Recently, all websites in the College of Humanities underwent an accessibility overhaul. In only a matter of months, one team accomplished what should have taken about a year. That team, the Humanities Web Support team, provides top-tier services that often goes unnoticed. They do the kind of work that, when done well, renders them virtually invisible. Today, we recognize both the massive amount of work they have done and the quality of their work in improving College websites.

Online Accessibility

College websites fulfill a variety of purposes, but the primary goal of any website is communication. Current and prospective students may look for program or scholarship information or applications. Faculty may use an online database for research. Alumni may be interested in College news. Whatever your purpose, you’re looking to fulfill some sort of communication goal. But if you have a visual impairment, this goal can become much more difficult to accomplish. 

To accommodate individuals with visual impairments, new accessibility laws (ADA) require that all sites meet certain standards. Just like buildings may have ramps to allow for wheelchair users to enter, accessible websites include features such as high-contrast colors and screen reader information (such as alternate text on images). When accessibility is the standard, everyone benefits. 

A Massive Undertaking

As we transition to a more accessible internet, we face major hurdles: many (or most) websites were made without accessibility in mind. A single website may contain thousands of accessibility errors, making this no easy task. In the College of Humanities, we needed to revise at least 85 websites! 

This is where the Humanities Web Support team comes in. Over the past few months, Website Administrator Dave Barrington has led his team in fixing 250,000 accessibility errors across all College sites. They knew the stakes were high–“If we didn’t hit the level of ADA compliance [in the time frame given], the potential for fines was astronomical,” said Dave. He and his team of students tackled this seemingly insurmountable task head-on, completing the task in only a matter of months. In all of this, Dave recognized the great work of his students, crediting “the mountain of the work” to them.

Innovation and Persistence in the Web Support Team

Some changes were simple, such as changing a few colors on the page to increase contrast, but others were much more difficult. John, a machine learning major, described one of the more difficult tasks: “With images,” John said, “We had to make an individual description for every single one.”

There were more than five thousand images that needed descriptions. John looked at how long it would take him to add descriptions and saw that it wasn’t going to be possible to do in the time frame. In response, he researched ways to involve AI in creating image descriptions. After choosing an AI model, he was able to automate the process of generating image descriptions, and according to John, “what was a daunting impossible task became an overnight batch job.”

A good number of errors just required persistence and an eye for detail. Dayana, a dual dance and pre-med major, took this task on. According to Dave, “Dayana was our work horse. She cranked through a lot of sites doing the nitpicky stuff.”

What can you do?

Dave and his team are working to improve website accessibility compliance. This isn’t a task that will ever be truly “done,” since each day there are new errors to correct. 

“Unless you have a disability, [accessibility] is not something you think about. [Your website] probably does look nice, but if it doesn’t affect you directly, you don’t think about how it will affect someone else,” said Carson, an information systems major. As a dad of a child with disabilities, Dave has already been especially aware of accessibility. But after looking at ADA compliance errors constantly, the Web Team agrees that they are also now always thinking about accessibility. Keeping accessibility in mind is about more than ADA compliance: it is about the people we serve.

To help, the Web Support team has begun to develop safeguards. For example, Carson has begun implementing a plugin which will prompt users to add image descriptions (alt text). But even with safeguards in place, you can help the Web Support team by being proactive in thinking about accessibility.

Here are two simple suggestions that will be a huge help to their team: when adding to a website, 1) be conscious of the amount of contrast between the colors of words and their backgrounds, and 2) remember to include alt text with your images.

Conclusion

The Web Support team has been laser-focused on ADA compliance, but they do so much for the College of Humanities. They support existing sites, develop new sites, ensure compliance, and make everything run smoothly.  Their team deserves recognition for their excellent work to further the mission of the College–and the mission of BYU. Thank you, Humanities Web Support team, for your tireless efforts and great work! 

If you need assistance with digital projects, please reach out to the Office of Digital Humanities!