Commitment to Accessibility
An important goal of SkillsCommons is to provide equally effective access to our website, products, and technologies for all users, including those with disabilities. SkillsCommons is committed to providing an equal opportunity for all to benefit from the open educational resources within the SkillsCommons library. We strive to reduce barriers to delivering educational content on a timely basis to all. SkillsCommons endeavors to provide free and open access to instructional and program support materials that meet Section 508 Guidelines across the collection of resources. Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 requires that U.S. governmental agencies with information technology products meet specified levels of compliance with accessibility standards. SkillsCommons is committed to support this progressive standard for information technology design and development and support those meeting these accessibility standards for their Open Educational Resource (OER) contributions. If you are having challenges using the SkillsCommons.org website, please contact us at support@skillscommons.org and we will work with you to resolve the accessibility challenges and/or provide an equally effective alternative access using the Equally Effective Access Planning Tool developed by the California State University.
2023-2024 Plan to Meet WCAG 2.0 (Level AA) Guidelines
We are actively working to increase the accessibility and usability of SkillsCommons.org and endeavor to conform to level AA of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0. These guidelines establish a single shared standard for web content accessibility to address the needs of individuals, organizations, and governments worldwide. We have taken important steps to improve accessibility on our site(s) (See: Accessibility and SkillsCommons) and the OER contained in the SkillsCommons repository (See: Accessibility Requirement Guidelines). We are committed to learning and continual testing as we work toward conformance with the WCAG 2.0 guidelines. Our strategy and conformance goals include the following:
- Accessibility Team: In the Fall of 2023 we plan to establish a team of professionals dedicated to developing and implementing an accessibility plan. The team will be responsible for formulating and deploying the strategy, overseeing its progress, and instituting new WCAG 2.0 Level AA standards.
- Audit & Review: In winter 2023 the accessibility team will look to hire outside industry experts to audit and review our existing website(s) and identify areas for improvement. Once gaps in accessibility are identified, the team will collaborate with industry experts and outside consultants to validate provided solutions.
- Remediation and Implementation: We plan to begin remediation in spring 2024 and implement changes and work toward completion by summer 2024.