Colorado Mountain College Digital Accessibility Implementation Plan

Date: July 1, 2025

1. Introduction

1.1 Purpose

This Digital Accessibility Plan aims to ensure that all digital resources and platforms used by Colorado Mountain College are accessible to all individuals, including those with disabilities. The goal is to comply with legal standards and approved college policy, enhance user experience, and support an inclusive educational environment as outlined in CMC’s four strategic commitments.

1.2 Scope

This plan applies to all college digital content and platforms, including websites, online courses, learning management systems (LMS), documents, multimedia content, and other digital tools. Digital accessibility compliance is an evolving practice. Digital content is not static, and thus achieving and maintaining compliance requires continual attention and vigilance. The CMC implementation Plan therefore focuses on strategies and on-going awareness activities and skills education, automated and manual audits of all Information and Communication Technology (ICT), and conscious attention to fostering a culture of inclusion and accessibility throughout CMC.

1.3 Definitions

  • Digital Accessibility: The practice of making digital content and tools usable by individuals with a wide range of disabilities.
  • WCAG 2.1 Level AA: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, a set of recommendations for improving web accessibility, and the standard for legal compliance

2. Compliance Standards

2.1 Legal and Regulatory Requirements

Ensure adherence to:

  • ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) of 1990 and the ADA Amendments Act of 2008
  • Sections 504 and 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
  • Colorado Revised Statutes § 24-34-801, et seq. and 24-85-101, et seq. (HB21-1110 Colorado Laws for Persons with Disabilities) 
  • 8 CCR 1501-11-Rules Establishing Technology Accessibility Standards
  • WCAG 2.1 (Level AA) Standards

2.2 Institutional Policies

In August 2024, CMC’s Board of Trustees adopted the college’s first Digital Accessibility Policy to memorialize the institution’s adoption and implementation of digital accessibility requirements. The policy has been updated to recognize the evolving nature of digital accessibility requirements under Colorado law and ensure alignment with CMC Strategic Plan: Mountain Futures and its commitment to ensuring its Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is accessible by everyone.

  • Expanding the procedures to document policy implementation will be a priority in the year 2025-26.
  • Ensure procedures are current and relevant to changes within the college and legal and regulatory requirements.

3. Accessibility Goals

3.1 Immediate Goals

  • Create and staff a Digital Accessibility Committee and Review Board to replace the current working group.
    • Establish the Digital Accessibility Committee and Review Board as an official standing committee of the college.
      • Recommended membership:
        • Legal Counsel (CL)
        • Executive Director IT (IT)
        • SharePoint Administrator (IT)
        • Website Manager (MR)
        • Learning & Systems Administrator (AA)
        • Institutional Research Analyst (IR)
        • Learning, Technology, Access & Equity Administrator (AA)
        • Assistant VP of Student Affairs (SA)
        • Human Resources professional (HR)
        • Full-time Professor (FA)
        • Adjunct Instructor (FA
        • At least one student (ST)
        • Accessibility Coordinator
  • The Digital Accessibility Committee and Review Board will identify targets and manage the development and implementation of the college’s digital accessibility plan.
    • The working group may still play a role in implementing targets as they are identified with the Digital Accessibility Committee and Review Board.
  • Conduct an annual accessibility audit of current digital platforms with an external auditor.
    • Audit is recommended to take place after new website hosting platform is implemented – projected June 2026
  • Continue to develop the inventory of digital assets and evaluate their accessibility to facilitate remediation.
    • Address internal platforms such as SharePoint, which houses thousands of documents.
      • Archive eligible documents per the rules governing Colorado Laws for Persons with Disabilities.
    • Explore alternative platforms to replace DocuSign.
  • Meet compliance goals for the following areas of focus (priority order)
      1. Libraries
      2. Internal platforms
      3. Documents
        • CMC has purchased rights to PDF remediation tool, PREP by Continual Engine. PREP provides PDF accessibility analysis and remediation in a single platform. Onboarding and training commence in summer 2025.
      4. Academic courses – on track with compliance goals. Continued maintenance is necessary and evaluated by semester.
      5. Public websites – CMC is actively pursuing the purchase of a new hosting platform with integrated digital accessibility compliance elements.
      6. Purchasing and contracts – Continue using ProcureEnsure to assess vendors’ compliance as it has been very effective in evaluating vendors’ compliance. This will require a paid subscription from the vendor.
        • Additionally, CMC routinely collects and reviews VPATs from external vendors to ensure digital accessibility compliance.
      7. Professional Development and Training
        • Develop additional training tools and resources to educate employees.
            • In 2024-25 training was developed and implemented for mandatory completion by all employees. Completion results.

           

    Position Completed Incomplete Completion %
    Professors 127 0 100%
    Adjunct – Credit 541 144 66%
    Work Study Student 55 15 79%
    Part Time Staff 125 30 81%
    Totals 1192 189 86%

 

  • Initial training will be mandatory for new employees and those who did not complete the training module last year.
    • Develop a refresher course for those who have completed the initial training module.
      • The new refresher module will be mandatory for those who have completed the initial training module and will be automatically assigned 12 months after completion of the initial training.
    • Specialized training will continue to be available based on job roles and duties. Employees have access to a variety of how-to guides, testing tools, and document remediation software.
    • Identify and curate additional professional development opportunities, then package and promote them via Workday Learning.
  1. Continue Compliance Survey administration to assess compliance with and integration of digital accessibility concepts into the institutional culture.

3.2 Long-term Goals

  • Integrate accessibility into the development process for new digital content and tools.
  • Foster a culture of accessibility within the college community through annual activities and assessments.
    • Develop internal campaigns to promote digital accessibility.
    • Utilize IR to evaluate success for students with and without disclosed disabilities.
    • Utilize IR to develop additional instruments to measure effectiveness.
  • Conduct consistent accessibility audit of digital platforms with external auditors.
    • Determine audit provider and secure funding and contract for 2026-27, after the move to a new website hosting platform.
  • Annually assess progress toward digital accessibility integration using a variety of quantitative and qualitative instruments.

4. Accessibility Implementation

4.1 Roles and Responsibilities

  • Accessibility Coordinator: Oversees monitoring, implementation, compliance, and training.
  • IT Department: Ensures technical accessibility in websites and applications.
  • Faculty and Staff: Create and maintain accessible content.
  • Students: Provide feedback on accessibility issues.
  • Digital Accessibility Committee and Review Board: Evaluates implementation, recommends action and direction, determines exclusions/exemptions, and ensures institutional compliance.
    • Officially establish the Digital Accessibility Committee and Review Board as a Standing Committee with appropriate duties and responsibilities. See 3.1
    • Initiate and activate the Committee and Review Board Fall 2025 with recommendations from Faculty Senate and other appropriate committees/departments throughout the college.

4.2 Training and Awareness

  • Monitor and update a detailed training program for faculty, staff, and students on digital accessibility best practices and content creation and remediation.
    • Established mandatory training in digital accessibility for all CMC employees.
      • Initial training will be mandatory for new employees and those who did not complete the training module last year.
      • Refresher module will be mandatory for those who completed the initial training and are automatically assigned 12 months after initial training completion.
      • Improve response rate.
    • Provide easily accessible resources and guides on creating accessible documents, websites, and multimedia content.
      • House these resources on the external-facing CMC website (new platform) in addition to their current location within the internal-facing portal (SharePoint/Basecamp).
      • Annually evaluate resources and update as needed.
      • Provide targeted training to address identified needs/areas of concern.
        • PREP tool for PDF remediation (2025-26 focus).
          • 100 named users with 10 active users at one
          • Onboarding superusers as soon as possible who will lead implementation across the college.
          • Monitor remediation and program effectiveness.
        • Sharepoint (Basecamp) contributors and site managers
          • 2025-26 focus on archiving pre-July 1, 2024 materials with appropriate tags and content creation to meet Colorado Laws for Persons with Disabilities and reduce the number of documents to those currently in use.
          • Monitor remediation progress.
        • Target specific locations that scored low on training completion with training and support.

4.3 Accessibility Audit and Testing

  • Perform annual accessibility audits of digital assets through the use of external evaluator(s).
    • Next audit to take place after new website hosting platform is implemented – projected June 2026.
  • Use automated tools and manual testing methods, including user testing by individuals with disabilities.
  • Complete Colorado Office of Information Technology (OIT) maturity matrix annually to assess institutional progress toward compliance goals.

4.4 Content Creation and Management

  • Ensure that all new digital content follows accessibility guidelines.
    • Marketing and IT departments will ensure compliance with guidelines for CMC website and IT products and provide and promote the use of digitally accessible templates.
      • New templates will be created as needed.
    • Training and awareness campaigns will promote employee compliance as they create digital content. These will be staged throughout the year.
  • Ensure all web content creators are appropriately trained in digital accessibility best practices based on their roles and responsibilities once the new system is adopted and installed.
    • A new website hosting platform will have strong control over content. Implementation of the new platform is expected to require 6-9 months after contract completion.
  • Review the progress status of existing content to address accessibility issues and document remediation.
    • This is a continual process coordinated by the accessibility coordinator and the Digital Accessibility Committee and Review Board.

5. Technology and Tools

5.1 Website Accessibility

  • Ensure website design and development comply with WCAG 2.1 Level AA standards.
  • Use accessible design principles, such as sufficient color contrast and keyboard navigability, throughout all of CMC’s web assets.
    • The purchase of a new website hosting platform is underway to better ensure accessibility compliance of all digital content on website. Expected implementation in Spring 2026.
    • The Website Manager will continue to address, and fix identified accessibility issues on the current website prior to the implementation of the new platform.
  • Maintain up-to-date digital accessibility webpage to support reporting of inaccessible content which will be addressed and remediated appropriately. This page will also communicate CMC’s digital accessibility progress.

5.2 Learning Management System (LMS)

  • Verify that the LMS meets accessibility standards. Determine solutions to ensure digital accessibility compliance of
  • Provide accessible templates and tools for course creation.
  • Evaluate course accessibility consistently using Canvas accessibility checker.
    • Continue to provide training for faculty and their supervisors to ensure courses are modified to meet standards.
    • Target specific locations that scored low on training completion with training and support.
      1. Continue to challenge academic leaders/supervisors to support faculty to meet Ally accessibility checker rating of 90% or greater.
  • Document LMS content remediation to monitor improvement and address areas of concern.
    • 2024-25 Ally course digital accessibility content analysis.
      • Fall 2024: (peak) 84.46%
      • Spring 2025: (peak) 89.79%
      • Summer 2025: (peak) 90.28%

5.3 Document Accessibility

  • Train staff in creating accessible PDFs and other document formats.
    • PREP tool for PDF remediation (2025-26 focus).
  • Continue to emphasize the use of built-in accessibility checkers for all employees to use.
  • Use tools to check and correct accessibility issues in documents.
  • Address internal platforms such as SharePoint with targeted communications to content owners focusing on review and archiving of content created prior to July 1, 2025.
  • Explore alternative platforms to replace DocuSign.

5.4 Multimedia Content

  • Ensure captions and transcripts are included in all videos.
  • Ensure audio descriptions are available where necessary.

6. Feedback and Continuous Improvement

6.1 Feedback Mechanisms

  • Support the system for users to report accessibility issues.
    • All accessibility issues and responses will be logged into the CMC Cares (Advocate) system to ensure consistent collegewide collection, reporting, and response.
  • Regularly review feedback and prioritize resolutions.
    • Ensure resolutions are communicated to the complainant.
    • The Digital Accessibility Digital Committee and Review Board will review reported accessibility issues and responses annually.

Employees, students, and community members can submit feedback regarding accessibility or request assistance by contacting digitalaccessibility@coloradomtn.edu or calling 970.947.8351.

6.2 Monitoring and Evaluation

  • Monitor the effectiveness of accessibility initiatives.
    • Document progress measures to monitor improvement and address areas of concern.
    • The college uses automated and manual testing to evaluate ICT systems for accessibility compliance.
    • Hire external consultants as necessary for specialized support and continued website audits.
    • Conduct survey of employees to assess understanding of and use of digital accessibility best practices (Digital Accessibility Compliance Survey).
    • Annually assess training completion and course materials' accessibility status and develop strategies for improvement.
    • Establish a dedicated position or duties within an existing position to lead, support and monitor accessibility compliance and initiatives.
    • Develop an operating budget for digital accessibility initiatives.
  • Regularly review and update the Digital Accessibility Implementation Plan (this plan) based on new guidelines and technological advancements.
    • Complete OIT Digital Accessibility Maturity Matrix (or other longitudinal assessment tool) annually.
  • Explore how the Digital Accessibility Committee and Review Board can support access to services for students with disabilities, whether they are documented or not.
  • Evaluate and challenge the status quo in pursuit of innovative strategies, training, platforms, and changes to align with accessibility initiatives.
    • The Digital Accessibility Committee and Review Board will be responsible for looking deeply within the institution in pursuit of new strategies and areas of focus.

7. Communication

7.1 Internal Communication

  • Share updates on accessibility efforts and successes within the college community.
    • Provide quarterly updates, at a minimum, via Basecamp (SharePoint) portal.
  • Ensure that all members of the college are informed about their roles in supporting digital accessibility.
    • Announcements and calls-to-action college wide via communication/training campaigns.
    • Assign and track mandatory training for all CMC employees.
    • Create, promote, implement, and assess a new internal promotion campaign.

7.2 External Communication

  • Publicize the college’s commitment to accessibility on its website and other communication channels.
    • Link Digital Accessibility Implementation Plan (this plan) on the CMC website.
    • Submit proposal for AHEAD conference presentation (November 2025).
  • Provide contact information for accessibility support.

8. Budget and Resources

8.1 Budget Allocation

  • Establish an appropriate position or duties within an existing position at the college to lead, support, and monitor accessibility compliance and initiatives.
  • Develop an operating budget for digital accessibility initiatives.
  • Request and allocate funds for accessibility audits, training, and tools.
  • Request and allocate appropriate funding for technology upgrades and support services.

8.2 Resource Planning

  • Create budget that Identifies and allocates resources needed to sustain ongoing accessibility efforts.
  • Request appropriate funding as needed to assure legal compliance, i.e., use of external auditors and consultants, purchase of technology, and technical support.
  • Hire external consultants as necessary for specialized support and continued website audits.
  • The college utilizes a risk-based approach to help determine what ICT prioritizes when considering accessibility improvements. The college considers undue burden, undue hardship, fundamental alternations, and any direct threat to ensure the college focuses its efforts on areas that will have the greatest impact while ensuring responsible use of public resources. Review and Update

9.1 Plan Review

  • Review and update this plan to reflect changes in standards, technology, and institutional needs.
    • Ensure the plan and actions are modified as needed to respond to changing environment and issues as they arrive.
    • Report status of the review to appropriate parties.
    • Review to be conducted by the Digital Accessibility Committee and Review Board and others as appropriate.

9.2 Continuous Improvement

  • Encourage feedback from users and stakeholders to improve accessibility measures.
    • Create and employ mechanisms to collect feedback in addition to those currently in use.
  • Stay informed about advancements in digital accessibility and incorporate best practices.
    • Ensure all members of the Digital Accessibility Committee and Review Board are trained in specifics of digital accessibility policies and practices.
    • Promote engagement in external organizations and participation in accessibility-focused professional development.