the head of the UM Grizzly statue with yellow autumn colored trees in the background

UM Strategy

Beyond a Mandate: Accessible Courses are a Marker of Quality

UM's Office of Educational Initiatives and Innovation team is encouraging faculty to take a pause to address the accessibility of their digital course content in Canvas. The Paws (pause) for Accessibility Challenge is designed to support faculty as they work to meet updated regulations under Title II of the ADA which go into effect April 24, 2026.

Sarah Benedict, a Senior Instructional Designer with UM's Learning Experience & Design (LEAD) team, says, "Digital accessibility benefits all students, especially those with disabilities who rely on accessible content.” The Paws for Accessibility Challenge provides faculty with a simple process and the tools and support to help streamline the checking and fixing of accessibility issues.

Illustrated landscape showing a mountain labeled with an “M” at the summit, reached by several winding trails. Each trail is labeled with web accessibility topics: Tables, Color, Links, Lists, Images, Headings, and Video and Audio. A sign in the foreground reads “The Panorama Accessibility Trail.” Two hikers stand at the bottom, looking up toward the mountain and the rising sun, symbolizing a journey toward accessibility best practices.

 

The Paws for Accessibility Challenge leverages a tool called Panorama to review existing digital content within UM's Canvas learning management system. Panorama can fix the majority of accessibility issues within Canvas, but some issues may need to be fixed manually. The LEAD team has created a Canvas course to guide faculty through the process and are also available for consultation. The focus is on seven essential areas of accessibility: headings, images, color, links, tables, lists, and multimedia.

Faculty will use the Panorama accessibility checker to scan and address issues. The number and type of issues in a course will determine the time it takes to complete the challenge. “Our goal was to design a straightforward process that will help ensure that courses are inclusive and provide equitable access to digital materials,” Benedict says.

Upon completion, the course will be verified, and the faculty member will be recognized on the Trailblazer Wall of Fame to celebrate their commitment to accessibility.

Strategic context

The Paws for Accessibility Challenge is one effort embedded in a UM Strategy Playbook project focused on establishing UM as the regional leader in online education, including the development of a structure to maintain academic integrity in a digital age. That project contributes to Objective 4 in the playbook: Establish UM as a platform for learning to serve the needs of a wider range of learners.

Academic integrity in the online space is a growing concern, says Eric Vorkoeper, UM's Director of Online Strategy and Programs and co-project lead with Benedict.

“It's important that we have tools to mitigate instances of academic dishonesty and ensure the students who are enrolled in online courses are the same people whose achievements are being evaluated,” Vorkoeper says.

UM is evaluating proctoring solutions that address cheating concerns and the identity verification challenge, but academic integrity goes both ways, Vorkoeper says.

"We also need to ensure the integrity of our academic offerings and courses", he says. "Accessible courses are a marker of quality, not just for students with disabilities, but for any student. This aligns with the spirit of inclusive prosperity, ensuring that all of our students have the same access and opportunities to succeed."