Course Accessibility for Everyone (CAFÉ) is an initiative that empowers instructors to make their ICON course content accessible for all students. CAFÉ focuses on eight key factors:
- Headings – ensuring headings are easily navigable, including by screen readers
- Links – ensuring hyperlinks are meaningful and understandable for all users
- Tables – ensuring tables have row and column headers for more accessible navigation as well as descriptions
- Lists – ensuring pages are easier to read in general and navigable by screen readers
- Color Contrast – ensuring all text in an ICON course has sufficient contrast to be clearly viewed by all sighted users
- Alternative Text – ensuring all images in the course have descriptive alternative text so all users will know what each image portrays
- Video and Audio – ensuring all video and audio materials in an ICON site have captions or transcriptions
- Document Accessibility – ensuring that documents (especially .docx, .pptx, and .pdf files) in ICON courses meet the same standards of accessibility outlined in the other seven factors
CAFÉ is available in live trainings offered virtually or on demand through a guided ICON course. Synchronous trainings can be found on the OTLT events calendar and can be signed up for in the HR website and asynchronous training will be available soon.
Get started with CAFÉ
Live, virtual CAFÉ trainings are split into four sessions:
- Basic ICON Tips - covers headings, links, lists, tables, and color contrast usage in ICON
- Alternative Text - teaches how and why alt text is important and offers easy solutions and best practices
- Captions and Transcripts - explains why all audio and video materials need to be accessible and tools we have on campus to help
- Document Accessibility - reviews accessibility guidelines and how to ensure course documents meet basic accessibility thresholds
Starting in April 2025, all ICON courses will have Anthology Ally enabled in their sites, which will give additional guidance and direction regarding course accessibility. This tool will help instructors ensure their courses are usable for all their students.