Digital accessibility compliance and training
Updated Dec. 22, 2025
Use alt text to make images in your content meaningful to everyone
In our ongoing effort to learn and implement digital accessibility best practices, it is important for content creators (primarily employees who create Microsoft Word and PowerPoint documents and web content) to use alternative (alt) text for images to ensure their work is inclusive and reaches the widest possible audience.
Alt text is a hidden tag on images that screen readers interpret for vision-impaired users. Content creators must use alt text appropriately to ensure accessibility. Each application has its own process for inserting alt text, but in general, keep in mind:
- Accurate descriptions: These provide concise and accurate information about the image. Alt text should convey the meaning and purpose of the image, not just a literal description.
- Functional images: If an image is purely decorative, leave the alt text blank (alt="").
- Complex images: For complex images like charts or graphs, provide a longer description in the accompanying body text or link to a separate page with a full explanation.
- Skip “Image of”: Screen readers already announce the image, so there’s no need to start with “Image of.” You can mention if the image is a specific type, like a chart, headshot, or infographic.
For more details and valuable tips on alt text and more, check out the Accessibility Companion and visit the Digital Accessibility website.
Updated Dec. 9, 2025
Use new templates to help ensure digital accessibility
As UT Southwestern works to meet updated federal digital accessibility standards, it is essential that all content we create, revise, or update is accessible to everyone, including individuals with disabilities and impairments.
To help you create your documents with accessibility in mind, the UTSW Brand team has put together accessible PowerPoint and Word templates. Additionally, more information is available on the Digital Accessibility website.
Updated Nov. 17, 2025
Digital accessibility starts with the ‘Check Accessibility’ tool
UT Southwestern is preparing to meet new federal digital accessibility standards, and it is essential that all content we create, revise, or update is accessible to everyone, including individuals with disabilities and impairments.
For Microsoft Office applications (Outlook, Word, PowerPoint), use the built-in Check Accessibility tool to find and resolve accessibility issues in your content. The tool saves time by quickly identifying issues and providing actionable recommendations to help ensure documents, emails, and presentations meet accessibility standards.
Note that using the tool alone is not sufficient to guarantee accessibility. Documents must also be thoroughly checked against the accessibility guidelines for content creators.
Where to find the Check Accessibility tool
- Word and PowerPoint: in the toolbar under “Review”
- Outlook (MacOS): in the “Edit” pulldown menu
- Outlook (Windows): depending on version, in the toolbar under “Message” or “Review”
To the UT Southwestern Community:
In alignment with our commitment to excellence and inclusivity, UT Southwestern is actively preparing to meet updated federal accessibility standards. Under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), all digital content – including websites, mobile applications, and electronic documents – must comply with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Levels A and AA. This rule requires UT Southwestern to ensure accessibility by April 24, 2026.
As a public institution, we are dedicated to making our digital resources accessible to all, reinforcing our mission to advance education, research, and clinical care.
To support inclusivity, it is essential that all content we create, revise, or update is accessible to everyone, including individuals with disabilities and impairments. We will take the following steps to incorporate accessibility practices into our daily routines:
- Build awareness of digital accessibility standards and tools.
- Leverage approved templates that are designed to meet accessibility requirements.
- Incorporate accessibility testing tools during content creation and updates.
- Identify and communicate priority digital assets that require remediation to leadership.
Training
Register to attend a Digital Accessibility 101 training session. The one-hour session will help you to understand accessibility and apply simple, effective practices in your daily work.
- Oct. 22, 3:30 p.m.
- Oct. 23, 11:30 a.m.
- Nov. 4, 8:30 a.m.
- Nov. 6, 1 p.m.
- Dec 11, 11 a.m.
- Dec 15, 3 p.m.
- Jan 20, 1 p.m.
- Jan 28, 9 a.m.
- Feb 9, 11 a.m.
- Feb 17, 1 p.m.
Register to attend application-specific training sessions.
- Nov. 10, 11 a.m. (Microsoft Word)
- Nov. 14, 11 a.m. (PowerPoint)
- Nov. 17, 1 p.m. (Microsoft Word)
- Nov. 18, 1 p.m. (PowerPoint)
- Nov. 25, 10 a.m. (PowerPoint)
- Dec. 2, 2 p.m. (Microsoft Word)
- Dec. 9, 12:30 p.m. (PowerPoint)
- Dec. 17, Noon (Microsoft Word)
Review the available resources below.
- UTSW Digital Accessibility website: You will find best practices for creating accessible documents, websites, and applications.
- Digital Accessibility Teams channel: A resource for sharing best practices and answering questions.
- Tools and resources: A SharePoint site that will evolve to provide even more tools and resources.
- Discuss questions or concerns you may have with your department leaders.
UT Southwestern has established a dedicated governance committee to guide and oversee our progress in enhancing digital accessibility. We are fully committed to supporting you throughout this journey by providing comprehensive training, access to technological resources, and recruitment of accessibility specialists.
Thank you for your focused efforts to integrate these important standards into our daily practices. If you have questions related to these changes, please digital.accessibility@utsouthwestern.edu our Digital Accessibility team.