University of Massachusetts Amherst - Finding 2

The University of Massachusetts Amherst’s learning management system, Blackboard, is not fully accessible for all students.

Overview

UMass Amherst’s learning management system (LMS), Blackboard, is not fully accessible. We determined that 42 of the Blackboard student features out of the 59 Blackboard student features we tested were not accessible for user accessibility, keyboard accessibility, navigational accessibility, error identification, or color accessibility. Specifically, we determined the following:

User Accessibility

• One student feature restricted the view of the webpage and could not be viewed fully in portrait mode.
• Two student features had text that did not properly resize.
• Thirty-three student features could not be enlarged without issue.

Keyboard Accessibility

• Five student features could not be navigated using a keyboard alone.
• One student feature trapped the focus¹⁵ of keyboard users.
• Two student features did not provide a bypass block¹⁶ as the first focusable element¹⁷ as a way to skip to a page’s main content.

Navigational Accessibility

• Eleven student features had broken links or links that lead to the incorrect location.

Error Identification

• Two student features did not identify user input errors.

Color Accessibility

• One student feature did not have sufficient contrast to convey the required information.

1. The above instances of noncompliance have the following effects on the user:

Broken or Faulty Hyperlinks

• This can limit Blackboard users from having equitable access to critical information and key online services offered on the LMS.
• This can increase the likelihood that users will either access outdated or incorrect information or be directed to webpages that no longer exist.

Missing Search Bars

• This can prevent users from navigating to other relevant information.

Hyperlinks without Identifiable Markers or Sufficient Contrast

• This can negatively impact the user experience by making it difficult to locate other relevant information.

Zoom in to 200% and 400%

• Users will be unable to read Blackboard content.

Bypass Blocks

• Users will be unable to navigate to the important main content of a page quickly.

Portrait Mode

• Users will be unable to interact with their course content on their mobile devices effectively.

Keyboard Accessibility/Navigation

• Users who have mobility issues will be unable to access certain features and content.

Titles

• Users with screen readers will lose comprehension of the feature.

Language Attributes

• The lack of language attributes will prevent screen readers from reading the content to users.

Error Identification

• If users are not informed of errors when making inputs on data entry, it means that users will be unable to identify their errors and retrieve the content they need.

Authoritative Guidance

The Web Accessibility Initiative’s WCAG 2.1 states,

Success Criterion 1.3.4 Orientation (Level AA)

Content does not restrict its view and operation to a single display orientation, such as portrait or landscape, unless a specific display orientation is essential.

Success Criterion 1.4.10 Reflow (Level AA)

Content can be presented without loss of information or functionality, and without requiring scrolling in two dimensions for:

• Vertical scrolling content at a width equivalent to 320 CSS pixels;
• Horizontal scrolling content at a height equivalent to 256 CSS pixels.

Except for parts of the content which require two-dimensional layout for usage or meaning.

Success Criterion 1.4.4 Resize Text (Level AA)

Except for captions and images of text, text can be resized without assistive technology up to 200 percent without loss of content or functionality.

Success Criterion 2.1.1 Keyboard (Level A)

All functionality of the content is operable through a keyboard interface without requiring specific timings for individual keystrokes, except where the underlying function requires input that depends on the path of the user’s movement and not just the endpoints.

Success Criterion 2.1.2 No Keyboard Trap (Level A)

If keyboard focus can be moved to a component of the page using a keyboard interface, then focus can be moved away from that component using only a keyboard interface, and, if it requires more than unmodified arrow or tab keys or other standard exit methods, the user is advised of the method for moving focus away.

Success Criterion 2.4.1 Bypass Blocks (Level A)

A mechanism is available to bypass blocks of content that are repeated on multiple Web pages.

Success Criterion 2.4.5 Multiple Ways (Level AA)

More than one way is available to locate a Web page within a set of Web pages except where the Web Page is the result of, or a step in, a process.

Success Criterion 3.3.1 Error Identification (Level A)

If an input error is automatically detected, the item that is in error is identified and the error is described to the user in text.

Success Criterion 1.4.1 Use of Color (Level A)

Color is not used as the only visual means of conveying information, indicating an action, prompting a response, or distinguishing a visual element.

Reasons for Issue

UMass management shared with us that they expected Blackboard to be largely WCAG accessible due to the marketing of the product and availability and review of the Voluntary Product Accessibility Template.¹⁸ UMass management expressed that UMass Amherst was in the process of changing its LMS from Blackboard to Canvas, with accessibility being one of the factors leading to the change.

Recommendation

UMass Amherst should review the accessibility statements and reports of its LMS vendor to determine instances of WCAG noncompliance. UMass management should work with its LMS vendor to ensure that any potential instances of WCAG noncompliance are resolved.

Auditee’s Response

The University understands the importance of utilizing an LMS that is accessible. As noted in the report, the campus transition to Canvas, a new LMS vendor, was underway in the spring of 2023 before the start of this audit. Blackboard’s accessibility issues were one of the factors that led the campus to transition from Blackboard to Canvas. The University did monitor Blackboard’s accessibility statements during the audit scope period. It will continue to review Canvas’ accessibility statements and reports to determine if it meets accessibility requirements since the vendor is responsible for maintaining their LMS’ accessibility.

Auditor’s Reply

The university states in its response that it monitored Blackboard’s accessibility statements during the audit scope period. However, as part of our audit testing, we determined that 42 of the Blackboard student features out of the 59 Blackboard student features we tested (71%) were not accessible for user accessibility, keyboard accessibility, navigational accessibility, error identification, or color accessibility. Based on our audit results, and even with a new vendor for this service (Canvas), we recommend that UMass Amherst implement our recommendation in order to be in compliance with WCAG.

15.   This is a situation where the user is locked into using only a limited section of the webpage until the page is either refreshed or the computer is restarted.

16.   This is a link that brings users to the main content of a webpage.

17.   This is the first element a user will be brought to on a webpage when navigating with a keyboard.

18.   The Voluntary Product Accessibility Template is a report prepared by the vendor that describes how well the product conforms to accessibility standards.

Date published:	December 30, 2024