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Digital accessibility initiative update: Department of Justice inquiry closed

In May of 2014, Chancellor DiStefano informed you about an inquiry from the U.S. Department of Justice requesting information about CU-Boulder’s possible non-compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Since that time, updates have been provided about the steps taken by the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Services and Applications Accessibility Project team to improve the accessibility of CU-Boulder’s digital environment. A detailed description of the university’s actions was shared in CU-Boulder Today on November 7, 2014.

Dan Jones, CU-Boulder’s Chief Digital Accessibility Officer, says that the university has been keeping the DOJ well-informed about our proactive measures over the past year.

“We are obviously excited that the DOJ has decided to close its investigation, given the hard work of so many people across campus,” says Jones.

Jones explains that when the university was informed of the investigation, campus leadership appointed a project executive team, steering team, working group and the four project core teams to take a close look at the accessibility of not only those applications and services identified in the DOJ investigation, but also the digital environment of our campus as a whole. These teams are comprised of CU-Boulder faculty, as well as staff from Disability Services, the ADA office, the Office of Information Technology (OIT), Human Resources, Procurement Services, Legal Counsel, Strategic Relations and other units on campus.

“We take this as a positive sign that we continue to head in the right direction with our programs to provide accessibility,” says Jones.

“Now that we have addressed some of the most critical components of our digital environment, we must keep moving forward with this critical work. This is about so much more than just meeting legal requirements. Even more importantly, we are actively working to help change CU-Boulder’s culture to make our digital environments more inclusive and accessible for all.”

Summary of CU-Boulder's actions over the last year

  • Appointed Dan Jones the Chief Digital Accessibility Officer
  • Collected feedback from the campus community
  • Launched an Accessible Technology website to provide online resources and documentation
  • Drafted an Accessibility policy and associated standards
  • Collaborated with the Procurement Service Center to ensure that accessibility is considered when purchasing technology for the university
  • Set up a process for reviewing how additional ICT resources will be made more accessible over time if not immediately
  • Received funding to support the project and for additional staff dedicated to digital accessibility

Want to learn more about the IT accessibility initiative? Dan Jones will be hosting two town hall meetings to educate campus about the progress and future of ICT accessibility at CU-Boulder. In these meetings Jones will provide an overview of the program, provide guidance on how to make IT resources more accessible and allow for an opportunity for questions and answers. Mark your calendars for one of the following dates:

  • East Campus: Friday, June 5, 1 to 2:30 p.m. in Computing Center 123
  • Main Campus: Wednesday, June 10, 2 to 3:30 p.m. in Regent 302