The State of Digital Accessibility in Higher Ed: 2023 Survey Takeaways

How does the digital accessibility effort at your institution compare to others and how can you find out about important best practices? This engaging session informs practitioners, institutional leaders, and vendor partners alike. We will discuss preliminary findings on the current state of accessibility, identify opportunities, and share recommendations. In 2023 the IT Accessibility Community Group launched its first landscape survey for higher education. The survey targeted accessibility professionals and asked leaders throughout higher ed to share their perspectives on accessibility at their institutions. Questions addressed organizational structures, resources, policies, compliance concerns, and the state of accessibility. Comparing results from different institution types and the perspectives of professionals in accessibility and other leaders in higher ed, produces one of the most comprehensive and systematic assessments in this area to date. Peer benchmarking in this space is a challenge because technology accessibility responsibility is distributed differently across institutions. This survey attempted to cut across all of these perspectives and gain insights from the broadest possible audience. Beyond institutional factors, digital accessibility practitioners were surveyed about the state of accessibility in many areas of higher ed accessibility today including: LMS, document creation, web creation and hosting, library databases, data visualization, and more.