Privacy & Accessibility

Creating an effective digital learning environment involves more than choosing the right technology. Faculty also have a responsibility to protect student privacy and ensure that course materials are accessible to all learners.

This page provides an overview of privacy considerations and accessibility best practices, along with links to detailed Digital Learning resources.

Student Privacy

FERPA and Student Records

Faculty should handle student information in accordance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Student grades, education records, and personally identifiable information should only be shared when there is a legitimate educational purpose.

Topics include:

• Student records and grades
• Class rosters
• Student work
• Screen sharing during Zoom sessions
• Recording live classes
• Third-party educational technologies
• AI and student data

For more questions on FERPA, visit the FERPA FAQ webpage.

Using AI and Third-Party Tools Responsibly

Before uploading course materials or student information into AI or third-party applications, consider:

• Does the tool collect student data?
• Does it comply with university privacy expectations?
• Are you uploading personally identifiable information?
• Is student consent required?

When in doubt, consult ITS before using a new instructional technology.

Accessibility

Accessible course materials improve the learning experience for everyone by making content easier to read, navigate, and understand.

Digital Learning recommends considering accessibility whenever you create:

Digital Learning provides guides and checklists for creating accessible instructional materials, including:

• Accessible Microsoft Word documents
• Accessible PowerPoint presentations
• ADA compliance overview
• Accessibility checklists
• Course material design tips

Visit Tips & Tricks to Explore Accessibility Resources

Color Accessibility: Why It Matters and What the Rules Require

Color is one of the most frequently overlooked accessibility barriers in course materials. Slide decks, infographics, charts, rubrics, and PDFs often rely on color to convey meaning, highlighting key terms in red, using green/red to indicate pass/fail, or distinguishing data in a chart by color alone, without any secondary visual cue for students who cannot perceive those color differences.

Approximately 8% of men and 0.5% of women have some form of color vision deficiency (color blindness), and additional students may have low vision or use screens in high-glare environments where color contrast becomes critical. For these students, content that depends on color alone is inaccessible regardless of how well it is otherwise designed.

Practical Guidance for Faculty

• Never rely on color alone to convey meaning. If you use red text to mark something important, also bold it, add a symbol, or include a text label. If a chart uses colored bars or lines to distinguish categories, also add labels, patterns, or a data table. Ask yourself: if a student printed this in black-and-white, would they still understand it?
• Check text contrast before publishing. Body text on slides and documents should achieve at least a 4.5:1 contrast ratio. A common failure is gray text on a white background, or white text on a light-colored header bar. The free WebAIM Contrast Checker (webaim.org/resources/contrastchecker) lets you enter any two colors and instantly see whether they pass.
• Check graphic and icon contrast too. Charts, infographics, icons, and diagram borders must achieve at least 3:1 against their background (WCAG 1.4.11). A yellow icon on a white background, or a light-blue chart segment on a white slide, is a common failure.
• Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Adobe Acrobat all include built-in accessibility checkers that flag color contrast failures, use these before exporting or uploading to Canvas. Note that these tools flag problems but do not report the actual contrast ratio; use a dedicated checker to confirm whether a flagged combination passes or fails the 4.5:1 or 3:1 threshold.
• Be cautious with color combinations known to cause problems for color-blind readers: red/green is the most common (affecting the majority of people with color vision deficiency), followed by blue/yellow. Where color must be used in these combinations, always pair it with a second distinguishing cue.

Video Accessibility

Creating accessible multimedia requires additional considerations beyond documents and presentations. Learn more about:

• Closed captions
• Transcripts
• Audio descriptions
• Video accessibility compliance

Visit Video Accessibility

For more information on privacy and accessibility, you are welcome to check out the Teaching Remotely in the Age of AI handbook.  

 Frequently Asked Questions

If you have questions or need assistance, please submit a ticket through the CLU Help Desk at helpdesk@callutheran.edu.