An update on K-State's digital accessibility journey

Dear colleagues,

Our institution continues to make remarkable strides in our ongoing digital accessibility efforts, thanks to you — our faculty and staff. At its core, this initiative is so much more than the critical work of updating documents, courses, websites and digital content — it is truly the reflection of an adapting culture actively forming new digital content creation habits in the name of something we hold so dearly here at K-State: Access to information and knowledge.

Achievements and progress

Since the Digital Accessibility Task Force launched its efforts a little over one year ago, we have seen the onboarding of new resources and tools, the development and launch of numerous ongoing trainings and workshops, and so much more — all in the name of supporting you as you do this important work. Some key takeaways showcasing our collective institutional progress:

• Course accessibility: Through the use of Ally for Canvas and the nearly 50 accessibility-focused events hosted by Academic Affairs and Innovation over the past year, the university has improved its Ally score by approximately 30% compared to spring 2025. This is no small feat — this is intentional work and effort. We must also commend the College of Veterinary Medicine, which has improved its overall score by a staggering 140%, and is now collectively earning an Ally score over 90%!
• Web accessibility: Through the use of Siteimprove — and the regular in-person and virtual working sessions held by the Division of Communications and Marketing’s Web Services team — incredible stories of progress are happening across the institution. For example, the College of Architecture, Planning & Design reports increasing its Siteimprove accessibility score by nearly 20 points in just a few short months. Furthermore, the Department of Communications and Agricultural Education boasts a 100% accessibility score in Siteimprove — incredible!

New solutions and forward focus

We want to take the time to share that we understand and acknowledge there are still gaps in tools and resources — and we hear this is the case for many universities across the country that are tackling digital accessibility with intentionality. We want you to know that the task force continues to drive additional efforts to lift your voices up and find additional solutions:

• Creating accessible equations: As you know, the procurement of a resource to aid our academic community in creating accessible equations has been underway, and we are thrilled to share that the university has officially onboarded Equatio for this purpose. Equatio, which will be available as a browser extension, will allow faculty and students alike to create accessible equations and formulas via multiple input methods, including typing, handwriting and dictation. Faculty should watch for an email from Academic Affairs and Innovation in the coming weeks with guidance on how to access and use this tool for your efforts.
• Remediating PDF documents: As we shared in our last university update, PDF remediation has been another priority to address large-batch PDFs housed in several systems and repositories, including K-REx, New Prairie Press, the Extension bookstore and the university’s web content management system. Please know that the RFP process continues to advance. This project is about implementing a compliance plan that leverages as much automated remediation as possible to reduce manual workload. When the RFP process concludes, we will be able to share next steps.
• Moving beyond remediation and focusing on creation: The task force is intentionally reaching out to high-document-producing units this spring to discuss how to create accessible content going forward, beyond the remediation stage. If you are interested in having one of those discussions with your unit, please feel free to reach out to a task force representative.
• Intentional gathering of feedback: Finally, the task force was originally conceived to only stay in place through the April 24, 2026 compliance deadline. As such, they will be touching base with leadership and governance groups over the next couple of months to ensure they can inform us of any unresolved resource deficits and needs. One such need, already raised, is a permanent position to oversee ongoing compliance, resource procurement and maintenance moving forward — a topic of ongoing conversation.

We know new habits and practices are not formed overnight. This kind of change requires our collective awareness, continued intentionality and commitment to progress. And we see you displaying that commitment day in and day out.

Thank you for giving your time to this critical initiative. Don’t forget about the ongoing training and support opportunities, including resources for self-paced training. We appreciate all you continue to contribute toward making K-State’s digital content more accessible.

Go ‘Cats!

Jesse Perez Mendez
Provost and executive vice president

Thomas Lane
Vice president for academic success and student affairs and dean of students