GOALS Benchmarking and Planning Tool

Web accessibility must be a system-wide endeavor. The interconnected nature of the web requires that an individual navigate around a site, not a page. Thus, the most accessible web page in the world is still inaccessible if a user with disabilities must navigate inaccessible pages to get to it. With this in mind, Project GOALS (Gaining Online Accessible Learning through Self-Study) has developed a web-based Benchmarking and Planning Tool that capitalizes on institutional opportunities for self-study and continuous improvement.

This web-based tool can help an institution engage in and evaluate its performance on system-wide web accessibility efforts, and assist in creation of a plan for improvement. It uses the Recommended Practice Indicators for Institutional Web Accessibility as a foundation for guiding the institution’s appointed team through a process of self-study via a series of questions. These questions are then used to create a snapshot of the institution’s web accessibility.

The tool also assists the team in creating a customized action plan for improving accessibility, providing resources, generating reports, and allowing institutions to compare the results of their current cycle of assessment with previous cycles and similar aggregates of institutional types (e.g. community colleges).

This tool offers a variety of features that help a team to collaborate in the manner that best suits their needs, including the ability to send email messages to team members within the tool and receive regular status updates.

If you would like additional information about the tool or your institution would be interested in using the tool, please contact us.