Accessibility Resource Center (ARC) at Hostos
The website provides a comprehensive guide to faculty and students on accessibility practices, policies, and assistive technologies.
Accessibility Policy
CUNY IT Accessibility Statement
This page provides resources and information on accessibility for students, faculty, and staff at The City University of New York (CUNY).
CUNY Policy on Equal Opportunity and Non-Discrimination
The policy establishes equal opportunity and non-discrimination practices in the City University of New York, defines prohibited conduct, and outlines procedures for reporting discrimination and/or retaliation.
Introduction to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
Signed into law on July 26, 1990, by President George H.W. Bush, the ADA is one of America’s most comprehensive pieces of civil rights legislation that prohibits discrimination and guarantees that people with disabilities have the same opportunities as everyone else to participate in the mainstream of American life…
The Rehabilitation Act of 1973
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 prohibits discrimination based on disability in any program or activity operated by recipients of federal funds.
Tools for Creating Accessible Content
CUNY – Creating Accessible Documents and Presentations
The resource provides best practices and detailed explanations of using Microsoft Word & PowerPoint and Adobe DC programs to create accessible documents. The page includes additional resources and guides as well as the link to submit the PDF for remediation.
WebAIM – Microsoft Word: Creating Accessible Documents
The resource will help you maximize the accessibility of your Word documents. On the WebAIM, page you will find general principles for increasing accessibility in all versions of Word.
Microsoft Word – Improve Accessibility with the Accessibility Checker
The page instructs how to run an automated accessibility checked in Word that will analyze and list all accessibility issues in a document and provide a list of recommendations for solving the accessibility issues.
Microsoft Word – Create Accessible PDFs
A Microsoft Word document can be saved as a PDF document. The resource outlines how to generate an PDF document that is compatible with screen readers and other assistive technologies.
PowerPoint Accessiblity
This CUNY guide provides a comprehensive list of resources for creating accessible PowerPoint presentations.
NVDA Free Screen Reader
NVDA allows blind and vision impaired people to access and interact with the Windows operating system and many third party applications.
Live Transcript – Microsoft Translator
Microsoft Translator, a free tool for translating and captioning live presentations, supports accessible classroom learning with live captioning, cross-language understanding, and even multilingual casual conversations to help with student integration.
Log in with your CUNY ID (Jogh.Doe##@login.cuny.edu) to start using Microsoft Translator.
CUNY – Captioning Videos
The page provides resources for best practices and tools for video captioning.
Accessibility at Blackboard
The page provides information about Blackboard’s compliance with global accessibility standards.
Blackboard ALLY
Ally allows you to automatically check for accessibility issues and generate alternative accessible formats using advanced Machine Learning algorithms.
Zoom – Viewing Captioning in a Meeting or Webinar
The page provides detailed information on how to enable live closed captioning in a Zoom meeting or webinar.
WebAIM – Captions, Transcripts, and Audio Descriptions
The resource will help you create “accessible multimedia (visual and auditory content that is synchronized) must include captions—text versions of speech and other important audio content—allowing it to be accessible to people who can’t hear all of the audio.”
Access the Tools for Creating Accessible Content
- CUNY Microsoft Office 365 for Education
- Hostos Zoom account
- Blackboard Ally – email EdTechSupport@hostos.cuny.edu
- Adobe DC – contact Hostos IT Department
