Digital accessibility is the practice of removing any barriers that might prevent full engagement with a digital experience. People with disabilities may interact with experiences differently, using assistive technology like a screen reader or alternative input devices. To create and foster an inclusive experience for the disabled community at Rice, the University engages in several initiatives and has teams dedicated to this work.
Digital Information Accessibility Policy 851
Rice Policy 851 establishes a standard and framework for digital information accessibility at Rice University. Rice faculty, staff, and students share values essential to our success as a healthy community. Those values guide our decisions and behaviors and shape Rice’s culture. They come through in how we treat each other and our welcome to our visitors. These values can be recalled simply by our name — RICE — Responsibility, Integrity, Community, and Excellence.
Digital Accessibility is vital to honoring these values and creating an inclusive community. To truly achieve these goals, we must all work to produce digital information that everyone can use and access equally and independently.
General Policy
As part of our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, it is the policy of Rice University that all forms of Digital Information should be provided in a way that is accessible to all members of the Rice community, including those with disabilities.
The purpose of this policy is to provide the required Accessibility Standards for all publicly available web pages created, implemented, or modified after October 31, 2020. Additionally, this policy provides a framework to remediate existing publicly available web pages information in a timely manner.
Other Digital Information (such as internal web pages, Canvas, or applications) should be designed to maximize accessibility, and must meet the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Issued August 31, 2020
Rice Accessibility Partners
Rice University is committed to creating accessible online experiences for everyone, including people with disabilities. The following offices and departments contribute to this mission.
Disability Resource Center
It is the mission of the Disability Resource Center (DRC) to be committed to providing access to the educational environment for students. The DRC also assists faculty, staff, and visitors with accommodation requests to help ensure equal access and opportunity.
Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
At Rice, we view diversity, equity and inclusion as a central and meaningful part of the overall university experience. We believe these values increase the vitality of everything we do – education, scholarship, service and community.
Our office seeks to support and guide the university in fulfilling its mission of cultivating a diverse community of learning and discovery by facilitating a campus environment that promotes diversity, inclusion and academic achievement through active engagement with all areas of campus life.
Ethics, Compliance and Enterprise Risk
The Rice University Associate Vice President, Ethics, Compliance and Enterprise Risk & Chief Compliance Officer (CCO) manages the University’s Ethics and Compliance Program, chairs the University Compliance Committee, and serves as the University Policy Manager. The CCO reports to the Vice President and General Counsel, with a dotted line to the Audit Committee of the Board of Trustees, and provides regular reports to the President and the Audit Committee as to the status of the Ethics and Compliance Program.
Office of Access, Equity and Equal Opportunity (AAEO)
The Office of Access, Equity and Equal Opportunity (AEEO) at Rice University is a neutral and independent resource office responsible for ensuring the enforcement of the institution's anti-discrimination policies. Those policies cover topics related to sexual harassment/Title IX, discrimination, and other equal opportunity compliance mandates. The role of the Office is to ensure that Rice University complies with its anti-discrimination policies, makes the good-faith effort necessary to diversify its workforce, and becomes a place where everyone feels valued, leveraged, and put in the best position to thrive.
Level Access
To help accomplish this work, we’ve chosen to work with a trusted third-party solution provider, Level Access. This partnership ensures we can hold ourselves to the highest standards for accessibility, developing and maintaining digital experiences that are functional, usable, and enjoyable for all.
Level Access works with organizations at every stage of the digital experience creation journey, supporting teams with the tools and training to improve the accessibility of every digital property, for every user.
Through this partnership, we are equipped to continuously identify and fix any accessibility barrier that may be blocking a user from full engagement. Together, contributing to a more accessible online world.