Photo by Ben Kolde on Unsplash
Written by Ryan Seubert, first year student
First Edit by Sammi McGiveron, junior
Second Edit by the EIT Committee
SUNY Geneseo is successfully working towards creating an accessible community for everyone. The college has responded to the recent updates to Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The changes, announced in April 2024, require colleges and universities to ensure all digital content meets accessibility standards by April 2026. The League of Storytellers was able to discuss with Dr. Amy Fisk, the Director of Accessibility Services and co-EIT officer, and Anjali Shiyamsaran, the Digital Accessibility Analyst in Computing & Information Technology (CIT), about SUNY Geneseo’s response to these changes.
Digital accessibility means ensuring that content shared online is accessible to everyone, particularly for individuals with disabilities. This includes making adjustments to web content to improve readability and to make the content accessible via various assistive technologies, such as a screen reader or text-to-speech tools. There are a variety of ways to improve digital accessibility, such as creating presentations with high color contrast to improve readability, creating a logical layout, or not relying on visuals for presentation cues. Accessibility includes use of captions on videos or audio recordings, and adding alternative text to images. Using accessibility checkers in programs such as Microsoft Word is a way to identify inaccessible content.
Digital accessibility supports people with a variety of visual, cognitive, auditory, and motor impairments, but is beneficial for everyone. Students at Geneseo submitted video clips describing why digital accessibility is so important to them. One student said that when things were made accessible proactively such as captioning during lectures, “I didn’t have to ask for help [request accommodations], because those tools were already available for me.” Another student stated, “it allows me to be on a level playing field with my peers.”
For SUNY Geneseo, the goal to establish accessible web content is not new. In 2020, the SUNY Electronic & Information Technology (EIT) Accessibility policy was created. This mandate required all SUNY campuses to appoint a representative to guide in creation of accessible online content. At Geneseo, a team of individuals were appointed to a committee to comply with the new accessibility guidelines.
Since January 2025, the EIT committee has been implementing a variety of initiatives to comply with the Title II changes. One central action taken was engaging Writing 105 professors in the process of creating accessible digital content. Instructors attended a workshop, and they were given the opportunity to present the same workshop to their students. Writing 105 classes were chosen specifically because a majority of students are required to take the class, broadening the audience and allowing optimal outreach. The EIT team has also provided virtual and in-person training for faculty and staff, and developed online resources.
Building skills to improve digital accessibility is pivotal for everyone, including students. Anyone considering working in education, law enforcement, libraries, social services, public administration, and more should consider educating themselves on digital accessibility. The Title II changes to the ADA impact many areas, and everyone should want to create an environment that is equitable for all. A student worker in CIT who is helping to remediate course content shared that “working with digital accessibility has changed how I see the barriers people face online. The more I learn, the more I realize how easily people can be excluded when digital spaces are not designed to be accessible, especially in education. Knowing that my work can directly improve someone’s ability to access information is what makes me so passionate about digital accessibility.”
Students can access information about digital accessibility under the tab Creating Accessible Digital Content in the EIT Accessibility section of the SUNY Geneseo website, which includes video tutorials and written guidelines for faculty, staff, and students. Campus community members can also self-enroll in a digital accessibility training course through this page. Accessibility is a whole campus responsibility. We should all be doing our part in creating the equity-centered campus that SUNY Geneseo prides itself on.