ENABLING UNIVERSITY-WIDE STRATEGIC INITIATIVES
“In 2023, Indiana University launched an ambitious Digital Strategy Initiative to streamline and improve how it communicates with students, faculty, staff, and the broader community.
An ES team of Allison Chandran, Lora Fox, and Clinton Roeth-McKay presented “Coordinating Accessibility Compliance with 1,000+ Cooks in the Kitchen” at EDUCAUSE 2024.
“This final rule marks the Justice Department’s latest effort to ensure that no person is denied access to government services, programs, or activities because of a disability,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “By issuing clear and consistent accessibility standards for state and local governments’ digital content, this rule advances the ADA’s promise of equal participation in society for people with disabilities.”
What is our aspiration?
We will deliver transformative technology solutions that enable Indiana University’s critical strategic initiatives. By aligning our efforts with the university’s mission and collaborating with key stakeholders, we will advance an inclusive, accessible, and innovative digital ecosystem. Through these initiatives, we will empower students, faculty, and staff to achieve their goals while positioning the university as a leader in digital transformation and operational excellence.
Why is this important?
Indiana University’s strategic initiatives are essential to fostering innovation, ensuring compliance with evolving standards, and enhancing the experiences of all who engage with the university. As we navigate changes such as Title II compliance, website modernization, and ensuring departments have the resources to reach their most important goals, our work is foundational to advancing accessibility, operational efficiency, and user-centric digital services. These efforts not only support the university’s mission but also prepare us for future challenges and opportunities in a rapidly changing higher education landscape.
What are our concrete goals?
- Support institutional preparation for the upcoming Title II changes.
- Develop and begin execution of the Digital Strategy Initiative’s second phase.
- Mature and scale Departmental Solutions to support departmental partners and university strategic initiatives.
What specific targets are we setting for ourselves for 2025?
- Support institutional preparation for the upcoming Title II changes:
- Inventory vended and custom enterprise apps and coordinate communications with vendors about their accessibility compliance processes and standards, ensuring documented accessibility compliance statuses.
- Participate in the Office of Compliance and Policy’s Title II task force, representing ES and advising on technical considerations for the university.
- Establish tools for site stewards and managers to review the accessibility of their products before publishing, limiting the number of published accessibility issues.
- Develop and begin execution of the Digital Strategy Initiative’s second phase:
- Establish guidelines for website governance and enable more transparency into website management. Launch and iterate on the website inventory, using the web policy to guide phases. Deliver the website attestation and continue to refine the inventory data.
- Support the Enterprise Content Strategy project through community engagement, tools, and documentation for developers, site stewards, and other stakeholders.
- Deliver and pilot an initial release of WCMS Site Builder and automated migration tool, then deliver Enterprise WCMS Site Builder 1.0.
- Mature and scale Departmental Solutions to support departmental partners and university strategic initiatives:
- Migrate 25% of IU Web Framework sites to Site Builder, starting with DSOL Web Team sites.
- Expand DSOL website services to include coordination and support for strategic website projects and additional content support for Web Team clients.
- Establish and cultivate a community of practice for departmental app developers across IU with three immediate goals: enable collaboration and communication across teams; establish community-sourced standards for departmental app development; and help teams leverage enterprise-supported solutions.