Preparing for the ACMM: Steps for Colleges and Districts
Colleges and Districts with an interest in participating in the Accessibility Capability Maturity Model (ACMM) can engage in a variety of preparatory steps, even if the organization has not scheduled an ACMM training and assessment. Colleges and districts can build a solid foundation for a successful ACMM implementation by working on any of the items below. Organizations can either choose items that reinforce existing accessibility efforts or those that require improvement in their organization.
- Secure an Executive Sponsor for ACMM: This sponsor should be a Vice President or higher for single-college districts or a Vice Chancellor or higher for multi-college districts and will play a pivotal role in ensuring accessibility is an institutional priority.
- Establish a Work Group/Committee/Task Force: Establish a committee of stakeholders from across the organization to begin accessibility planning efforts, discuss areas of greatest need, and strategize ACMM goals and milestones.
- Promote Accessible Document Training: The foundations of accessible digital content are consistent across all platforms. Encourage or require faculty and staff to register for WebAIM Accessible Document training. This training is paid for by the Accessibility Center and is available at no cost to the CCC.
- Create a Web Inventory: Gather a list of all websites and pages under the organization's purview, including the main website, departmental pages, and other affiliated websites. The Pope Tech Website Scanning tool can help with this inventory and identify accessibility barriers. This tool is paid for by the Accessibility Center and is available at no cost to the CCC.
- Collect ACRs/VPATs for Technology Purchases: Encourage or require purchase requestors to include an Accessibility Conformance Report (also known as an ACR or VPAT) with other pre-purchase documentation. This is an important first step in evaluating the accessibility of acquired technology products and services.
- Replicate Effective Processes In Other Areas: Identify successful accessibility efforts and extend them to other areas. For instance, if you have processes or procedures that are working well for online classes (such as implementing Universal Design for Learning, including accessibility statements, or selecting captioned videos), extend these processes to in-person classes. If there is one department that has robust processes for checking marketing materials for accessibility, replicate these in other departments, etc.
- Address Accessibility Issues In Canvas: Instructors and support staff can quickly identify and remediate accessibility issues across one or several Canvas courses by using Pope Tech Dashboards for Canvas. Colleges and districts can install this tool in their Canvas instance and promote its use. This tool is paid for by the Accessibility Center and is available at no cost to the CCC.
- Have Regular Conversations About Accessibility: Emphasize the crucial role of accessibility in larger conversations surrounding strategic planning, communications, technology acquisition and implementation, DEIA efforts, events, teaching best practices, and other relevant areas.
- Contact Us: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., if you have not already.
ACMM Goals and Milestones
The ACMM consists of 89 milestones organized under 7 goals. Further explanation for each goal/milestone is detailed in an Implementation Guide that will be shared with CCC Colleges and Districts that participate in the ACMM implementation.
Monthly Accessibility Training Series
Monthly Accessibility Trainings offer the opportunity for the CCC System to ask questions and share best practices regarding web, document, and assistive technology accessibility issues. Audience participation is always welcome. These trainings are generally held each month. All sessions are hosted via Zoom web conferencing. Live human captioning and an ASL interpreter are available for these events. In an effort to foster an atmosphere of trust, authenticity, and full participation, these sessions are not recorded.
For a list of upcoming trainings, please visit the Upcoming Events page.
Digital Content Accessibility Overview
Digital content accessibility refers to the design and creation of information, media, and communication shared online to ensure inclusivity and accessibility for individuals with disabilities.
Accessible digital content, including educational materials, such as syllabi, presentations, articles, assignments, lecture notes, video and audio content, and content within the Learning Management System (LMS) are crucial in ensuring equal learning opportunities and facilitating full engagement in the learning process.
Documents
The majority of digital content, including word processing files, PDFs, presentations, forms, templates, and marketing materials, follow the same accessibility tenets. Learning the basics of accessible digital content creation can reduce barriers and remediation needs. Learn more about WebAim Accessible Document Training.
PDF Documents
PDF documents can be complex and remediation may present unique challenges. Learn more about PDF accessibility, or request tools that can help.
Canvas Accessibility
There are numerous resources available to the California Community Colleges (CCC) to ensure all content within the Canvas LMS is accessible. Learn more about Canvas Accessibility.
Pope Tech Instructor Guide
The Pope Tech Instructor Accessibility Guide for the Canvas LMS platform reviews Canvas pages for potential accessibility errors and prompts content authors with the necessary changes to fix issues. The Instructor Accessibility Guide helps instructors make changes directly within their Canvas pages to create more accessible content. Learn more about the Pope Tech Instructor Guide tool.
Captions and Audio Descriptions
Accurate captions and transcripts for audio and video content, along with audio descriptions for visual elements, are essential for media accessibility. These elements benefit individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing, those with visual impairments, and individuals who rely on written text for comprehension. Learn more about captions and audio descriptions.
Other Digital Content
Social Media
Social media platforms are hubs for communication and audience engagement. However, inaccessible content like non-descriptive images or videos without captions creates barriers for individuals with disabilities, limiting their engagement and participation.
Ensuring email accessibility is crucial because it significantly impacts how your audience interacts, understands, and engages with your content.
Upcoming training events, webinars and workshops supported by the CCC Accessibility Center are listed below. This page will be updated as more events are added.
| Date & time | Title | Description | Event Type | Register |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5/22/24 12 pm to 1 pm |
Pope Tech Dashboards Overview |
Join the CCC Accessibility Center as Pope Tech demonstrates how to implement and use their Canvas accessibility tools: Dashboard and Accessibility Guide. This training is appropriate for faculty, instructional support staff, Canvas Administrators, and any other California Community College employee with interest in Pope Tech’s Canvas tools. The training will provide an overview of the process for enabling and accessing the Canvas Dashboards LTI. The Pope Tech team will introduce the layout and features of the Dashboards, including Course Dashboard, My Dashboard, and exportable reports. They will review the Accessibility Guide and additional resources and will also provide Canvas Administrators with an overview of Dashboards, including admin settings, reports, support, and documentation. There will be time for Q&A at the end of the session. Live captions will be available. |
Training | Attend May Dashboards training |
| 6/11/24 9 am to 4 pm |
A11y Summer Workshop |
The one-day workshop will run from approximately 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. with a break for lunch. Morning sessions will focus on topics relevant to Section 504 compliance, and afternoon sessions will focus on topics relevant to Section 508 compliance. To learn more, visit the Workshop Page. |
Workshop | Register for the Summer Workshop |
| 8/22/24 12 pm to 1 pm |
In-Depth Accessibility Overview Using Pope Tech Dashboards and Instructor Guide |
Details coming soon. |
Training | Attend August Dashboards training |