Digital UIC

Digital UIC supports the following sites:

• Digital scholarship and digital humanities projects
• Digital exhibits
• Course-related projects
• Group and individual student projects
• Student sites (e.g. creative portfolio websites, blogs, etc.)

The follow restrictions apply:

• No official UIC unit websites, informational/marketing content, official courses sites for public viewing, faculty research/lab/institute sites, or UIC branded conferences and events. These types of sites are official UIC communications and should be hosted in RED. Visit https://red.uic.edu/ for more information.
• No e-commerce
• No publishing of student or sensitive data (i.e. grades, IRB research, etc.)

Please note that all publicly-facing websites that are used for teaching must adhere to UIC’s Accessibility Guidelines.

• Account holders will be completely responsible for the content of their sites, including any customizations to HTML, CSS, and other design elements. Account holders are responsible for trouble shooting.   This includes for plug-ins or themes that you use.   You are also responsible for ensuring the functionality of your site, including when our host (Reclaim Hosting) does maintenance.  As a rule of thumb, we recommend using site tools that are up to date and compatible with the latest versions of PHP (8.0 and higher).
• Digital UIC account holders are responsible for ensuring their site content conforms to the web content accessibility guidelines in Title II of the American with Disabilities Act. Please see the UIC Digital Accessibility page for a list of accessibility resources (including workshops and webinars) and tools to test and comply with accessibility standards. Refer to the Accessibility section of this research guide to learn more about Title II and ways to ensure your digital projects comply with the standards.
• Creation of sites may involve incorporation of original works of third parties (e.g., literature, photographs, music, software, film, and video works) that are covered by copyright laws.  Use of such works may be permitted by principles of fair use, consistent with copyright laws. Primary site owners/ authors and contributing users/authors will ensure that they have all appropriate licenses, releases, consent-to-publish forms, and/or assignments from all creators of the content to be published on the site(s), and shall be responsible for complying with all United States copyright laws and regulations 
• Account holders are responsible for archiving their content or moving their account to the vendor or another service prior to the deletion of their account.   The library will not be responsible for archiving or migrating content. 
• Account holders can choose to close their account at any time. Content will not be archived and will be deleted. 
• Account holders understand that their account will be suspended if they take no action on a project within 3 months of receiving an account. 
• Account holders shall indemnify and hold harmless the University and its affiliates (including, without limitation, its trustees, officers, faculty, staff, employees, consultants, agents and students) from and against any claims, losses, damages, or legal actions, including reasonable attorney’s fees, which University may sustain or become liable for on account of injury to or death of persons, or on account to damage to or destruction of tangible or intangible property resulting from the content, publication or other dissemination of the website, whether sounding in tort, contract, or other legal theory.  Account holder acknowledges and agrees that this duty to indemnify and hold harmless includes, but is not limited to, any actions sounding in copyright infringement or in defamation (including libel and/or slander).

On April 24, 2024, a new rule proposed by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) recognized as Title II of the American with Disabilities Act requires all state and local governments to ensure web content and mobile applications are accessible to people with disabilities. This law mandates that public services provided through digital platforms are usable by everyone, including individuals with visual, auditory, motor, speech, and cognitive disabilities (Deque Systems). UIC’s deadline to fully comply with Title II is expected to be April 2026, and following protocols is necessary for providing equitable access to content created through Digital UIC.

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) developed by the World Web Consortium (W3G) provide international standards for digital accessibility that support individuals and organizations as they prepare to comply with Title II of ADA. 

At minimum, state and local government organizations, including K-12 and public higher education, must conform with WCAG 2.2, which is the most recent version of the international standards on digital accessibility.

How does it relate to usage of Digital UIC? 

• Digital UIC account holders host a variety of projects on the publishing applications available through the service. This content includes, but is not limited to, class curricula, grant reports, open education materials, collection exhibits, and student portfolios – all of which are public facing, and engage diverse audiences across and outside UIC. 

• Digital UIC is a service offered and represented through the UIC University Library, thus, the content hosted on it must comply with accessibility standards just like any other department, service, or programming through the university at large.

• Users who rely on Digital UIC to participate in coursework must not have barriers in accessing the digital content created by their instructors and peers.

How can I create accessible content?

Intelligible digital content, as referred to in WCAG, follows POUR as overarching principles. POUR content is Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, Robust. These principles support website builders in designing a layout, and formatting content that support accessible front-end navigation of their website. 

Examples of POUR include: 

1. Perceivable: 
   1. Information and the user interface must be presented to users in ways they can perceive. 
   2. Perceivable information includes text-alternatives, time-based, adaptable, and distinguishable media. 
   3. Creating perceivable content means supplying text alternatives for any non-text content so that it can be changed into other forms people need, such as large print, braille, speech, or symbols.
2. Operable: 
   1. User interface components and navigation must be operable. 
   2. Operable content is able to be navigated without the use of a standard mouse - so individuals using assistive technology are able to access the content.
   3. Operable content is able to be accessed from a keyboard.
      1. Keyboard accessibility is one of the most important principles of web accessibility, as it cuts across disability types and technologies.
3. Understandable: 
   1. Information and operation of the user interface must be understandable. 
   2. Creating understandable content on a website means reducing the use of undefined abbreviations and acronyms. 
   3. Understandable content uses proper page navigation, such as menus and heading to guide a user’s mobility across the page.
4. Robust: 
   1. Robust content maximizes compatibility with current and future user agents, including assistive technologies.
   2. Robust content is compatible with the browser or software versions of the front end users (meaning, avoid using themes that are outdated, and that may be obsolete for updated versions). 
   3. Robust OER content does not direct users to resources they have to pay for. 

(From CUNY OER libguide, Amy Wolfe, Accessibility Librarian)

In addition to the POUR, the following best practices will support Digital UIC account holders in creating content that meet the accessibility needs for a diverse audience. 

• Text Layout and Typography
  • For English and other left-top-right languages, align text on the left.
  • Documents with "white space" around blocks of text are easier to read than documents in which the margins of the text are close to the edge of the viewing area.
  • Only underline text for signaling hyperlinks. 
  • Screen readers are not able to pick up strike-through text. 
  • Sans-Serif fonts such as Arial, Inter, and Lato are regarded as the most readable font family for printed text.
• Headings 
  • Organizing a web page, word document or pdf with headings helps users understand the page’s structure and organization.
  • Headings are a navigation tool for both those who can see visually and those who use screen readers.
  • Assistive technology allows users to pull up a list of headings.
  • Screen readers read aloud heading text only if it is coded as a “Heading.”
  • Add appropriate headings for section title to signal transitions.
    • Not applying appropriate headings, and only changing an item's text color, size or weight makes the content intelligible to sighted users only.
• Links
  • Do not write out the entire URL as screen readers will read it aloud. 
  • Provide meaningful link text with a clear description of where users will go once they click on the link.
  • Links such as “Click Here” or “More” don’t provide any information to screen readers and are meaningless without context.
• Lists
  • Semantic Lists (numbered and bulleted) provide orientation for users by organizing information in meaningful ways.
  • When lists are used correctly, assistive technologies are able to convey information to users as they navigate to and within lists, such as the total number of items and the relative position of each item in the list.
• Image alternative text 
  • Adding alt-text to an image allows it to be discoverable and understood by users in a variety of ways.
  • Alt-text appears for users if an image experiences loading problems. 
  • Users should be as descriptive as possible when writing their alt-text. 
• Transcripts 
  • Transcripts allow keyword searching of audio and video.
  • Transcripts provide a textual version of the content that can be accessed by anyone. 
  • Screen reader users may prefer the transcript over listening to the audio of the web multimedia.
  • Transcripts can be downloaded, printed, used offline and/or converted to braille.
  • The text transcript should be a document that’s accessible, preferably HTML, but it can be an accessible document of another format, such as .TXT.
  • For pre-recorded, audio-only content (ex: podcasts) transcripts are required to meet WCAG Level A standards.

• Color and Color Contrast
  • Colors affect the readability of a website for all users, not just those with visual impairments.
  • Incorporate high color contrast between background and foreground text. 
    • Some users cannot read text if there is not sufficient contrast between the text and background.
  • The WCAG require that color combinations meet clearly defined contrast ratios. In order to meet the guidelines at Level AA, text or images of text must have a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 (or 3:1 for large text).
  • Don’t use color as the only way to communicate information, always make sure meaning is conveyed in multiple ways.
    • Boldened and/or italicized.

What are the exceptions to Title II of the ADA? 

Content that has been archived; Pre-existing social media content; Password-protected or otherwise secured conventional electronic documents specific to an individual, account, or their property.

Tools for evaluating accessibility on your content: 

1. Nu HTML Checker: ​​​​​​​​​​​​Catch unintended mistakes in your HTML, CSS, and SVG. ​​​​​​​Enables users to batch-check documents from the command line and from other scripts/apps, and to deploy your own instance of the checker as a service. Beyond that, some document-conformance requirements (validity rules) in the HTML spec are there to help you and the users of your documents avoid certain kinds of potential problems.

2. WAVE Tool: Plug-in, allows users to see issues on their pages, such as contrast errors or structural issues, all at once automatically. Provides information and links to further information regarding WCAG, promoting learning about accessibility in it’s use. WAVE for Firefox, WAVE for Chrome.

3. aXe: the Accessibility Engine: Created by the Deque Systems, the aXe browser extension will run a quick in-browser test. The extension returns detailed information on accessibility violations and how to fix them with a link to more in-depth information. Use the aXe extension in conjunction with opening and viewing “Inspect Element” or “Inspect” in your browser.  

4. Adobe Accessibility Checker For remediating PDFs, Scans documents and highlights sections needing tags. Has an auto-tag option but users still have to review the new structure manually.

To learn more: 

1. Library Accessibility Toolkit
2. Library Accessibility Training Portal
3. Accessibility Toolkit for Open Educational Resources (OER)
4. https://www.ada.gov/resources/2023-07-20-web-nprm/ 
5. https://www.adaactionguide.org/ada-title-ii-requirements

• The University Library will offer basic support through documentation, webinars and workshops, and consultations. 
• Visit Getting Started for advice on signing up for an account
• Visit researchguides.uic.edu/digital-uic for examples of current UIC exhibits using this service 
• The University Library will provide an overview on the type of platforms (Scalar vs Omeka vs WordPress) available through Digital UIC and offer guidance on the platform(s) that may be most suitable for the account holder’s project.  
• The University Library will provide advice on crafting job descriptions for graduate student workers and freelance designers for users who want customized sites. 
• The University Library will provide resources on copyright and fair use to help guide users on content creation. 
• The University Library will offer to host decommissioned content from Digital UIC in INDIGO, if the account holder creates an archive of the content [and it is under 10 GB].  The account holder will be required to grant the University the non-exclusive right to reproduce, transmit, and the distribute the content and the right to reproduce the content to any medium for format necessary for the purposes of preservation or distribution.  
• The University Library will suspend an account if no action occurs on a project within 3 months of account creation. This will allow for the reallocation of an unused account. 
• The University Library reserves the right to remove any content that is determined to be in violation of UIC’s web policies (including violations of copyright law or other content that is contrary to law).

The account owner or author(s) shall retain all rights in the content of their project as outlined in the University of Illinois General Rules. 

The University Library will notify account holders three months prior to termination of this service, should the University Library decide to end the Service.

Although UIC does not routinely pre-screen, monitor, or regularly review content, it reserves the right to remove, at any time, at its sole discretion, any content that it considers to violate these Terms of Use or the terms of any other campus user agreements that may govern use of the campus networks, or that it deems in violation of University policy or local, state, or federal law. Should the University receive reports regarding a site on which it is felt that inappropriate content has been posted, UIC will investigate and contact the site’s primary owner to initially discuss the issue. In exceptional cases (including violations of copyright law or other content that is contrary to law), UIC may immediately remove the content, prior to contacting the site’s primary owner. Unacceptable content of this sort also may cause a site or account to be suspended, and in extreme cases, may result in disciplinary proceedings against the primary owner and/or contributing authors. Reports regarding inappropriate site content may be sent to digscholarship@uic.edu.