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• Accessibility Is the Baseline—There’s Help to Get You There

Accessibility Is the Baseline—There’s Help to Get You There

Northwestern IT continues to focus on digital accessibility. As technological advances drive higher education further into the digital-first world, our collective responsibility to ensure every University community member can access and benefit from the technology resources we provide also increases. Fortunately, we have an expert to guide us.

Jim Stachowiak, accessible technology strategy and operations lead, is widening his attention across Northwestern IT programs and activities. With this expanded focus, Jim will use his expertise to guide our efforts and ensure that Northwestern IT prioritizes meeting digital accessibility standards in services, support, and engagement with clients, partners across the University, and internal colleagues.

Scaling Up Efforts Around Accessibility

Northwestern IT is adopting the Do It Right First approach to digital accessibility. Our shared goal is to integrate accessibility from the start, in much the same way we are aiming for with information security. More than being the right thing to do for the University community, ensuring digital accessibility is also a legal requirement and part of Northwestern’s digital accessibility policy. We are focusing on:

• Project planning, software development, and other instances of introducing change should all include an accessibility review.
  • Developers will test products with screen readers and keyboard-only navigation.
  • Purchasers should ask vendors for accessibility information, including Accessibility Conformance Reports (ACRs) and Voluntary Product Accessibility Templates (VPAT), on their products during the purchasing process.
• Accessibility standards will be incorporated into everyday tasks and all documentation (including email) so that everything is inherently accessible and doesn’t require remediation for someone with alternative access needs. This approach ultimately improves the experience of accessing information and resources for everyone.
• Examples of tasks that could benefit from being created with accessibility first, include:
  • Knowledge Base articles and any other forms of internal documentation
  • Formal emails
  • Presentations
    • This might include ensuring accessible slides are available and always using a microphone in large or crowded rooms.

Start by focusing on seven key practices when creating content.

• Use heading levels
• Use descriptive link text
• Add alternative text to images
• Correct usage of tables (for data, not layout)
• Use colors that have correct contrast ratios (4.5:1 foreground to background)
• Use list formatting
• Add captions to videos

If you’re unsure at any step, contact Jim Stachowiak for guidance, consultation, or additional learning resources.

Internal Experts, Nationally Recognized

Jim has been a key leader in Northwestern’s Canvas Accessibility Project, which continues to make significant progress. By the end of Spring Quarter 2025, Northwestern’s courses averaged fewer than two errors per course, down from nearly nine at the start of the project in fall 2023. Overall, the University has achieved an impressive 79 percent reduction in accessibility errors across Northwestern Canvas course sites.

Instructors across Northwestern participated in training related to the seven key accessibility areas outlined above. They also accessed workshops, live and on-demand training resources, a new library of accessible Canvas course sites, accessible document templates, and direct consultations through the Mission: Accessible Challenge. Instructors also have access to an automated digital accessibility support tool, the Pope Tech Accessibility Dashboard, and an Accessibility Guide. In addition to helping instructors improve content in their Canvas courses, to date, the project team’s efforts has remediated more than 2,700 uploaded documents across 76 courses. Ensuring accessible courses is a crucial and an ongoing effort.

Teaching and Learning Technologies’s advocacy for digital accessibility led to the default Canvas color options being updated to correct the contrast ratios against a white background for all users. This will positively impact accessibility for users across all Canvas schools.

With public institutions being required to comply with new federal digital accessibility rules by April 2026, and private institutions expected to follow suit by the following year, more than 30 other schools have reached out to the team to learn about Northwestern’s Canvas Accessibility Project and Mission: Accessible, in hopes of replicating its success.

One of those partners is Emily Baker, senior digital accessibility specialist at the University of Chicago. She and Stachowiak co-presented a workshop, titled “Kindred Spirits: Collaborating Across Multiple Universities to Enhance Digital Accessibility,” at this year’s TEACHx symposium. During their workshop, Baker quipped, “Every month, Jim calls me from the future to discuss how things are going. It’s been a huge help having him as a partner.” The partnership highlights how Northwestern has become a peer leader in supporting digital accessibility in higher education.

Remember, Accessibility is for Everyone: Build Your Skills

You don’t need to be an expert to make a difference in digital accessibility. Just stay aware and give it a try. Take steps today to improve your skills. Review any of the resources shared in this article to learn a new skill or practice that you can use going forward—also, feel free to reach out to Jim Stachowiak with questions. Your efforts make a difference, and with just a little bit of new learning, you’ll be doing it right the first time every time!