Bridging the Accessibility Gap: Scalable Solutions for Higher Ed Websites

Managing digital accessibility on a large higher education website is a daunting challenge, especially when content is updated by hundreds of web authors across different departments. At MSU Denver, our Communications and Marketing team oversees four websites with over 5,000 pages and 300+ content contributors. While we actively advocate for accessibility, ensuring compliance across all pages is an incredibly complex and ongoing challenge. 

In this session we will discuss: 

• How we improved our monthly accessibility reports to focus on plain language and actionable items for content editors. 

• The impact of hiring an external accessibility partner to audit critical pages and identify high-risk developer issues. 

• The initial effect of introducing a brand policy focused on accessibility for all digital content. 

Attendees will gain insight into practical, scalable strategies for improving web accessibility, even with limited resources. We will also share the results of our initiatives, including our goal to reduce critical and serious accessibility errors by 75% by July 1.