Saemann Student Center with beautiful flowers in foreground

Web Accessibility

Purpose and Scope 

Wartburg College is committed to facilitating access to college instruction, communication, research, and business processes to the broadest possible audience, in accordance with our commitment to college values. This policy is intended to ensure that the content of Wartburg College’s Internet sites and systems are accessible to those whose disability would otherwise prevent them from obtaining access to college websites for legitimate business purposes. It applies to all Wartburg College websites and publicly facing web-based applications used to conduct core college business or academic activities, including websites supported by 3rd party providers who Wartburg College has contracted for the purpose of providing web-based technology. It does not apply to Web pages published by students, employees, or non-college organizations that are hosted by the College but are not used to conduct core College business or academic activities. 

Web pages that conduct core College business and academic activities include those web pages that students, employees, or visitors must access in order to effectively participate in a program, service, or activity offered by the College. Examples of core academic activities include admissions, registration, advising, and academic course work. Examples of core business activities include business services or personnel activities of Human Resources, Business Office, Athletics, or other College services frequently used by employees or visitors. 

This policy is intended to ensure compliance with applicable law and regulation, specifically Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (“Section 504”), 29 U.S.C. § 794, and its implementing regulation at 34 C.F.R. Part 104, and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (“Title II”), 42 U.S.C. § 12131 et seq., and its implementing regulation at 28 C.F.R. Part 35. 

Responsibilities

Title or Role What They are Responsible For 
Chief Information Officer Maintains and enforces web accessibility policy. 
Senior Leadership Team Oversees College compliance with all laws and regulations. Works with the Chief Information Officer to address areas of non-compliance. 
Chief Marketing Officer Acts as the Web Accessibility Coordinator for Wartburg.edu, reviewing new and updated content on Wartburg.edu. Act as the Web Accessibility Coordinator for the College overall, reviewing compliance of both college websites and 3rd party websites provided under contract to the College for access by prospective and current students, alumni, and the general public. 
Sports Information Director Acts as the Web Accessibility Coordinator for go-knights.net, reviewing new and updated content on go-knights.net. Coordinate with the Web Accessibility Coordinator for the College to review compliance of the Athletics website and any related 3rd party websites provided under contract to the Athletics department for access by prospective and current students, alumni, and the general public. 
Web Team Provide underlying technology and capabilities for maintaining the website in accordance with this policy. 
Web Content Owners Provide content updates and feedback as required to support the Accessibility program of the College. 
3rd Party Providers Provide solutions and content that meet WCAG 2.0 Accessibility guidelines. 

Policy

All College web pages created or updated after October 1, 2025 must be in compliance to the maximum extent possible with the technical guidelines set forth in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (WCAG 2.0) Level AA published by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and the Web Accessibility Initiative Accessible Rich Internet Applications Suite (WAI-ARIA) 1.0 techniques for web content, or other standard or combination of standards that will render the online content accessible unless granted an exception as noted below. 

New and redesigned web pages on Wartburg.edu and go-knights.net will be reviewed by the Chief Marketing Officer and Sports Information Director, respectively, for compliance with WCAG 2.0 and WAI-ARIA 1.0 prior to publication. New or renewal 3rd party contracts for web pages and/or applications will be reviewed by Senior Leadership Team and Strategic Marketing & Communications to verify that the contracts contain language that the 3rd party provider will keep the contracted web pages and/or applications in compliance with WCAG 2.0 and WAI-ARIA 1.0. Once verified, Senior Leadership Team will authorize execution of the approved contract. 

Content owners seeking an exception to this policy must submit a written request to the Senior Leadership Team and Chief Marketing Officer, detailing why compliance is not feasible and how the College will make information from the excepted Web pages or applications available to individuals with a disability in an equally effective manner. 

The Chief Information Officer will conduct an annual internal review of this policy. The Chief Marketing Officer will conduct an annual internal review of Wartburg.edu content for compliance with this policy and provide a written report to the Senior Leadership Team that identifies any areas of non-compliance and the remediation plan. The Sports Information Director will conduct an annual internal review of go-knights.net content for compliance with this policy and provide a written report to the Senior Leadership Team that identifies any areas of non-compliance and the remediation plan. This policy will be updated as required to reflect current industry standards and applicable law and regulation governing website accessibility. 

Complaints regarding accessibility of College Web pages and applications should be directed to Senior Leadership Team. The Senior Leadership Team is responsible for investigating complaints of non-compliance and for referring non-compliant webpages on Wartburg.edu to the Chief Marketing Officer for remediation and non-compliant webpages on go-knights.net to the Sports Information Director for remediation. Remediation efforts may include removal of the site or application from the Internet until the Web site or application is in compliance with this policy. 

References 

This section contains any 3rd party standards, guidelines, or other policies referenced by this policy. 

1. Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0, World Wide Web Consortium: https://www.w3.org/TR/2008/REC-WCAG20-20081211/ 

2. Web Accessibility Initiative Accessible Rich Internet Applications Suite (WAI-ARIA) 1.0, https://www.w3.org/TR/wai-aria/ 

3. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (“Section 504”), 29 U.S.C. § 794, 

4. 34 C.F.R. Part 104 

5. Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (“Title II”), 42 U.S.C. § 12131 

6. 28 C.F.R. Part 35