COE Faculty & Staff Accessibility Resources

Welcome to the COE Digital Accessibility Resource Hub

This page supports College of Engineering faculty in creating accessible digital content for all learners. Whether you're designing new materials or updating existing ones, we share university tools, training, and quick tips to help you meet accessibility standards and improve usability for everyone. Simply explore the resources and reach out if you have specific questions.

Accessible content refers to digital materials—documents, presentations, web pages, videos, and course content—that are designed so all users, including those with disabilities, can perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with them effectively.

In a university setting, this means ensuring that:

Students using screen readers can access text and image descriptions.
Materials are keyboard-navigable for those who cannot use a mouse.
Videos include captions and transcripts.
Content is structured with headings and styles that support assistive technologies.
Visuals include alt text to describe their meaning.

Creating accessible content isn’t just about compliance—it’s about providing learning environments where every student can succeed. To learn more about accessibility at Virginia Tech explore the Technology Enhanced Learning and Online Strategies (TLOS) page explaining digital accessibility at VT.

The Digital Accessibility Playbook is a self-paced professional development resource for engineering faculty and staff. It provides practical, hands-on strategies for creating accessible digital content and learning materials.

Modules are designed to be flexible and user-driven—think of them as a “choose your own adventure” in accessibility. While you can start anywhere, we recommend beginning with Module 1 and Module 2 to build a strong foundation in accessibility principles before exploring topics that best support your role or interests.

Access requires login with your Virginia Tech credentials.

Digital Accessibility Playbook

Accessibility Questions from COE Faculty

Over the past several months, Engineering faculty have raised thoughtful questions about digital accessibility. Below are recurring themes and clarifications.

If I caption my videos, isn’t that enough?

Captions and transcripts are essential. However, accessibility also includes alternative text for images, structured documents, tagged PDFs, and accessible color contrast.

How detailed should alt text be for complex engineering diagrams?

The level of detail depends on the instructional purpose. If students are assessed on the image, the description should support that learning goal. Here is a resource that might help: Best Practice for Writing Alternative Text for Complex Images

What about accessible math and LaTeX?

Accessible math requires testing. Here is a resource that might help: Making Accessible Documents Using LaTeX

Are we responsible for external links?

Instructors are not required to remediate third-party sites, but required digital content should be evaluated for accessibility. All course content must meet WCAG 2.2 AA guidelines by April 24, 2026. This includes third-party content. For example, if you link to or embed a YouTube video in your course, you are required to ensure it has accurate captions or provide a transcript as a text alternative — even if you did not create the video. However, it is encouraged to link directly to digital repositories rather than hosting inaccessible PDFs.

Is converting materials for accessibility a copyright violation?

Typically the answer is "Yes" - However, our Services for Students with Disabilities office (SSD) can assist with this legally in a non-commercial educational setting, supported by Fair Use and the Chafee Amendment.

Piazza Site

The COE Accessibility Q&A space on Piazza is an informal, faculty-driven forum for sharing questions, solutions, and examples related to digital accessibility in teaching and course design. Here, faculty and instructional staff exchange ideas, troubleshoot challenges, and highlight practical tools or strategies that make course materials more inclusive.

Discussion topics range from accessibility checkers and alt text to multimedia and STEM content. Whether you’re exploring accessibility for the first time or refining existing materials, this space offers real conversations and evolving insights from colleagues across the College.

Access requires creating a login - Piazza Sign-up Link

Start with quick wins. In Canvas, use Ally to spot accessibility issues and fix what you can right away.

1) Begin in Canvas with Ally
Open your course and click the Ally indicators to view guidance and quick fixes.
New to Ally? Watch this short 8½-minute video walkthrough showing how to use Ally in Canvas.

2) Triage what’s left
Make a simple list of items you can’t resolve yet (e.g., untagged PDFs, complex images or figures, math content, captions/transcripts, tables).

3) Get 1:1 help

TLOS offers one-on-one consultations for faculty.
The VT COE Accessibility Team can answer many common questions.
Not sure where to start? Email Alicia Johnson at jalicia@vt.edu, and she’ll connect you to the right person.

4) Explore more tools
Check out VT Accessibility Tools for checkers, remediation guides, and best practices.

Recorded Workshops and Tutorials

The College of Engineering, in partnership with Technology-enhanced Learning and Online Strategies (TLOS), offers a series of recorded workshops designed to help faculty create accessible and inclusive digital content. These sessions focus on practical strategies for improving accessibility in Canvas courses, documents, media, and other instructional materials. Whether you’re just getting started or refining existing practices, these recordings provide on-demand guidance to support your teaching and course design goals.

Describing Images and Equations in Digital Course Materials (Images Pt. 1) (60 min.)

Describing Complex Images in Course Materials (Images Pt. 2) (60 min.)

Best Practices for Sharing Digital Files in Canvas (43 min.)

Accessible Content Design: Headings, Lists, Tables, and Links (59 min.)

TLOS/COE Workshop on Accessibility and PDF's (58 min.)