Watermark is committed to building a platform that is accessible to all users. Watermark’s Curriculum Strategy product (Catalog) gives you, the user, direct control over the content, structure, and formatting of your public-facing catalog site; therefore, accessibility is a shared responsibility. Your vigilance in maintaining accessible content is essential for ensuring an inclusive experience for all your end-users.
Watermark's Responsibility
Watermark is responsible for the accessibility of the core platform elements, ensuring that the foundational structure and tools you use to build your site are compliant.
We focus on the following areas:
| Core Structure | Ensuring the underlying code and structure of the platform meet WCAG 2.2 AA standards. |
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| Auditing | Auditing, documenting, and addressing known accessibility issues on our platform. |
| Initial Rollout | Ensuring your site's header, navigation, and footer meet WCAG 2.2 AA standards upon setting up your system with Watermark |
If your catalog site was set up prior to WCAG 2.2 AA standards being adopted, or perhaps an earlier version, it’s possible there may be some compliance issues. Please reach out to accessibility@watermarkinsights.com for inquiries related to the Catalog site accessibility. Furthermore, if your institution's website has recently undergone changes, and you'd like to see those changes reflected on the catalog website, please reach out to your CSM for more information about a catalog website redesign.
Your Responsibility
Your control over your site's content, text, media, and design choices means you have the final and most critical responsibility for the end-user experience. You must be vigilant about the content you publish to maintain an accessible site.
To ensure your Watermark Curriculum Strategy catalog site is accessible, here are some guidelines:
| Catalog Headers, Footers (for admins only) |
Your commitment to accessibility doesn't end after the Watermark Curriculum Strategy catalog is launched. You are responsible for continually verifying that the site meets the WCAG 2.2 AA standard. Furthermore, every update or change must adhere to your institution's specific accessibility policies. |
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| Editing Contents of a Catalog |
The catalog's content editor is the primary tool for content generation. Therefore, users must follow accessibility best practices when adding or updating any material to ensure content is usable by all end-users. Formatting Text and Structure Ensuring Sufficient Color Contrast Adding Alt Text to Images |
What to Do if You Find an Issue
We recommend every institution follow their internal process to verify accessibility on content they create including having systems in place to monitor for changes. See WAI's recommendations on monitoring web content.
If an accessibility issue is related to the content, media, or formatting you have published, you will need to update the content to meet WCAG standards using the guidelines above.
If there is an issue with your header / footer it is recommended that a member of your IT team or your webmaster make these changes as knowledge of HTML is a requirement. The user will also need to have access to the catalog system as an admin, see Catalog Web Template Header Footer Updates.
If you find an element of the core Watermark Curriculum Strategy platform itself that is inaccessible or difficult to use with assistive technology, please contact our support accessibility team accessibility@watermarkinsights.com so we can investigate and address it.