It's week two of the digital deep-cleaning challenge. When it comes to tidying up your home, nothing is a better motivator than knowing you have guests coming over!

This week, we’re heading into the "Guest Room" to audit our third-party tools. At UCR, we often use external plugins, applications, or software to enhance our work and teaching. However, under the updated ADA standards, we are responsible for ensuring these "guests" meet UCR’s Accessibility Standards.

Week Two Guidance

Why Should I Review My Third-Party Tools?

When we invite an external tool into our digital environment, we are responsible for the experience it provides to our community. If a student or colleague with a disability cannot use a third-party tool we’ve assigned or added via external plugin, it creates a barrier to their success and a compliance risk for the university.

If a third-party has contracted with UCR or UCOP, then the accessibility of their tool has been checked. However, many third-party tools do not have contracts.

Some examples of commonly used third-party tools that do not have contracts include:

• Interactive engagement: Mentimeter, Kahoot, Slido, Padlet, etc.
• Event and RSVP management: Eventbrite, Calendly, Doodle, etc.
• External labs and simulations: Labster, PhET, etc.
• Marketing and communication: Discord, Linktree, etc.
• Project management: Trello, Miro, etc.
• Website plugins: social media widgets, etc.  

If you use one of the above tools, or any other tool without a formal contract through UCR or UCOP, you should check to confirm the tool meets the Accessibility Standards.

Pro Tip: If a tool has been made available to you by ITS or XCITE, then its accessibility has been checked!

The Challenge

This week we're asking you to: 

• Identify: List any third-party tools or plugins you or your team use for work, teaching, or research.
• Investigate: Determine if the third-party tool is under contract with UCR or UCOP by checking the ITS catalog, academic technologies webpage, or approved Canvas tools webpage. If it is, great! If not, look for the third-party's accessibility statement. This can typically be found on their website or in the procurement contract.
• Ask: If you cannot find their statement, reach out to your vendor contact and ask: "Where can I find your accessibility statement?" and "Does your tool meet WCAG 2.1 AA compliance standards?"
• Consult: Not sure if a tool is "third-party" or if it’s compliant? Request a consultation with ITS.

In Practice 

Here's a real UCR use case:

"In thinking about digital accessibility and the role third-party tools play, I thought about my use of Mentimeter in my class. I found their accessibility statement on their website (https://www.mentimeter.com/accessibility). My follow up question for them will be whether they are specifically aligned to WCAG 2.1 AA."

Beth Claassen Thrush
Director of Strategic Initiatives and Special Projects 
and Assistant Adjunct Professor in the School of Education

Faculty Focus

You might use third-party tools to make learning more interactive. The XCITE website has resources to help you understand which academic technologies are supported by UCR and already meet the Accessibility Standards.

View Approved Third-Party Tools for Canvas
View UCR's Academic Technologies
Contact XCITE for a Consultation

Website Wranglers

If you manage a UCR website, remember that every "extra" counts. This includes social media widgets and form builders.

Audit your website(s) for third-party plugins. Contact the vendor to obtain a copy of their accessibility statement or Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT). Remove plugins that do not meet the Accessibility Standards.

Request Campus Web Solutions Support
Training Resources for Website Managers

Training Resources  

Knowledge is the best tool in your kit. The "Accessibility for Everyone" course is now available in the UC Learning Center. This foundational course is designed for all staff and faculty—we highly encourage everyone to take it this week!

Take the "Accessibility for Everyone" Course

Did You Miss Week One or Want to Get Ahead?

You can find all of the accessibility guidance and resources provided as part of the Digital Deep Clean challenge on the Digital Accessibility webpage!

Visit the Digital Accessibility Webpage to Learn More

Access barrier? Report digital accessibility issues or request remediation of inaccessible digital content.