UDTS and Digital Accessibility

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UDTS and Accessibility

By April 26, 2027, all public entities, including institutions of higher education, must ensure all their websites and mobile apps comply with ADA Title II and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA – making digital content accessible for everyone, including people with disabilities.

The Assistive Technology Initiative (ATI) created the Digital Content Accessibility Action Plan (DCAAP) to help members of George Mason’s community evaluate and improve our digital assets.

Since January 2013, all theses and dissertations written by Master’s and Doctoral students at George Mason University have been held in our Institutional Repository, MARS (Mason Archival Repository Service; mars.gmu.edu). Because these items are digital content, they fall under the ADA Title II requirements, and UDTS has been working with our colleagues at ATI to make adjustments to our templates to ensure adherence to accessibility requirements.

Students who are graduating in the Fall 2026 Semester have a choice: they may use the existing templates, or they may use the new Accessible templates, which will be added to our website no later than Wednesday, September 2.

  • During the Fall 2026 Semester, all students who use the new Accessible template will receive priority status for both Format Reviews and Final Submission processing.
  • Note: during the Fall 2026 Semester, whichever template (i.e., either the existing template or the new Accessible template, which will be added by September 2) you use when you send your document for the first round of the Format Review is the template you must use throughout the process, through Final Submission. If you are using the Accessible template in the first round of the Format Review, you may not change to the existing template for the second round (or vice versa).

All students graduating in the Spring 2027 Semester or later are required to use the new Accessible templates, which we will be adding to our website no later than Wednesday, September 2.

To assist our students and faculty, we have the following resources and plans:

  • We will be sharing further information via email with all Colleges, Schools, and departments within the Mason system by Wednesday, September 2.
  • Along with Korey Singleton, the Deputy ADA Coordinator for Accessibility and ATI Manager, we will be visiting the meetings of the Graduate Program Directors and Coordinators on September 11 and the Graduate Council on September 16 to give presentations on our efforts.
  • We will be uploading the new Accessible templates in both Microsoft Word and LaTeX to our website no later than Wednesday, September 2. Currently, our existing Word and LaTeX templates are on that site. The new Accessible templates will be added very soon.
  • In addition to our Process and Introduction to the Word Template sessions, we have added informational sessions about the coming Accessibility changes. You can learn more and sign up for those sessions through this site.
  • You can meet with us to learn more about the templates.
    • For help with the new Accessible Word template:
      • UDTS Coordinator Sally R. Evans offers online sessions. You can view her availability and schedule a meeting through her LibCal Scheduler.
      • UDTS Staff Member Hannah M. Thompson offers both online and in-person sessions. You can view her availability and schedule a meeting through her LibCal Scheduler.
    • We will be offering instructional and help sessions for the LaTeX template soon.