Empowering Instructors | Supporting Excellence
This guide summarizes University at Buffalo resources that support instructors in creating digitally accessible course content aligned with the ADA Title II (WCAG 2.1 Level AA) Guidelines. Resources are provided from UB CATT, UB EDI, and Deque University offerings.
UB’s enterprise-wide, centrally supported applications - Microsoft 365, Acrobat Pro, and Panopto - are the tools licensed and supported by UBIT and are used by the vast majority of faculty across campus. Guidance provided through the CATT and EDI offices is centered on these platforms.
Faculty who use applications that fall outside UB’s centrally supported ecosystem, such as Apple Applications, Google Workspace, Open Office, or other specialized tools retain responsibility for ensuring that materials created in those environments meet digital accessibility and data security requirements. See this guide for more details.
If you have questions or challenges with creating or sourcing digitally accessible content, contact your Unit Faculty Accessibility Liaison, or submit a CATT Instructional Support Ticket.
UB’s document accessibility guidance emphasizes creating accessible materials that are structured, readable, and navigable for all learners. Review Content Accessibility Fundamentals for all document types including built‑in styles for headings and titles, adding alternative text for images and long descriptions, creating accessible tables, ensuring sufficient color contrast, and avoiding visual‑only meaning. These principles apply across authoring tools and platforms. For additional training see CATT’s Digital Accessibility Training Opportunities, and review the on-demand training “Fast Track to Accessibility for Any Role” available to the UB community through Deque University.
Review the sections below for digital accessibility training fundamentals, and resources for manual creation and remediation of accessible documents. Gen AI can also be used to support creation and remediate of different types of content. Self-enroll in the UB Learns course Making Course Content Accessible in AI to review AI assisted options for MS Office content, Alternative Text and Long Descriptions, PDF documents, LaTeX documents, and more.
UB Learns includes accessibility‑supporting features and the Ally Course Report accessibility checker, which helps instructors identify and address common accessibility issues across course materials. Learn how to use the Ally Course Report and it’s Components. For additional training register for an upcoming CATT Session on Making Content Accessible in UB Learns.
Microsoft Word supports accessible document creation through heading styles, alt text, table headers, readable fonts, and an accessibility checker. Utilize Accessibility at UB’s Word Accessibility Guide and Checklist as you draft documents. For additional training register for an upcoming CATT session on Making Content Accessible in Microsoft Word, and review the on-demand training “Fast Track to Accessibility for Microsoft Office - Microsoft Word Accessibility” through Deque University.
Accessible PowerPoint design focuses on slide layouts, unique slide titles, logical reading order, sufficient contrast, alt text, and captions for embedded media.
Start with accessible templates
UB-branded PowerPoint templates are designed with accessible layouts, structure and formatting already in place. Using these templates can help prevent common issues and reduce the need for remediation later.
Utilize Accessibility at UB’s PowerPoint Accessibility Guide and Checklist as you draft slides. For additional training register for an upcoming CATT session on Making Content Accessible in Microsoft PowerPoint, and review the on-demand training “Fast Track to Accessibility for Microsoft Office - Microsoft PowerPoint Accessibility” through Deque University.
Excel accessibility emphasizes clearly structured data tables, labeled headers, and layouts that can be interpreted by assistive technologies. Utilize Accessibility at UB’s Excel Accessibility Guide and Checklist as you draft spreadsheets. For additional training, review the on-demand training “Fast Track to Accessibility for Microsoft Office - Microsoft Excel” through Deque University.
To create accessible content in Google Workspace, follow the same content accessibility fundamentals for all documents. Google Workspace is not a UB enterprise-wide centrally supported application. Faculty who uses Google Workspace can review the on-demand training “Fast Track to Accessibility for Google Workspace” through Deque University.
To create accessible content in Apple Pages and Keynote follow the same content accessibility fundamentals for all documents. Pages and Keynote are not UB enterprise-wide centrally supported applications. For guidance on Pages and Keynote accessibility review CATT's Apple Software: Accessibility Considerations, Content Accessibility Fundamentals for all document types, and the on-demand training “Fast Track to Accessibility for Any Role” available to the UB community through Deque University.
LaTeX is widely used at UB for producing high-quality documents that include complex formatting, especially in STEM disciplines. It allows precise control over equations, citations, and document structure. To create accessible content in LaTeX, self-enroll in the UB Learns Course, Making Course Content Accessible in AI. Open the module entitled, “LaTeX Accessibility Tutorials”.
Follow the guidelines to create an accessible document, and utilize the embedded accessibility checkers, if available. Follow the instructions to save a digitally accessible PDF. For Microsoft Office products:
Not all PDF content from UB Library databases is digitally accessible. Review your course PDF content following these steps:
Image based content must include alternative text, and when needed, a long description to make visual content accessible to students with a range of visual impairments. See Accessibility at UB’s Alternative Text Guidelines. Alternative text is a short 1-2 sentence description of the purpose of the instruction purpose of the image. If more detail is needed to convey the learning content contained in the image, a long description is needed. Follow these guidelines for long descriptions:
To explore AI prompts to create alternative text and long descriptions self-enroll in the UB Learns Course, Making Course Content Accessible in AI. Open the module entitled, “Images: Alt Text, Long Descriptions, and Decorative Images”. For support, attend a CATT AI and Accessibility Drop In Lab Session.
Panopto is commonly used at UB for instructional video. Captions can be added and edited for accuracy in Panapto. For additional training, register for an upcoming CATT session on Making Panapto Content Accessible.
YouTube videos used for instruction must include accurate captions, even though YouTube is a third‑party platform. Follow these steps:
Review the following resources to check the accessibility of HTML websites:
Publisher and vendor documents used for instructional purposes need to meet the ADA Title II digital accessibility standard. Follow these steps:
CATT provides resources and guidance to help instructors create accessible digital course materials.
If you need assistance with accessibility best practices, accessibility checking tools, or preparing course materials, please visit UB’s accessibility resources or contact the accessibility support team.
For additional training, register for an upcoming CATT virtual session on creating accessible content in UB Learns, Word, PowerPoint, or PDF. For individual support, reach out to your Unit Accessibility Liaison or submit a ticket through CATT.