Colorado Mountain College’s Progress Report for Digital Accessibility Compliance

As of March 15, 2025

Colorado Mountain College (the “college” or “CMC”) is committed to creating and maintaining a fully accessible digital environment for anyone who accesses its digital content. Core values of the college are equity and inclusion. CMC is making good-faith efforts to meet the technical standards established by the Governor’s Office of Information Technology (OIT) as provided by:

This digital accessibility progress report summarizes the college’s concrete efforts and progress towards compliance with OIT rules and requirements of HB21-1110 and HB24-1454. This is the third update on Colorado Mountain College’s efforts to address digital accessibility standards and comply with Colorado State legal requirements.

Summary of CMC’s Efforts

Colorado Mountain College has made considerable progress towards ensuring it complies with digital accessibility rules and requirements of HB21-1110 (“Digital Accessibility Law”), including hiring additional personnel and reallocation of existing resources and staff time.

As noted in earlier updates, the college created a Digital Accessibility Committee in 2023, consisting of college team members from a variety of departments, including academic affairs, student affairs, IT development and training, procurement, legal, and marketing and media relations. This committee meets regularly to ensure the college’s understanding and application of the legal requirements to the college’s ICT environment, and to address specific issues, prioritizations, and challenges affecting the college’s ability to provide a fully digitally accessible environment.

Since 2024, the college has continuously evaluated its webpages and remedied identified accessibility issues. These efforts include audits of the college’s webpages, and the procurement and utilization of third-party software designed to evaluate the college’s webpages for digital accessibility purposes. Identifying and addressing obstacles for individuals with or without disabilities in accessing the college’s ICT is a key component of the college’s commitment to fostering an on-line and digital environment that is accessible by everyone.

In addition, the college established a process for providing timely alternative and reasonable accommodation if an individual has difficulty accessing, reviewing, or utilizing the college’s webpages or any of its ICT. The college has also remediated and eliminated identified barriers in webpages by adding digital accessible content and providing contact information for anyone needing assistance with accessing any of the college’s ICT.
The college has begun and is committed to continuing college-wide training and re-tooling the manner in which it utilizes and produces information and communication technology (“ICT”). To that end, the college is committed to prioritizing, evaluating, remediating, and continuously improving its ICT within our services, programs, and activities.

Key Organizational Measures

  • Key digital technologies, such as the main website and application and registration forms, are continually updated to meet accessibility standards. They are regularly audited through automated and manual testers to assess accessibility. Major identified accessibility barriers were remediated immediately; others are being addressed each week.
  • New policies and procedures governing digital accessibility compliance and implementation have been adopted.
  • Work continues on the college’s Basecamp/SharePoint sites, engaging site content editors and ensuring their sites and pages are accessible. This includes alt text, color, font, and links, and is part of the campus-focused training this spring.
  • Training for all faculty and staff has been developed and shared.
    • All CMC employees were required to complete digital accessibility training by December 31, 2024. The completion rate for faculty and staff was quite high, and the college took additional steps to address the few employees who have not completed the training.
    • Instructional designers are trained to assist instructors in developing course materials that comply with accessibility standards. Training for supervisors of adjunct faculty (assistant deans of instruction) was provided in February to support their ability to comply with state accessibility standards.
    • A team with expertise in digital accessibility provided on-site training to all CMC campuses in February and March 2025 to educate employees, support implementation, and address specific user challenges directly.
    • Developed and distributed a rubric for individuals to assess their progress towards compliance. The rubric is differentiated by role. One for faculty that specifically addresses steps within CMC’s Learning Management System, and another for staff that focuses on all other ICT content and services.
  • Instructional materials in CMC’s Learning Management System are being revised and continually updated to ensure digital accessibility compliance. This is an on-going process as new classes are created and designed, and new instructors are hired at the college. Each semester’s courses are evaluated separately.
    • Instructional materials compliance rating for Spring 2025 sections measure 86% as of this update.
  • Use multiple methods to assess the college’s progress.
    • Employ the W3C Accessibility Maturity Model.
    • Finalizing a user survey to assess individual compliance and institutional culture shift. The survey will be implemented in April 2025.
    • Use Canvas platform assessment tool Ally to measure changes in digital accessibility of instructional content (see above).
  • Digital accessibility is a required element in the college’s procurement process.
  • A single point of contact has been designated to receive accessibility feedback and accommodations requests and coordinate responses across the college.
  • Incorporated accessibility requirements into CMC’s technology development stages including design, development, user experience, and quality assurance.
  • Highlighted stories from students and staff that illustrate the benefits of accessibility for academic success. Students with disabilities were interviewed regarding their experiences resulting in videos used in training sessions.
  • A roadmap has been created for digital accessibility that includes timelines and responsibilities of key stakeholders and contributors.
    • Near-term objectives for the next quarter:
      • Determining and addressing the training needs for PDF remediation across all sectors of the college. These files are the most difficult and time-consuming to remediate.
      • Decide on a new web-hosting platform for increased control over content in a multi-user environment. Funding has been secured for this transition.
      • Solving digital accessibility issues with third-party platform, Docusign. CMC’s new ERP, WorkDay, may address these issues.
  • This progress report will be updated quarterly to communicate CMC’s efforts toward compliance with state statutes referenced above.