Web Accessibility at Rhode Island College

Commitment to Accessibility

Rhode Island College is committed to providing websites and digital content that are accessible to all users, including individuals with disabilities. Accessibility is an ongoing effort, and we continuously work to improve the user experience for everyone. RIC strives to ensure that its websites, web applications, and digital content are accessible and usable by people with a wide range of abilities and assistive technologies.

Accessibility Standards

Rhode Island College aims to conform to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1, Level AA, published by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).

WCAG 2.1 builds upon earlier versions (WCAG 2.0) and includes additional guidance to improve accessibility for:

• users with low vision
• users with cognitive and learning disabilities
• keyboard-only users
• mobile and touch-screen users

Scope of Accessibility

This accessibility commitment applies to

• www.ric.edu and our.ric.edu (managed by the Web Communications office)
• other official RIC websites and web pages
• web-based applications and services
• online forms
• instructional and informational digital content
• multimedia content (video and audio), when feasible

Third-party content or systems not fully controlled by RIC may not fully meet accessibility standards; however, the College will work to address barriers when they are identified.

Key Accessibility Practices Include

Keyboard Accessibility

All interactive elements should be usable without a mouse.

Text Alternatives

Images must include meaningful alternative text (alt text).

Readable Text

Use clear language, proper headings, and sufficient color contrast.

Forms and Labels

Form fields should include associated labels and clear instructions.

Links

Link text should describe the destination (avoid “click here”).

Multimedia Accessibility

• videos should include captions
• audio content should include transcripts
• audio descriptions should be provided when necessary for understanding

Accessible Documents

PDFs should be avoided, in favor of html-based content/platforms, to the fullest extent. When PDFs must be used they need to be remediated – eliminating all accessibility errors before being posted to the web. When documents need to be leveraged (such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.) they need to pass the accessibility checks native to these platforms.

Accessibility Testing and Evaluation

Rhode Island College uses a combination of:

• automated accessibility testing tools
• manual reviews
• keyboard navigation testing
• screen reader testing

Accessibility on www.ric.edu & our.ric.edu

Creating Accessible Content

Content editors for www.ric.edu and our.ric.edu are asked to follow the key accessibility practices outlined here, as well as the WCAG 2.1 AA-Aligned Checklist for Drupal Content Editors, when adding or updating content. These map to the digital accessibility standards currently being put in place across the college, per the New Rule on the Accessibility of Web Content and Mobile Apps Provided by State and Local Governments.

Accessibility of Web Documents

PDFs should be avoided, in favor of html-based content/platforms, to the fullest extent. On our.ric.edu, when internally-facing resource documents are leveraged (such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.) they should be housed on SharePoint to allow for accessibility checker use and ease of fixing issues, real-time updating by the office who owns them, and avoidance of static documents that become dated.

Accessibility Testing and Evaluation

RIC's Web Team uses a combination of:

• automated accessibility testing tools
• manual reviews
• keyboard navigation testing
• screen reader testing

Accessibility evaluations are conducted weekly, as part of website maintenance and quality assurance, and accessibility improvements are incorporated into nearly every monthly code deploy.

Reporting Accessibility Issues

If you experience difficulty accessing any part of www.ric.edu and our.ric.edu, we want to hear from you. Please report accessibility barriers on these two sites to Carrie Miller, Director of Web Communications.

When reporting an issue, please include:

• the URL of the page
• a brief description of the problem
• the assistive technology or browser used (if applicable)

The web team will make reasonable efforts to respond in a timely manner and provide accessible alternatives where needed.

Last Updated

This page was last updated: March 2026