting the requirements of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act by April 2027.
Three self-service resources from the Office of Accessibility Services (OAS)
This fall at the CTL, we’ve heard questions about accessibility from faculty across campus. We’d like to share three resources from the Office of Accessibility Services (OAS) Accessibility Hub that address some of the more common questions.
Writing alt text for images, graphs, and maps
Alternative text (or alt text) provides a written description of an image for people who use screen readers or otherwise can’t access an image. Effective alt text communicates what’s important in an image, taking its purpose and context into account, so someone reading the alt text should be able to understand the same key information as someone viewing the image.
The OAS webpage Accessible Images and Alt Text offers suggestions for writing effective, context-specific alt text.
Making STEM equations accessible
How can you make equations more accessible to students? OAS’s Creating Accessible Equations resource recommends tools such as MathType, MathPix, and Overleaf (LaTeX), and offers guidance on writing alt text for equations shared as image files.
Checklist for accessible documents
Word documents and PowerPoint presentations are common course materials, whether they’re uploaded to Brightspace or shared by email. OAS’s Creating Accessible Documents checklist walks you through the features these materials require to be accessible.
Learn with us
You don’t have to figure everything out on your own! The OAS, the CTL, and Writing in the Disciplines offer workshops and events to help you build your accessibility skills.
Office of Accessibility Services
Explore OAS walk-in hours and workshops on this page.
Center for Teaching and Learning
- Creating Accessible Learning Materials (CALM) workshops
Our CALM workshops explore why digital accessibility matters, introduce a framework for creating accessible courses, and connect you with resources to support your work. - CALM Studio Time, coming in January!
For hands-on help with your own course materials, join us in person during the week before spring classes begin. We’ll be gathering in Howe Library, Room 303, to focus on the how of creating accessible materials. Every 30 minutes, we’ll offer a short presentation on a different step in remediating documents. Bring your own course materials and work on them with CTL staff on hand to answer questions and provide support. Registration links for these sessions will be shared in November.
Writing in the Disciplines
WID is offering two workshops focused on accessible documents:
- Pedagogy of Accessibility: How Accessible Documents Support Writing in Your Classes
- Using Styles in Word to Improve Accessibility While Personalizing Your Document
Please let us know if you have any questions.
Happy teaching!
The Center for Teaching & Learning
ctl@uvm.edu
Book a consult with us
www.uvm.edu/ctl