Accessible Content

Michigan State University strives to meet audience members’ needs and expectations by designing content that is accessible to all users. For website content, MSU follows the World Wide Web Consortium’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, or WCAG, 2.0 at Conformance Level AA standard as the official technical guidelines on May 15, 2009. MSU is planning to adopt WCAG 2.2 as of January 2026. The MSU Digital Accessibility Policy requires full conformance with these technical guidelines.

Some elements of accessibility are baked into content management systems. For example, with Sitecore, most default font colors and sizes in the CSS codes have been selected to meet accessibility standards. Components have been designed to meet standards related to keyboard navigation, shape, size, position and resizing of text when these components are used correctly.

Any unit using a non-enterprise content management system (i.e., anything other than Cascade or Sitecore) is responsible for ensuring that the configuration of their CMS, and any code and theme applied to the website, meets the technical standards outlined in WCAG 2.0.

Any unit using custom code (CSS, etc.) in a website built on an enterprise content management system (i.e., Cascade or Sitecore) is responsible for ensuring that their website continues to meet the technical standards outlined in WCAG 2.0.

The technical settings in a content management system do not automatically ensure that all accessibility requirements are met. Content also must be designed, created and presented in an accessible way.

All units, regardless of the content management system they use, are responsible for ensuring that the content loaded into their content management system meets accessibility standards. For example, does the text overlay on the hero banner image of the webpage meet color contrast requirements? Do the site’s visuals meet color standards? Are the videos captioned? Are linked documents and PDFs accessible?

Below is a brief list of some of the items that must be evaluated to ensure content is accessible. For additional details and information, please see the Basic Accessibility Checklist and the Website Accessibility section of the MSU Digital Accessibility website.

Checklist

• Ensure proper color contrast
• Avoid solely using color to convey meaning
• Provide alternative text for visuals
• Use heading styles to denote content hierarchy
• Use list styles to denote list structure
• Use link text to convey context
• Ensure proper usage and format of tables
• Include captions, description and transcripts to all multimedia content
• Provide controls and follow proper limits for movement, animations and flashing content
• Avoid solely using shape, size and position references to describe content
• Enable proper navigation of content using a keyboard
• Enable resizing of text without losing information or functionality
• Ensure any linked files (e.g., PDFs) meet accessibility standards

Here are some tools to assist content authors in evaluating web content for accessibility.