• Overview
  • UW-Madison Digital Accessibility Requirements
  • Responsibilities for Content Authors
• Reporting an Accessibility Barrier

Overview

The KnowledgeBase Team is committed to providing a seamless and consistent experience for users of all abilities. This includes those who use the KB to create content and manage sites, as well as the countless individuals who access content published to the KB. We strive to consider accessibility and usability at all stages of design and development.

UW-Madison Digital Accessibility Requirements

As a web application provided by UW-Madison, the KB is required to adhere to the UW-Madison Digital Accessibility Policy and is also subject to the U.S. Department of Justice digital accessibility rule. 

As such, the KnowledgeBase service is required to meet, at a minimum, Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA standards. We aim to exceed these standards wherever possible.

An Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR) was completed for the KB in September 2025. To request a copy of the current ACR, please contact kb-team@doit.wisc.edu.

Responsibilities for Content Authors

The responsibility of the KB Team to provide an accessible web application only extends as far as the content and functions built into the application itself. The content that is created by groups using the KB must also be accessible. This includes:

• Published KB documents
• Attachments linked from KB documents, such as PDFs
• News items
• Other custom site content, e.g. site banners and footer text

The creation of accessible content is the responsibility of the groups authoring that content, i.e. the individual KB group administrators and authors.

Resources

• Make It Accessible: KnowledgeBase content accessibility guide (created by the UW-Madison digital accessibility team)
• KB User's Guide - General Info - How to Create Accessible Documents

Reporting an Accessibility Barrier

If you encounter an accessibility barrier, please reach out to us at kb-team@doit.wisc.edu. If possible, please include the following information to help us confirm, document, and correct the barrier:

• A description of the issue, including the expected result and the actual result
• The Operating System, browser, and assistive technology being used when the barrier was encountered (where applicable)
• Steps to reproduce the issue

Confirmed accessibility barriers that fall under WCAG 2.1 AA standards will be added to our product backlog to be addressed.

• Barriers in this category that are reported prior to April 24, 2026 will be addressed prior to that date to the extent possible.
• Barriers reported after April 24, 2026 will be prioritized according to severity and addressed as soon as possible.