Inside the Wonderful World of Digital Accessibility

Noticing what others miss

Long before digital accessibility guidelines became part of conversations at UVA, Martina Svyantek was paying attention to what worked and what didn’t. As a high schooler experimenting with a MySpace profile and coding pages on About.com, she noticed design choices that made content harder to read or use. Thinking back on color combinations like lime green text on a red background, she laughs, “There was nothing stopping you except something in the back of your head saying, ‘Don’t do it.’”

That instinct never really left. “Inaccessibility was like this Pringles can,” she says. “Once I started noticing, I could not stop. It’s never out of my mind anymore.” 

“My path has been a reflection of all of the little things that build up, and all the different ways that accessibility isn’t discussed, isn’t looked at, and isn’t included,” says Svyantek, reflecting on what led her to her current role as Digital Accessibility Specialist, UVA Library.

From observation to standards

Today, those early observations are backed by clear standards around color usage, contrast, keyboard navigation, webpage structure, and other features that shape how people interact with digital environments. Across UVA, teams and departments are applying these standards as part of the University’s effort to meet federal Title II digital accessibility requirements by May 2027.

Svyantek is quick to point out that the deadline exists for a reason. The Title II regulations and the accompanying timeline, she explains, are in place because so much has been built without accessibility in mind. The ruling, she notes, “is a reflection of the fact that so many folks have been left out of these processes.”

Putting a structural lens on accessibility

With a background in civil engineering, Svyantek views digital accessibility through a specific lens. “I really like focusing on inaccessibility as opposed to accommodations, because it frames it as a structural issue as opposed to an individual issue.”

That framing applies whether the barrier is physical or digital. Svyantek points to a familiar scenario: your hands are full, you are trying to get through a door, and the automatic button does not work. Fixing it is not just about one person’s experience, “because I’m not the only person who uses that door. And even if I was, the door should work. The same thing is true with websites.”

As part of her individualized Ph.D. program exploring disability policy in higher education, Svyantek was asked to think critically about where she wanted her career to go. One option was working in a disability services office, which she did after graduation at UVA’s Student Disability Access Center, focusing on assistive technology and aspects of digital accessibility. But the larger vision she described was one with broader reach and more opportunities to address access issues systemically.

That systemic change requires a cultural shift. “It’s not about reactive accommodations, which is where a lot of disability services office are forced to work within. It’s about being proactive; assessing the inaccessibility of the system so that it can be addressed and benefit everyone.”

Building the boat while moving forward

That vision now plays out across UVA’s libraries. Positioned at the intersection of students, faculty, staff, content, and technology, UVA's libraries are a natural hub for digital accessibility efforts. “I get to build the boat while driving it after it’s left the dock,” she says, describing the challenge of connecting people across units, aligning work already underway, and keeping accessibility efforts moving forward together rather than in isolation.

Svyantek also acknowledges something many across UVA have experienced as accessibility work ramps up: it is not quick or linear. “The fact is that this work is never fast-moving. It is never fast paced. It is always slow moving and iterative,” she says. Digital accessibility is not a project with an endpoint. It requires ongoing adjustments to workflows and habits. “If you remediate everything and then don’t continue to incorporate that into your workflow, you’re going to hit those same walls at the end of every single project.” This continued work is where Svyantek feels her role is vital as she supports colleagues adapting their workflows with accessibility in mind. This shift is where the cultural and systemic change happens. 

Beyond compliance

As UVA continues working toward federal digital accessibility deadlines, Svyantek is clear about what those federal and state benchmarks truly represent. “Compliance is the baseline, and we can do better than the baseline,” she said. “We can move forward and position UVA as a champion of digital accessibility and as an institution that others can look up to. So, we’re not waiting for someone else to show us the way. We’re going to lead on how this can be done.”

Interested in becoming actively involved in digital accessibility efforts at UVA? Find links to certification programs, national conferences, and online education opportunities on the UVA Digital Accessibility website.