Inclusive Education Empowers Every Learner
University Academic Affairs deepens its commitment to digital accessibility of course content
With recent changes to Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) set to take effect in April 2026, public institutions must ensure that digital materials meet more comprehensive requirements, guaranteeing accessibility to people with disabilities. In the academic setting, this means that all students can fully participate in learning, whether retrieving course materials, engaging in online discussions, or using adaptive tools. Since inclusive education has long been a priority at Rutgers, university leadership responded quickly, revising policy and expanding current measures to encompass the full scope of Rutgers offerings. The university’s approach to the ADA charge is threefold, addressing course content accessibility, website accessibility, and the procurement of accessible digital technologies.
University Academic Affairs has taken the lead on the first of these initiatives, concentrating resources on course content delivery to make it accessible in every way, universitywide. Associate vice president Bill Welsh, who leads Rutgers Access and Disability Resources (RADR), finds this a welcome and logical step, in keeping with the twin values of inclusiveness and innovation at Rutgers. “Many of the practices we are asking faculty and staff to adopt are simply sound course design methods and web design conventions, which result in a high-quality learning environment for everyone,” Welsh explains. “For instance, lecture captioning benefits students who are deaf, but captioning helps all students: those who may be studying in noisy environments or using a mobile device; those who may be non-native speakers; and those who find that having captions in addition to audio bolsters comprehension.”
In collaboration with University Online Education Services (UOES) and the Office of Information Technology Accessibility (OITA), the RADR team has embraced the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to support instruction environments that benefit all students. Some of the fixes are as simple as making course documents more accessible—for example, by considering other file types instead of PDFs, since PDFs are notoriously difficult for document readers to process effectively. Welsh also stresses the importance of document formatting practices such as incorporating headings and lists, labelling images with alternative text, and choosing colors with care. Most essential of all course documents, naturally, is the syllabus, where students first discover what they will do and what is expected of them in the course. Syllabi should be concise and easy to understand; according to UDL guidelines, this means providing information in multiple formats, using clear language, and ensuring accessibility for students with disabilities. Accessible syllabus templates and guidance are provided on the RADR site.
Small changes like these can make a big difference to students. And, in concert with colleagues Charlie Collick and Jason Khurdan in OITA, and Will Pagán and Dena Novak, EdD, in UOES, and others, Welsh and the RADR team stand ready to work with university leadership to benchmark current accessibility and strategize some of the more significant updates. “It’s a big undertaking,” says Meredith Mullane, PhD, vice chancellor for academic affairs, Rutgers Health. “But Bill listens flexibly and provides advice on what changes to make first—in order to maximize impact quickly—then helps create a tailored plan to chip away at the rest.”
A variety of tools are available to assist faculty and staff with developing a Course Accessibility Plan. A program called TidyUP will scan a Canvas course for unused pages and unlinked files, quickly removing them. Ally, a tool embedded within Canvas, provides instructors with an accessibility score and recommends changes to improve it. Ally can also produce reports organized by course, department, and school, identifying changes that can be made to scale promptly. If an assessment indicates new software may be needed, OITA can assist in making an appropriate purchase. For more substantive changes, such as the editing or creation of content, a course design toolkit is available on the UOES website. In addition to training opportunities and individual learning sessions for instructors, a digital accessibility badge series will be available for the university community in the fall of 2025. UOES can also provide expertise in academic media production and instructional design, working collaboratively with departments to enhance digital offerings.
Case in point: Rutgers Business School (RBS), where great strides toward accessibility have been made under the guidance of Mason Ameri, PhD, executive director of honors programs. A professor of professional practice at RBS and a passionate disability researcher, Ameri attributes these steady gains to expert advice from RADR and UOES colleagues, as well as to RBS culture, where innovative practices are a priority and have the full support of the dean’s office. Ameri worked with Novak to develop a series of three workshops, offered over the summer, that provided faculty with tools and information to level up skills incrementally. “Ally has been a game-changer, making it crystal clear where our gaps are, and where we need to be,” Ameri notes. Standard RBS syllabus and PowerPoint templates have been developed and shared with all instructors, and plans are in process to offer training periodically throughout the academic year. “This is a marathon, not a sprint,” says Ameri. “Our leadership—and our faculty—are completely committed to keeping the momentum going.”
This commitment is strong throughout the university, because “an accessible digital environment enhances usability for all members of the community,” Welsh maintains. Since these inclusive features enrich the learning experience for everyone, they will not only keep Rutgers compliant with ADA regulations, but will uphold the university’s dedication to, and reputation for, educational excellence.
