Faculty Digital Accessibility Resources

We strive to provide every student with an equitable opportunity to succeed, and that includes ensuring they can access and engage with all course materials, technologies, and online resources. As faculty, your role in making your course materials digitally accessible is paramount to fostering an equitable learning experience for all our students. ADA Title II now explicitly mandates the adoption of digital accessibility standards across a broad range of digital course content and platforms. This means everything from your course content within Blackboard, to digital documents (like PDFs, Word files, cloud-based files), audio/video content (including lecture recordings and external media), and even third-party applications or tools you integrate into your teaching, must meet these accessibility standards.

This page is designed to be your go-to resource for understanding and implementing digital accessibility best practices in your courses. Here, you’ll find a wealth of information, from general guidelines and tools to discipline-specific resources tailored to the unique needs of different fields of study. Whether you’re building a new online course, creating accessible documents, or selecting digital tools, we’re here to help.

Quick Start Guides & Tools

Try our Discipline Explorer

STEM Fine Arts Humanities Social Sciences Business & Communication

If you don’t see your discipline or content area, please reach out to Instructional Technology.

Quality Matters

Two accessibility resources are available through Quality Matters:

QM Higher Education Rubric, 7th edition: General Standard 8 focuses on accessibility, usability, readability, and how to design courses with these topics in mind. QM Standards are research-supported and based on published best practices. Faculty may download the Rubric from UMBC Box (login required).

Quality Matters’ Accessibility & Usability Resource Site (AURS) is a free resource with important information to assist you with accessibility challenges. Videos show you step-by-step changes you can make to increase the accessibility of your course with examples to highlight best practices.

Anyone with a QM account can register for the AURS site by logging into MyQM and selecting “Workshop – Register” in the side navigation, then choosing “Register for Accessibility & Usability Resource Site.” If you need a QM account, please see → How do I create a Quality Matters account? If you’ve already registered, the AURS link will be found on your Dashboard in the QM Classroom after you log in.

Getting Help

For more information and support specifically for faculty, including guidance on test submissions, accessible course materials, and working with students with disabilities, please visit the SDS Faculty Resources page. There you’ll find tools, FAQs, and training links such as:

  • Instructor Resources on Accessibility and Inclusive Teaching
  • The RT Form for submitting timed tests to SDS for in-person proctoring
  • Captioning and transcription guidance
  • Neurodiversity and disability etiquette resources
  • The SDS Faculty Memo and recommended syllabus statement
  • Links to UMBC’s PIVOT training and external accessibility checklists

Faculty can also contact disability@umbc.edu or call 410-455-2459 during business hours with questions about accommodations or online exam administration.