Website Accessibility

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) define requirements for designers and developers to improve accessibility for people with disabilities. They define three levels of conformance: Level A, Level AA, and Level AAA.

Western is actively working to ensure that we meet WCAG 2.1, Level AA standards, which are the current benchmarks adopted by the U.S. Department of Justice for public entities. 

Accessibility of Western's website relies on the following technologies to work with the particular combination of web browser and any assistive technologies or plugins installed on your computer:

• HTML
• WAI-ARIA
• CSS
• JavaScript
   

These technologies are relied upon for conformance with the accessibility standards used.
 

The Western site was tested in Chrome, Edge, and Firefox on Windows and MacOS. Mobile testing covered Safari on IOS and Chrome on Android. Assistive technology testing included NVDA in Chrome on Windows and VoiceOver in Safari on macOS and iOS. Automated accessibility and quality scans were also run with Siteimprove and SortSite.
 

Despite our best efforts to ensure accessibility of Western Technical College's website, there may be some limitations. Below is a description of known limitations, and potential solutions. Please contact us using the information in the Feedback section if you encounter an issue not listed here.
 

1. Interactive campus map 
   This map is not fully accessible using assistive technologies. For assistance with navigating our campus locations, contact the Welcome Center at welcomecenter@westerntc.edu or 608-785-9200.

    

2. Third-party tools
   Some pages include content or tools provided by our vendors, which are not fully in our control, and may not be fully accessible. We require all vendors to submit a yearly Accessibility Conformance Report, and roadmap for remediating accessibility issues. We will assist with support and alternatives where needed.
    

Western assessed the accessibility of its website by the following approach(es):

• Vendor-provided manual audit that included the following methodology
  • SortSite testing using standard browser tools 
  • Desktop testing
    • MacOS
      • Voiceover screen reader on Safari 
    • Windows
      • JAWS screen reader on Chrome 
      • NVDA screen reader on Firefox 
      • ZoomText on Chrome 
      • Dragon Naturally Speaking
  • Mobile testing
    • Android
      • Talkback on Chrome
    • iOS
      • Voiceover on Safari
• Ongoing automated testing using Siteimprove