Maine Media is committed to providing equal opportunities for all students regardless of disability.

While accessibility may come from individualized accommodations, Maine Media should be an already accessible environment, both physically and intellectually. In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and its amendments and Section 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act, Maine Media provides reasonable accommodations to all students with documented disabilities.

Report an Accessibility Barrier

We strive to create an accessible environment in which our students and staff may thrive. Should you encounter any physical, electronic, or programmatic barriers, please report them via our accessibility barrier page.

How to Request Accommodations

Current and potential students wishing to discuss their specific needs can learn more about how to request accommodations.

ADA Procedures and Policies at Maine Media

To learn more about our policies and procedures, please visit the ADA Procedures and Policies page.

Accessibility Standards

One aspect of a commitment to accessibility is providing students, faculty, and staff with tools for creating accessible documents and media. With these tools, maintaining accessibility becomes a peer-to-peer responsibility as well as an institutional responsibility. Please utilize the following tools to ensure all Maine Media programming is held to accessibility standards. If you have any questions, please contact [email protected].

Documents and media, both academic and non-academic, must be accessible to screen reading and other assistive technologies. This includes, but is not limited to:

  • PDFs
  • Microsoft Office documents
  • Emails/Announcements
  • eBooks
  • Digital Flyers & Brochures
  • Videos
  • Audio (such as podcasts)
  • any content distributed through Google Drive or Maine Media Website  
  • Other EIT content (such as the use of online textbooks, online platforms, and software in classroom instruction) often requires in-depth analysis to determine accessibility.

Accessibility aids include, but are not limited to:

  • Subtitles
  • Online and paper copies in legible text
  • Ability to increase audio volume as needed
  • Ability to increase text size as needed
  • Image descriptions 
  • Keyboard navigation (in the case of websites)
  • Screen Reading accessibility (this can be tested ahead of time and is encouraged to be prior to distribution of materials)
  • Adjusted time constraints as needed
  • Alternative audio and visual content (ex. transcripts)
  • Warning of or avoiding seizure triggering flashing (flashing more than 3x per second)

Certain text requirements exist in order to aid with legibility. These include, but are not limited to:

  • Fonts must be legible and must be at least size 16px. Legible fonts include Tahoma, Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, and Times New Roman.
  • Color is not used as the only visual means of conveying information, indicating an action, prompting a response, or distinguishing a visual element. (for example, embedded hyperlinks may be blue but they should also be underlined to accommodate those who may not see the blue). 
  • The visual presentation of text and images of text has a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1, except for the following:
    • Except for captions and images of text, text can be resized without assistive technology up to 200 percent without loss of content or functionality.
    • Images of text are only used for pure decoration or where a particular presentation of the text is essential to the information being conveyed.

Further detail regarding web standards may be found at https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG21/quickref/

If you are a faculty member with a student who has presented an accommodation letter, please contact the Student Affairs Coordinator with any questions regarding such accommodations.

Standards for specific media and documents can be found using the following link: https://www.maine.gov/accessibility/guide/index.html. To navigate this webpage, click on the type of communication you are utilizing (media, document, meetings, etc).

In addition to the tools listed above, Maine Media encourages the use of Universal Design for Learning. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is an educational framework that gives all individuals equal opportunities to learn. UDL provides a guide for creating instructional goals, methods, materials, and assessments that work for everyone–not a single, one-size-fits-all solution but rather flexible approaches that can be customized and adjusted for individual needs. Faculty, students, and staff are encouraged to explore the UDL guides to see how they may implement a more dynamic accessible learning model into their time at Maine Media. 

Additional questions and concerns can be directed to the Student Affairs Coordinator: [email protected]