With diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) becoming a relevant issue on campuses across the country, colleges and universities are looking for more ways to be more welcoming to students of diverse ethnicities, social backgrounds, and gender orientations. In addition, student bodies, faculty, and administrators are starting to demand more accommodations for individuals with disabilities.

These accommodations go beyond physical infrastructure such as curb cuts, ramps, or elevators. With the emergence of distance learning and online courses, web accessibility has also become a priority. Let’s discuss the basics of web accessibility and how one can build a culture of web accessibility on and off campus.

What is web accessibility?

The phrase “web accessibility” refers to best practices that make using the internet easier and more convenient for individuals with disabilities. These individuals might have visual impairments, issues with hearing, injuries or conditions that limit their mobility, or cognitive impairments such as dyslexia.

Individuals with these disabilities need special accommodations to help them perform typical tasks online, such as reading articles, watching videos, filling out forms, or buying items. In the academic setting, students with disabilities need help perceiving and understanding course material and interacting with professors, fellow students, and administrators.

The most commonly accepted web accessibility standard is the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), most recently updated in 2023. The WCAG contains success criteria that determine the accessibility of a website, app, or other digital content. For example, the WCAG recommends a color contrast ratio of 4.5:1 between text content and its background. It also requires that alt text be added to images. These requirements seek to make websites more readable, usable, and compatible with assistive technologies like screen readers. The WCAG is also the reference for most accessibility laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

How to build a culture of web accessibility within an institution

Making an institution more accessible doesn’t take place overnight. It requires careful planning, execution, and follow-through. More importantly, though, it needs empathy for individuals with disabilities and the willingness to engage with people of all backgrounds. Here are a few steps your college can take to build a culture of accessibility.

Identify key accessibility stakeholders

No matter how well-intentioned your initiatives are, they are bound to flounder if they don’t consider the people who need accessibility most – individuals with physical disabilities, students and faculty with cognitive impairments, the elderly, and other users who might require accommodations. Before you embark on anything, you need to involve these stakeholders in your planning as they are in the best position to identify areas for improvement in existing digital infrastructure and content. You must also involve your institution’s legal and compliance teams, instructional designers, and web developers to address regulatory requirements, particularly under the ADA.

Conduct periodic accessibility assessments

Performing accessibility audits is the most efficient way of determining your institution’s digital accessibility posture. These assessments involve multiple testing methods. First, automated testing uses an accessibility scanner that identifies potential WCAG violations at the code level. Second, manual testing confirms that certain accessibility elements, such as alt text, are present and accurate. Third, functional testing involves individuals who try to browse a website or perform online tasks such as filling up a form using only a keyboard or screen reader. These assessments will give you a good idea of the items to remediate or improve.

Educate staff and students about digital accessibility

Fostering a culture of accessibility is not just the responsibility of web developers or the legal department; it’s everyone’s responsibility! Conducting regular educational sessions about digital accessibility will raise awareness of the need for more inclusive digital spaces. These sessions will also encourage the community to speak up whenever they encounter learning content or websites that are not accessible. These are values that your students will carry with them long after they have graduated and joined the workforce.

Web accessibility: Opening doors to everyone

A university community is more than just faculty, staff, students, and alumni. It also includes other sectors outside the campus, including informal learners and other individuals who can benefit from the university’s learning material and other projects. When building websites and learning content, always consider digital accessibility as a key guiding principle. Making your digital presence accessible will not just benefit individuals with disabilities; it will also make learning and making an impact on the world easier and more convenient for everyone.

One of the vital contrasts between ERP fulfillment software and a cloud-based WMS system is in the setup and onboarding. Unfortunately, most businesses don’t understand this until it’s past the point of no return and they encounter one of these problems:

• Order volumes are too high handle
• A new location(s), online business spot, or channel, for instance, a D2C is required
• Too much time and effort is spent onboarding new and season workers
• High turnover and shipping costs that you can’t anticipate or deal with

At this point, most companies will see that the time, cost, and standards for present day fulfillment is past the extent of ERP capacities.

ERP inventory fulfillment 

Inventory fulfillment solutions in an ERP are supposed to execute “out of the box”. So, what are you really getting?

Is it built as a single item suite? Is it a basis of tested, flexible inventory management functions that work and can adjust to your requirements?

Each ERP module requires a lot of intricacy, time, and cost to execute: commonly  half a year or more. Modules are additionally not compatible with outsider applications.

The idea is that the ERP applications will talk with other business applications and work flawlessly, and that every one of the expenses related with that cycle will be covered (Fair warning: it will not be).

What is “free” in ERP software?

Out-of-the-box  ERP fulfillment software could work for more modest outfits where the volume of orders is low, there are less intricacies in their supply chains, or they have heaps of time/IT to commit.

If that’s the case, you might see that you don’t need to bother with all the latest features. An ERP’s fulfillment capacities should serve your needs.

One should look further into the contract terms to see all of the extra requirements and costs, as well as potential changes, to decide if the module is truly “free”.

Does your ERP give:

• Business system: responsive or proactive? Short or long term?
• Design focus: Business-based or warehouse driven?
• Scaling: changes require custom work with the seller (or their trained professionals)? Do they offer pre-made APIs for outsider applications?
• Go-Live time: 6+ months or 90 days?
• Onboarding and support: rollout + hand-over only, or a dedicated group zeroed in on your objectives through all customizations, changes, and updates?

ERP merchants seldom update their items more than every 2+ years. They couldn’t really expect (and work in) all the support you’ll need until you are prepared for the following product cycle.

Configuration changes can be incredibly convoluted, so they may be passed over interminably. Meanwhile, you can expect stability issues, squandered business prospects, and a high risk of the system going down — probably at the most terrible time.

Consider the sheer amount of progress we’ve seen in recent years alone! With the huge leap in online business up 14.2% for 2021, this improvement is a great example of why you want a reliable solution that adjusts and changes quickly, easily.

WMS, immediate functionality

In the event that your developing business needs complete understanding of each hidden cost, time to value, flexibility, and a long term cost estimate, a cutting-edge WMS that works with your ERP is the most ideal decision.

These frameworks depend on adaptability and flexibility starting from the earliest stage, versus a solitary item suite that bunches you into the normal necessities of associations “like” yours.

Long term value as a key consideration during the plan cycle is a hallmark of a great WMS solution. An enormous measure of skill goes into the plan to guarantee that the WMS can be:

• Easy to learn during rollout as well as future updates, with new-client onboarding in less than 15 minutes
• Give unwavering quality, interoperability, and security
• Built to your particular objectives, as opposed to getting your business into the dealer’s one-size-fits-all capacities
• Zeroed in on results, market responsiveness, tireless improvement, and scaling without additional expenses

What to search for in a WMS solution

A nice sign that the item is genuinely utilitarian “off the rack” is if the provider can guarantee every one of the accompanying in your WMS framework:

• A point by point plan that models your business objectives and assumptions
• Understanding of interoperability with existing applications, including your ERP and outside applications
• KPIs in light of your clients’ unique requirements
• Admittance to in-house support and tech partnerships
• Success stories and use cases appropriate to your business
• Large return on investment with price forecasting, including a reasonable upkeep, support, and update process, with no secret charges
• Names and contact data for the dedicated onboarding team, who will work with your team

Right when you’re ready to really begin your WMS solution search, here’s a free RFP template on what to ask in your evaluation.