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Accessibility and Legal Compliance

As a public university and a state agency in Texas, UHD is required by federal and state law to ensure that our website is accessible. Beyond the legal obligation, accessible design improves usability for all audiences including users on mobile devices, users in low-bandwidth environments, and users with color blindness.

This section covers our accessibility standards in detail and addresses additional legal requirements that affect web content. If you have questions about any of these requirements, contact University Relations.

University Relations reserves the right to require the removal or remediation of any content that creates a compliance risk for the university or does not meet accessibility standards.

Standards and Legal Requirements

UHD targets WCAG 2.1 Level AA compliance as our baseline standard. This aligns with the following legal requirements:

  • U.S. Department of Justice Title II ADA requirements for state and local government websites as well as Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act.
  • Texas Government Code §2054.451
  • Texas Administrative Code 206 (state website accessibility)
  • Texas Administrative Code 213 (electronic and information resources)

Non-compliance exposes UHD to legal action and puts our students, faculty, staff, and visitors at a disadvantage.

Accessible Content Practices

Images: Every image that conveys information must have descriptive and meaningful alternative text (alt text).

  • Describe what the image shows in the context of the surrounding content.
  • Do not use asterisk(*) or the file name as alt text (such as DSC_1234.jpg).
  • Do not include “Image of...” or “Photo of...” in your alt text as the screen reader will already know.
  • Images that are purely decorative and add no information may use a null alt tag (alt=""). This tells screen readers to skip the image. Use images to enhance content.
  • Do not use images as the only content (i.e. all of the web page’s text on a single image).

Heading structure: Think of headings like a content outline where the H1 is the title, H2s are main sections, and H3s are sub-sections within those. Every page has one H1 headline, generated automatically from the page title in page properties.

  • Use headings in their logical order.
  • Do not add an H1 to the content area.
  • Begin your page content with introductory text before using an H2 heading.
  • Do not skip heading levels.
  • Do not apply heading styles or classes to change heading size or weight, such as making text larger or bolder.

Link text: Links must make sense out of context. A screen reader user may navigate a page by reading only the links. "Click here" and "read more" on their own do not tell the user where they are going. Use descriptive text: "Apply for financial aid" or "View the academic calendar."

Color contrast: Text must have sufficient contrast against its background.

  • The minimum ratio is 4.5-to-1 for normal text and 3-to-1 for large text (24px or 18px bold).
  • Do not convey information in text, graphs, or charts using color alone.

Tables: Only use tables for tabular data and never for layout purposes. Tables must include proper header markup for screen reader compatibility.

  • Avoid spanned columns or rows, nested cells, and blank cells as these elements disrupt screen reader navigation and can make table content difficult or impossible to interpret for users with assistive technology.
  • Because most tables are not mobile responsive due to their width, always verify your table is readable on a phone in portrait orientation before publishing.

Forms:

  • All form fields must have a visible, associated label.
  • Do not use placeholder text as a substitute for a label.
  • Required fields must be clearly identified.
  • Error messages must describe what went wrong and how to fix it.

Text:

  • Use plain language.
  • Do not use figures of speeches, idioms or slang.

Text styles:

  • Underline text only for hyperlinks.
  • Do not use underlining for text styling.
  • Use bold or italic to emphasize certain words.
  • Do not use to emphasize entire sentences or paragraphs.
  • Use proper capitalization.
  • Do not use all capitals as screen readers can mistake the word for an acronym.

Accessible Media Video captions: Captions benefit users who are deaf or hard of hearing, users in noisy environments, and users who are not native English speakers.

  • All videos published on the UHD website must have accurate captions.
  • Auto-generated captions from YouTube or other platforms should be reviewed and corrected before the video is published.

Audio transcripts:

  • Audio content must include a full text transcript.

Audio descriptions:

  • Videos that convey meaningful information through visuals alone without narration require an audio description track or a descriptive transcript.

Accessible PDFs: Any PDF linked from the UHD website must be tagged and accessible before it is uploaded.

  • This means the PDF has a correct reading order that is navigable by keyboard, all images have alt text, the document language is set, and forms are fillable.
  • Scanned image PDFs are not accessible and must be run through OCR and tagged before publishing.
  • Contact University Relations for guidance on accessible PDF creation.

Testing and Monitoring

UHD actively monitors the website for accessibility issues, broken links, spelling errors, and readability. To avoid retrofitting a page, content authors should verify the following before publishing a new page or making significant edits:

  • All images have alt text.
  • Link text is descriptive and makes sense out of context.
  • Heading structure follows a logical order. The page passes a basic accessibility check using your browser or a website quality monitoring tool.

University Relations, IT, and the University Accessibility Oversight Committee conduct site-wide accessibility audits on a regular basis. Issues identified during these audits will be reported to the relevant content owners with guidance for correction.

Accessibility Resources

Copyright and Intellectual Property

Only use images, video, and written content that UHD owns or has a license to use. Copying images from the Internet or reproducing text from other sources without permission is a copyright violation, even if the source is not credited.

  • Use the UHD photo library for approved imagery.
  • Stock images require a purchased license, document the license, and confirm that its terms allow for web use.
  • When using licensed images, include a photo credit as required by the license.
  • Do not reproduce written content from external sources without explicit permission.

DEI Language Compliance (SB 17)

Texas Senate Bill 17 restricts certain diversity, equity, and inclusion language from being used at public institutions of higher education. Web content must comply with SB 17.

University Relations provides guidance on compliant language. Content owners are responsible for reviewing their pages for compliance. If you are unsure whether specific language or content complies with SB 17, contact University Relations before publishing.

Degree and Department Pages (SB 3039)

Texas Senate Bill 3039 affects how academic programs and departments are described on public-facing websites. Pages that describe academic degrees, majors, concentrations, or departments must comply with SB 3039.

Content owners for these pages should verify compliance in coordination with the Provost’s office. University Relations can assist with language review upon request.

Privacy

Do not collect personal information from users through web forms or other mechanisms without first coordinating with IT and the UHD Office of General Counsel. Any page that collects data including contact forms, event registrations, or surveys must comply with the UHD Privacy Notice.

Do not publish personal information about students, faculty, or staff without their explicit consent. This includes photos, biographical information, and contact details beyond what is already part of the public UHD directory.

Third-Party Platforms

Any third-party platform used to publish UHD content to the public including event management systems, landing page tools, faculty directory platforms, or specialized applications must go through an approval process before launch. Requirements for third-party platforms:

  • University Relations must review the platform for brand and content compliance.
  • Information Technology must complete a security review.
  • A designated content owner must be identified and trained in accessibility requirements before the platform goes live.
  • Content published through the platform must meet the same accessibility standards as the main UHD website.

Contact University Relations early in your planning process if you are considering a third-party platform. Starting the review process late can delay your launch.

Analytics Tools and Access

UHD uses analytics and heatmapping tools to track website performance. These tools help us understand how visitors use the site, identify content that is not working, and inform decisions about the annual content audit.

Contact digitalmedia@uhd.edu  to request access to analytics data reports for your section of the site.