Stay informed on the latest accessibility updates at Penn State.

This page is for Behrend faculty and focuses on digital accessibility as it relates to teaching and learning. It offers clear guidance, practical tools, and campus support to help you meet updated federal guidance and Penn State Policy AD69.

Make a Plan

Once you’ve reviewed your report, the Commonwealth Campus Teaching Support – Accessibility Toolkit can help you decide what to address first. The toolkit offers practical guidance for prioritizing courses, using Ally results effectively, and focusing on high-impact accessibility fixes you can make over time.

What does it actually look like to work on accessibility in a real course? In this short video, Behrend faculty member Zach Williams shares how he used Ally in Canvas to make small, high-impact improvements—and why the process was more manageable than he expected.

Prioritize Student-Facing Materials

For teaching and learning, digital accessibility efforts are most important for materials students are expected to access or use as part of a course. This typically includes:

• Content in Canvas (pages, assignments, quizzes, discussions)
• Course documents (PDFs, Word files, slides)
• Video and audio used for instruction
• Required third-party tools and platforms

Note that for required third-party tools, accessibility responsibility is shared. Penn State provides review and guidance to help determine appropriate steps. Visit Penn State Courseware for more information.

Some materials generally fall outside the scope of immediate accessibility work, unless they are actively used in teaching or shared with students:

• Archived course content that is no longer in use
• Instructor-only working files, drafts, and notes
• Internal or administrative materials not shared with students

If you’re unsure whether something should be addressed, start with student-facing materials or check your Ally report to see what’s flagged.

The following timeline shows how legal, technical, and educational developments over time led to today’s accessibility expectations for digital course materials.

Plan and Prioritize

• Commonwealth Campus Teaching Support – Accessibility Toolkit
• Top 30 Course Initiative – Commonwealth Campus Teaching Support

Teach Accessibly

• Digital Accessibility Foundations: The “Need-to-Know” Now for Faculty – Penn State MediaSpace (29:18)
• Teach your students Digital Accessibility Literacy with this plug-and-play curriculum

Build Skills

• Accessibility at Penn State | Accessibility Learning Path
• Accessibility at Penn State | Accessibility in the Curriculum (AIC) Certificate

Go Deeper

• Digital Accessibility Foundations – Free Online Course | Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) | W3C
• Accessibility Training, Tools, and Events | Section508.gov

If you have additional questions about course accessibility or still aren’t sure where to start, Behrend’s Academic Accessibility Liaisons Jaimen Gallo and Lee Ann Dickerson in the CEI can help connect you with the right resources.

If you have questions about Behrend administrative accessibility, contact Allison Counasse, E-Communications Coordinator, Office of Strategic Communications.

Contact accessibility@psu.edu to:

• Ask questions on any aspect of accessibility at Penn State
• Request testing, evaluation, consultation, and custom training
• Report an accessibility issue

For questions about accommodations for students with disabilities, visit Student Disability Resources | Penn State Behrend.

For questions about employee accommodations, visit Access & Disability | Office of Equal Opportunity and Access.

This site is maintained by the Center for Educational Innovation