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This message was sent to MU faculty, instructors, adjuncts, and graduate instructors on Oct. 3, 2025.
Dear Colleagues,
I want to share updates on how we are supporting faculty and instructors in meeting the expectations of the Department of Justice’s rule on digital accessibility under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This rule requires all university digital content, including course content in Canvas, to be accessible starting April 24, 2026.
You play an essential role in meeting Mizzou’s requirements under this rule by ensuring that the course content you post online is accessible.
Action steps to take now for published Canvas courses
- Use TidyUp to identify and delete any unused files in your Canvas course.
- Check the accessibility of your Canvas courses using Ally. Ally provides an overall accessibility score for each individual course, which can help you prioritize how to make your course content accessible. After reviewing your results in Ally, make your course content accessible by taking these steps:
- Select and use accessible reading materials.
- Find alternative formats for files that are inaccessible, such as scanned PDFs. Ally includes functionality to convert PDFs to Canvas pages. If continuing to use PDFs, ensure they are accessible by using Adobe Acrobat Pro. For instructors who do not have access to Adobe Acrobat Pro, UM System Academic Technology is providing licenses to Adobe Acrobat Pro for a limited time.
- Add alt text or captions for images.
- Enable auto captioning in Panopto and Zoom.
3. Review additional resources to help create accessible content:
- Mizzou Online’s “Digital Accessibility Checklist”
- Mizzou Online’s “Making a Plan for Digital Accessibility”
- Resources and updates for digital accessibility at Mizzou.
Taking the above steps will help ensure the digital accessibility of your course materials. If you encounter difficulties making complex course content accessible, please contact Academic Technology. We will continue to support you and offer additional resources as they become available. Thank you for your help in creating a culture of digital accessibility.
Thank you,
Matthew Martens, PhD
Provost & Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs