Accessible Website Content

Ensure everyone can easily read and navigate your website.

Accessibility is not only a best practice, it's a legal requirement. It also enhances the user experience for everyone and improves search visibility on platforms like Google. As a web content editor, it's your responsibility to ensure your website meets WCAG 2.1 Level AA accessibility standards.

Modern Campus Best Practices

M&C offers guidance on common content accessibility issues. We recommend consulting these resources:

  • Images – Learn how to add alt text and descriptive captions so all users can understand visual content.
  • Tables – Get tips on structuring tables with headers to ensure they’re readable by screen readers.
  • Web Content Standards – Follow UND’s standards for headings, links, and formatting to keep pages consistent and accessible.

File Uploads

Binary files, such as PDFs, Word documents, and PowerPoint presentations, can be uploaded to the web as long as they meet accessibility standards. Embedded videos must also be fully accessible.

When web content cannot be created directly on a webpage, PDFs are the preferred file type. Unlike Word, PowerPoint, or Excel files—which can require specific software and may have compatibility issues—PDFs are more universally accessible. However, PDFs pose accessibility challenges. The easiest way to ensure an accessible PDF is to make the source document accessible before converting it to PDF.

PDFs are made to be printed, not read online. Do not use PDFs to present digital content that could and should be a web page. Here's why:

  • Easier to update: Web content can be edited quickly, while PDFs need to be re-uploaded after each update.
  • Avoids version confusion: People often forget to delete old PDFs from the website. These files can still be found via search because they are live on the web.
  • Improves accessibility: Web content is easier for screen readers to navigate.
  • Better mobile experience: Web content is responsive, while PDFs are hard to view on mobile devices.

Read Nielson's PDF: Still Unfit for Human Consumption, 20 Years Later for an explanation of why PDFs should not be on websites.

Technology Options

PDF remediation can be a complex and time-consuming task. As of now, it needs to be manually done through two technology options:

  1. Equidox: UND Marketing & Communications (M&C) secured five concurrent licenses for Equidox, a software designed to simplify PDF remediation. Trial licenses are available through the Extreme Makeover: PDF Edition project. Individual areas may purchase their own Equidiox license through a third-party reseller whom Procurement has a contract.
  2. Adobe: NDUS provides all employees and students with access to Adobe Pro and Adobe Creative Cloud. We recommend requesting an Adobe Creative Cloud license if you work with web images or need access to advanced editing tools.

PDF Remediation Resources

Siteimprove

Siteimprove is a software used to scan only our Modern Campus (Omni) sites for quality assurance and accessibility issues. Anyone with access to the CMS can request access to Siteimprove.

Much of Siteimprove’s training content is aimed at developers and site administrators, but the following guides may be helpful for content editors:

For more in-depth training, Siteimprove recommends these courses in order. They are more detailed and may not be necessary depending on your role:

Since Siteimprove does not offer a quick start tutorial, we recommend logging in and reviewing the following issues to get started. Poking around the platform is the best way to get acquainted. All issues require review because some are false positives. Siteimprove includes help text in the platform that explains each issue.

In the left navigation, go to Accessibility > Issues:

  • Headings are not structured
  • Content missing after heading
  • Link missing alternative text
  • Empty headings
  • Table cell missing content (see how to correct this on the Web Support site)

In the left navigation, go to Accessibility > PDFs:

  • Use the search bar to find your PDFs.
  • Check the Machine-Readable and PDF Tags (both should have a green check mark).
  • Under Other Issues, click the carrot to reveal a drop-down explaining other issues. The Other Issues flagged will be 0 if the PDF was remediated correctly.

In the left navigation, go to Quality Assurance >

  • Links
    • Pages with broken links
    • PDFs with broken links
    • Broken links in PDFs
  • Spelling
    • Pages with misspellings or words to review

  1. Focus on content-related issues, as these are the ones you can usually resolve. Some visual design or development issues may actually stem from content, and the reverse can also be true.
  2. Technical issues flagged by Siteimprove are already being tracked and addressed by UIT, so you can safely ignore them.
  3. Automated checkers like Siteimprove capture only about 30% of accessibility issues. Siteimprove is the official record used by UND to measure accessibility compliance.
  4. False positives are common. Marking an issue as “Ignore” helps keep the backend clean. All ignored accessibility issues will be manually reviewed by Siteimprove staff to ensure accuracy.
  5. Siteimprove crawls our site about every two weeks, so updates may take time to appear in the results.

Online Forms

Choose the form-building technology based on the specific functionality your online form requires.

Most forms that do not require a signature or authentication login can be built in UND’s Modern Campus (Omni) content management system (CMS). Omni forms allow attachments. All submissions are emailed to the appropriate recipients and can be downloaded in an Excel spreadsheet.

help documentation

UND has an enterprise DocuSign system that includes eSignature, PowerForms, and Web Forms. For accessibility compliance, please use DocuSign PowerForms or Web Forms, as the eSignature experience is not fully accessible.

DocuSign PowerForms and Web Forms are ideal for forms that recipients can complete and sign on-demand, without the sender initiating the process each time. Examples include student forms, such as grant applications, and employee forms, like HR and payroll requests.

PowerForms and Web Forms offer different experiences for form creators.

  • Advanced Forms: PowerForms support complex field calculations, making them suitable for advanced forms. PowerForms are especially useful for frequently used, self-service forms that various recipients can access through websites or secure links.
  • Simple Forms: Web Forms are better suited for simpler form needs.

How to make DocuSign forms?

You can create a PowerForm or Web Form from a DocuSign template. You’ll need to request form creation access by submitting a ticket to UIT or calling UIT at 701.777.2222.

Technical assistance in creating PowerForms and Web Forms is offered through UIT by submitting a help ticket.

For workflows within PeopleSoft, use Gideon Taylor forms (GT eForms), managed by NDUS Core Technology Services (CTS).  

GT eForms streamline internal workflows that require seamless integration within PeopleSoft, facilitating processes with built-in approvals and data storage. These forms are ideal for collecting information that needs to be stored directly in PeopleSoft, as they ensure that data from form submissions connects to the system automatically at the end of the workflow. 

Since GT eForms are fully managed by CTS, they are best suited for forms that do not require frequent updates, as any changes to the forms or workflow must be handled by CTS. Compliance styling can be implemented in GT eForms, though these adjustments are limited to CTS-managed updates.

How to make GT eForms?

To request a GT eForm, submit a request to NDUS Core Technology Services (CTS).

For assistance with GT eForms, submit a request through the CTS support portal.

Archived Documents

Historical documents on UND’s website that exist solely for recordkeeping or reference may be exempt from WCAG 2.1 AA compliance.

Documents must meet the following criteria to be eligible for this exemption:

  1. Created before April 24, 2026; and
  2. Not currently used to apply for, gain access to, or participate in UND’s services, programs, or activities.

Examples may include:

  • Agendas from conferences held in 2025
  • Course catalogs from 2020

After April 24, 2026, some documents may also qualify to be considered archived. These documents must:

  1. Reproduce paper documents created before April 24, 2026, or reproduce the contents of other physical media created before April 24, 2026;
  2. Be retained exclusively for reference, research, or recordkeeping; and
  3. Not be altered or updated after the date of archiving.

Examples may include:

  • A PDF of a commencement brochure from 1944
  • A scanned image of a commencement photo from 1944

All archived documents must be clearly labeled as archived, and content owners must provide a way for users to request accessible versions of the documents.

Any content on UND’s public website that is used to access or participate in a UND service, program, or activity is not eligible. Examples include:

  • Application-related documents, including applications for specific academic programs, employment, conferences, teams, etc.
  • Documents containing information about how to use a current UND resource.
  • Documents containing information about a current UND program, including but not limited to academic programs, student life programs, and programs for employees.
  • Documents related to future UND events occurring on or after April 24, 2026.
  • Any document used as part of an academic course conducted after April 25, 2026.
  • Any documents that have been updated or altered after April 24, 2026.

Social Media

You are not required to retroactively update old posts unless an accessibility request is made. Please ensure your content—including videos, images, and text—is accessible to all.

About Social Media Accessibility

Online Accessibility Training

UND offers Access to Deque University, an online accessibility training platform covering many topics.

Follow these step-by-step instructions to set up your account.

Log in to Deque University

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