.jpg)
Extra Points contributors are interviewing University of Minnesota instructors working to comply with the updated digital accessibility policy effective April 2026. These blog posts highlight the approach they take as they lean into the challenge of revising their course content to be digitally accessible.
This post highlights Dr. Vanessa Lee, Professor of Psychology in the College of College of Liberal Arts, Twin Cities Campus.
Interviewer: When did you first start hearing about digital accessibility?
Vanessa Lee (VL): I think I first started hearing about digital accessibility in the spring of 2024. However, it wasn't until the summer of 2024 that the emails started coming in, urging me to really begin this work.
Interviewer: What were your initial thoughts, feelings and concerns about the need to make your course materials accessible?
VL: My first reaction was that this is a good and important thing to do for my students. I was already having to make various accommodations with course materials for certain student needs, so it made sense that we needed to focus on making all course content more accessible.
Interviewer: What were your expectations before you started getting into the process of making revisions vs. the reality of how things ended up going?
VL: When I first started this process, I had some specific expectations about how the work would be shared and how long it would take, but the reality turned out to be a bit more complex and time consuming than I thought.
My initial expectation was to rely on the advice of a graduate student in my lab who was experienced with the accessibility updates. She taught one of my courses over the summer with all of my content and worked to add alt text and replace my PDFs with more accessible PowerPoint slides. I assumed I could simply adopt her version of the course, but I found that I couldn't use all of her work in reality because our pedagogical styles differed. Ultimately, I had to go back to my original files this fall to make the improvements myself so they would align with my teaching style and what I wanted to focus on.
I was quite surprised by the actual time commitment required for my larger courses. For my Intro to Cognitive Psychology class—which is a huge, fully online course with many modules—it took me a full week of systematic, focused work to get everything accessible.
On the positive side, I found that the process scales much better once you've done it once; my two in-person classes were significantly easier to update because I already knew what to look for. While the first course was a major undertaking, the subsequent classes only took about half a day each to finalize.
Interviewer: Were there any big aha moments for you during the process?
VL: Throughout this process, I had several “aha moments” that completely changed how I look at my course materials. First of all, I realized that much of my previous content on Canvas lacked a proper hierarchical structure. I now understand that for the content to be accessible, I need to use specific heading orders.
Another big shift was learning that I can’t just use “click here” for links. Now, I know I need to highlight the descriptive text itself to indicate exactly what content the students are clicking on.
My biggest challenge was finding a way to balance accessibility with protecting intellectual property. I use content from other professionals in my field of study with their permission, but I don’t want their intellectual property out there being shared without permission. I was very hesitant to share PowerPoint files that could be easily redistributed without my permission. However, I learned I can use Google Slides and lock down the permissions so that students cannot share the slides with other people. This solution makes the content accessible to the student, unlike a PDF version of the slides, while preventing it from being printed, copied, or shared.
Interviewer: How has your workflow changed when creating new course content? Have you integrated any new tools or processes?
VL: I am now aware of the basic accessibility needs from the very beginning of making any new materials. I build in accessibility from the start–taking time to figure out my heading structure, writing good alt text, and making sure my links have good descriptive text. It’s a big shift in my workflow.
Interviewer: What tools or resources would you recommend to another faculty member who is getting started with digital accessibility?
VL: As for tools and resources, my strongest recommendation is to rely on both human support and the technical tools we have access to. Reach out to the Office of Disability Access (ODA) and try to find a dedicated contact person*. I was able to get a lot of help by my department’s support person, Silke Moeller. This personal contact is an invaluable resource for finding solutions to tricky situations.
I also recommend using the built-in accessibility checkers for programs like PowerPoint and Canvas, as they are a good start for establishing a compliance baseline.
*Academic Digital Accessibility Liaisons (ADAL) can help faculty and instructional staff with academic content. Find your ADAL lead.
Authors/Contributors
- Rebecca George-Burrs, Academic Technologist, Academic Technology Support Services.
- Dr. Vanessa Lee, Professor, Professor of Psychology in the College of College of Liberal Arts, Twin Cities Campus
We want to hear from you! To share your successes and challenges towards making your course site digitally accessible, please email atss@umn.edu.
Like what you read? Subscribe to the Extra Points Google Group for an email notification when the next blog post goes live.