With the recent introduction of the DubBot service, SMU websites have already seen marked improvements in accessibility, content quality, and content accuracy. Not only that, DubBot also helped OIT notify a major vendor of an accessibility issue with one of their products that was quickly resolved for customers worldwide!
DubBot regularly scans or “crawls” SMU websites to check for broken links, spelling mistakes, web standards compliance, and accessibility issues. One recently found issue was within our Panopto platform, our primary means of faculty video creation and storage. The embedded player used on many of our websites and Canvas courses was detected by DubBot as having a possible issue affecting the accessibility of the video content for those using assistive technologies. OIT staff promptly notified Panopto of the possible issue, which was immediately escalated to Panopto’s development team. Panopto now reports that the issue is resolved, resulting in a better product for Panopto users around the globe.
This is just one example of how OIT is making strides in ensuring that our systems and services are accessible to every Mustang, and we won’t be stopping there! If you have questions, concerns, or suggestions regarding IT service accessibility, contact the IT Help Desk or your area’s Academic Technology Service Director.
