A year-long, campus-wide digital accessibility initiative is beginning that will strengthen our digital presence and ensure our online spaces are welcoming and accessible to all. This collaborative effort is an opportunity to build on UMW’s leadership in digital innovation and student engagement as we align with new accessibility standards and regulations.

Please be aware of the requirements as training and implementation begin this fall. The scope of this work includes all of our websites and the systems we use daily such as umw.edu and Canvas and includes documents, digital tools and other electronic content. For example, all Word, PowerPoint, PDF and video files shared with students in Canvas or via email, and any other online methods, including our social media posts, must be compliant by the deadline of April 24, 2026.

What are the requirements?

ADA Title II now requires all state and local government entities, including the University of Mary Washington, to ensure their websites and mobile apps meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA by April 24, 2026. The new rule aims to ensure that all people with disabilities have full and equal access to public entities’ services, programs, and activities available on mobile apps and websites.

WCAG is a set of guidelines developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) through the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI). It provides a set of recommendations and standards to make web content more accessible to people with disabilities. Public entities must meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Version 2.1 Level AA, as ruled in 2024 by the U.S. Department of Justice.

In addition, VA HB 2541, signed into law in 2025, also addresses information and communication technology as it relates to digital accessibility, with updates and organizational changes to the Information Technology Access Act. It also has a deadline of April 24, 2026.

Why is this a priority?

We are proactively working toward achieving and maintaining these federal and state requirements as set in the standards, which will necessitate a campus-wide, coordinated effort across our web-based institutional spaces. Meeting these accessibility standards is about more than compliance—it’s about ensuring every community member and visitor to our website and online services can fully participate in the UMW experience. Accessible websites and materials improve usability for everyone.

What’s in progress?

This work is already underway. We made important strides during the pandemic through digital coursework and the leadership of Digital Learning Support, the Center for Teaching, and the Office of Disability Resources. These teams have helped implement best practices in online content creation.

We’ve also refined our University website templates as part of the recent redesign to better align with WCAG standards. Our new sites are built with accessibility in mind, and we’ll continue replacing outdated templates and offering training to web editors to implement the accessibility standards.

This initiative will be led by the Web Accessibility & VAHB2541 Work Group, chaired by Director of Compliance/Title IX Coordinator/ADA Coordinator Ruth Davison and Chief Information Officer Jonathan Piersol. Key personnel will be invited to support assessment, implementation, and ongoing monitoring.

We’ll be assessing and auditing existing content and any new content going into the spring semester. In limited circumstances, some kinds of web and mobile app content, primarily archived content and old documents, may be exempt. Anything active or newly created must be in compliance.

How do I learn more about next steps and implementation?

We’ll be sharing more opportunities to contribute to the assessment, ask questions, and learn best practices as the fall semester begins. Implementation guidelines and support—including labs and workshops—will be available during professional development days, with a focus on accessibility for documents, websites, audio/video content, and supplemental applications in use and being created for the spring semester.

Updates and information will be shared via the web accessibility website.

We appreciate your attention to this effort and commitment to these requirements for web accessibility.

It is time again to review existing telework agreements and make any needed changes. All employees (other than teaching faculty) who engage in any amount of telework must have a telework agreement in place. Existing telework agreements will be continued into this fiscal year as long as the supervisor submits a Telework Confirmation Form stating that no changes have been made. Supervisors should review all existing telework agreements and do the following:

• If the approved number of telework days has not changed from the previous agreement, supervisors should complete and sign the Telework Confirmation Form and return it to HR.
• If there is a change to the number of approved telework days, a new telework agreement must be submitted, per the guidelines below.
• New telework agreements must be approved by supervisors and turned in to HR before teleworking may begin.

For Classified employees, the link to a fillable version of the state’s standard agreement is below – please use this version of the form (rather than the version on DHRM’s website or any others that may come from the Commonwealth). Please see below for next steps.

Action Items for New or Updated Agreements:

• Classified Employees: Complete the new Classified Telework Agreement and name it based on the following: LastNameUMW1 or LastNameUMW2 or LastNameUMW3 – the numbers represent the number of telework days per week (use 3 for three or more days per week). Typing your name in the signature box on the form sufficiently documents your signature.
• AP Faculty or Wage Employees: Complete the Non-Classified Telework Agreement form and sign it.
• Email your completed form to the following simultaneously:
  • Your supervisor;
  • Your Cabinet Vice President;
  • Human Resources at Telework@umw.edu. Agreements for 2 or more telework days per week will be forwarded to the Secretary of Education’s office.

*If you do not know your employee ID, please contact Deborah Burton in HR (dburton@umw.edu).

• Supervisors and Cabinet: notify all parties immediately if a telework agreement is not approved or needs modification. Note – there is no signature line for supervisors on the State Classified form. Employees should copy their supervisors when the form is sent to HR. That email will serve as your approval unless you respond otherwise.

Please also visit the Telework Policy and Procedure webpage for helpful information and resources about telework and flexible work schedules.

Supervisors should retain a copy of their employees’ current telework agreements; please contact Deborah Burton in HR (dburton@umw.edu) if you need a copy of a current agreement, or if you have any questions.

The 2024-2025 Classified Annual Review process is allowing process steps to be completed prematurely. Employees have been able to complete their self-assessment early and advance the review to the Supervisor Completes Evaluation step. In addition, supervisors have been able to complete the evaluation and move it to the reviewer for approval. It is too early for these steps to be completed.

The review period for the 2024-2025 Classified evaluation is 10/25/24 – 10/24/25. We still have 3 months left in the review cycle. We are working with PageUp to fix this issue. In the meantime, we ask you to not move the review past the Supervisor and Employee Mid-Year Check-In step in the 2024-2025 Classified Review process.

If you have advanced the process past the Supervisor and Employee Mid-Year Check-In step, we will be moving the review back to the Employee Completes Self-Assessment step. This will allow the employee to add or modify any comments and then move it to the next step at the end of the review cycle. The Supervisor will then have the opportunity to add or modify any comments or ratings and move it forward to the Reviewer Approves Evaluation step at the end of the review cycle.

We have some changes coming for the 2025-2026 review process for A/P Faculty and Classified employees.  More information coming soon regarding these changes!

If you have any questions or issues, please contact Terri Arthur at tlockhar@umw.edu.