**Registration Window: December 17, 2025 - March 22, 2026**

Timeframe to complete course/Access to course materials: Access to course materials is January 5, 2026 - April 5, 2026.

Make your digital content accessible and usable for a wider range of audiences. The University of Maine System’s Accessible Digital Content Level 1 is a 10-hour, self-paced course that teaches the foundations of digital accessibility and practical techniques for documents, webpages, and media. By the end of the course, you’ll be equipped with the tools and best practices needed to audit, test, and create digital materials that align with current web accessibility standards and are usable and meaningful for all audiences. Successful completion of this course earns the Accessible Digital Content Level 1 badge, recognizing your knowledge and commitment to accessible digital design.

Learning Objectives 

• articulate organizational, ethical, and legal motivations for complying with accessibility standards
• identify types of disabilities and assistive technologies, and recognize how people with disabilities use them to access digital content
• explain the moral importance of making digital content inclusive and accessible to all individuals
• describe the purpose and structure of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), including their foundational components and relevance to current law
• recognize best practices in accessible digital design, including alternative text, color contrast, descriptive links, captions, plain language, and structured headings
• identify accessibility requirements for video and audio content
• identify tools and techniques used to test digital content for accessibility and recognize strategies for remediating issues

Who Should Attend? 

This course is for anyone who creates, updates, or posts digital content, including webpages, digital documents, videos, podcasts, online course material, social media posts, and more. This does not cover theme design, back-end website development, or application programming, and therefore is not intended for website or application developers or designers working at the platform or code level.

Additional Information

Accessible Digital Content Level 1: Introduction and Foundation is the first level of the University of Maine System (UMS) Accessible Digital Content Micro-Credential, a three-level credential to give you a strong foundation in digital content accessibility. Students who earn the Accessible Digital Content Level 1 badge may continue on to Accessible Digital Content Level 2: Training and Practice.

Contact Hours / CEUs

10 / 1.0

Facilitators

Rachel Church

Jessica Ludders

Questions? Contact usmpdp@maine.edu or call 207-233-3002