Achieving Accessibility at Clemson University

In the fall of 2020, the Clemson University Office of Housing and Dining hired Interactive Knowledge to evaluate and report accessibility conformance to WCAG 2.1 Level AA with their newly designed Housing and Dining site, Clemson Home. The existing site had yet to launch because of known accessibility vulnerabilities, and the University was anxious to launch the new site in time for Spring Semester enrollment. Although the 700+ page site met the University’s branding and content requirements, the client knew it did not fully comply with WCAG guidelines.

We used automated and semi-automated validation tools as well as manual validation to test conformance to WCAG 2.1 Level AA. We provided Clemson University with a detailed and comprehensive report, outlining our findings in detailed evaluation results structured according to the Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT). We also outlined remediation priority items, as well as our recommendations for website accessibility best practices. 

Clemson then asked us to complete all of the remediation tasks needed to bring the Clemson Home website into full compliance. We completed a variety of code and design fixes and continued testing the site until it achieved conformance with WCAG 2.1 Level AA standards. The Clemson accessibility team completed their own internal assessments and found a few minor issues that we quickly fixed. The site was launched as high school students across the country received their acceptance letters from Clemson and began checking out their housing options. We are proud to know that the prospective students who have disabilities are able to navigate the Clemson Home website with equal access to all the important information available on the site.