The Future is Accessible

Here at Mizzou, we’re growing our understanding of disability — what it is, what it isn’t, and how it affects all of us at some point in our lives.

Whether we are Mizzou students, faculty or staff, we each have a role to play in ensuring that all students with disabilities have an equal opportunity to a quality education.

Join our ongoing, candid conversation about disability and find your place in building an accessible future for Mizzou.


Top Tips for Digital Accessibility

Digital accessibility is the practice of designing and developing websites, software and other media so they are usable by everyone, regardless of ability.

Just as we construct new buildings with accessible entrances, we need to consider how people with disabilities will interact with our media.

Digital accessibility is necessary for some members of our community, but it really benefits us all. We all play a part in building an accessible future for Mizzou. You can help by following a few basic practices.

Use descriptive link text to provide users with the context about where clicking your link will take them. In most cases, you already have the link text you need in your content. Avoid using “click here” and “learn more” as link text.

Use headings to create equivalent of an outline. Whether you’re creating Word documents, PDFs or web pages, using style sheets and built-in headings helps make your text more accessible to screen readers — not to mention easier for everyone to understand.

Choose colors with high contrast. Low contrast colors make your posters, flyers and web pages hard to read, especially for people with color-blindness, low-vision and some other disabilities. Use a free tool like the WebAIM WAVE Accessibility Tool to check your designs.

Describe images using alt text tags and captions. Be sure to include subtitles when sharing videos, and provide transcripts for video and audio files.

Visit accessibility.missouri.edu to learn how to support Mizzou’s commitment to providing accessible programs and services for members of our community.


5 Tips for Planning an Accessible Event

  1. When selecting a venue, walk through the space to identify any accessibility issues: Does the space have accessible entrances? Accessible seating? Is there accessible parking nearby? What about accessible bathrooms?
  2. In the budget for the event, include potential accommodations, such as captioning or sign language interpreters.
  3. In promotional materials, include an ADA statement so participants with disabilities can easily let you know if they need accommodations.
  4. Make sure that your fliers and promotional materials are digitally accessible to those who use assistive technology like screen readers.
  5. Train event staff on disability accommodations, awareness and accessibility.

The Office of Accessibility and ADA is here to assist you with planning your event. Request a free event accessibility consultation online or call 573-884-7278.


Video playlist: The Future is Accessible

We’ve put together a short playlist of insightful and informative videos about disability and diversity. If you enjoy them, please share!