Instructor Course Preparation Checklist

Ensuring your course materials are accessible helps all UMBC students succeed. This checklist highlights key steps to make your digital content inclusive, supporting UMBC’s commitment to accessibility and compliance with ADA Title II. The following checklist can be used as a resource in the course preparation process.

  • Course Organization: Is your Blackboard course easy to navigate with consistent, logical labeling for modules and files?
  • Accessible Syllabus: Is your syllabus a properly formatted document (not just a scanned image) and does it include UMBC’s official Disability Services statement?
  • Visual Clarity: Is your content laid out with sufficient white space, clear paragraphs, and concise sentences to improve readability and reduce cognitive load?
  • Use Blackboard Ally: Have you checked your course content with Blackboard Ally and addressed its accessibility suggestions?
  • Use Proper Headings: Do you use built-in heading styles (Heading 1, 2, 3) to structure your Blackboard content, documents, and presentations?
  • Describe Images: Does every image that conveys meaning have alternative text (alt text) describing its content?
  • Complex Visuals: For complex images (like detailed charts, graphs, or diagrams) where alt text isn’t sufficient, is a more detailed description provided in the surrounding text or as a separate linked document?
  • Accessible Tables: If you use tables, do they have clear header rows and are they used for data, not page layout?
  • Meaningful Links: Are your hyperlinks descriptive (e.g., “UMBC Library Homepage” instead of “Click Here”)?
  • Good Contrast & Color Use: Is there enough contrast between text and background? Does your content avoid using color as the only way to communicate critical information?
  • Text-Searchable PDFs: Are your PDFs text-searchable (not scanned images of text), so students can select and copy text?
  • Caption Videos: Do all your videos (lectures, external content) have accurate, synchronized closed captions?
  • Transcript Audio: Do all audio-only recordings have a transcript?
  • Audio Description: For videos where important visual content (like demonstrations, actions, screen-sharing) is not explained verbally, is an audio description present?
  • Accessible Textbooks/Courseware: When selecting required textbooks or digital courseware, (e.g., Pearson MyLab, McGraw Hill Connect, VitalSource), have you verified the accessibility features?
  • Check Third-Party Tools: Before requiring external websites or software, have you verified their accessibility?
  • Assessment Design: Assessment content items follow best practices for content (images, multimedia, files, headings, color contrast)
  • Rubrics/Criteria: Are rubrics, grading criteria, and performance expectations clearly articulated, provided in an accessible format, and easy for all students to understand what constitutes success for each element?
  • Purposeful Time Limits: If time limits are applied, is the default time provided for the assessment generally sufficient for most students to complete it thoroughly? Can the assessment be deployed without a time limit?
  • Time Management: Are your policies regarding late submissions or extensions clearly communicated in your syllabus and elsewhere? Do you provide strategies or resources (e.g., breaking down or scaffolding large assignments, recommending time management tools) to help students manage their workload and meet deadlines effectively? 
  • Feedback: When providing assessment feedback, is it delivered in an accessible format?