by Sylvia Bass | Nov 6, 2025 | Announcements
Compliance Deadline: April 24, 2026
Beginning on April 24, 2026, all university websites are required to be fully accessible in accordance with the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) final ruling on Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Faculty Websites: Built with Accessibility in Mind
Faculty Websites (faculty.sites.uci.edu) provides a hosting platform that is designed to support accessibility standards. However, content creators are responsible for ensuring that the content they publish meets accessibility requirements.
Making Your Site Accessible
While our platform provides the foundation for accessible websites, there are important steps you need to take to ensure your content is compliant:
Key Areas to Address:
- Images: Add descriptive alt text to all images
- Headings: Use proper heading structure (H1, H2, H3, etc.)
- Links: Write clear, descriptive link text
- Color Contrast: Ensure sufficient contrast between text and background
- Documents: Make PDFs and other documents accessible
- Videos: Include captions and transcripts
- Forms: Properly label all form fields
Recommended Themes
Faculty Websites uses CampusPress Flex by default, which is designed with accessibility in mind and meets WCAG standards. The default WordPress themes such as Twenty Twenty-Five, Twenty Twenty-Four, and other recent Twenty-series themes are also built to be accessible and compliant with ADA requirements.
Divi Theme
If you’re using Divi, we recommend enabling the Divi Accessibility Plugin, which was specifically created to enhance Divi’s accessibility features. While Divi can be made accessible with the proper plugin and configuration, CampusPress Flex and the default WordPress themes provide accessible foundations out of the box, which may simplify your compliance efforts.
Resources to Help You
Training Opportunities
Student Affairs IT has organized training sessions to help UC Irvine staff better understand accessibility and prepare for this deadline. The following are websites that guide you through the basics. You can also sign up for a Zoom Workshop, linked from each site. The workshops are engaging and informative. We highly recommend taking them both.
by Sylvia Bass | Aug 8, 2025 | Announcements
Get instant help with your Faculty Website questions, 24/7
We’re excited to announce the launch of Zotline, our new support chatbot built with ZotGPT Creator. Zotline is an intelligent chatbot designed specifically to support the UCI Sites and Faculty Websites communities. Whether you’re building your first website, updating your existing website, or managing multiple sites, Zotline is here to help you navigate the platform with ease.
What is Zotline?
Zotline is an AI-powered support assistant that provides instant answers to your Faculty Website questions. Built with deep knowledge of the platform’s features, best practices, and common challenges, it’s like having a dedicated support specialist available whenever you need help.
Key Features
- 24/7 Availability: Get help anytime, whether you’re working late on a project or need quick assistance during off-hours
- Instant Responses: No more waiting for email replies or support tickets – get answers immediately
- UCI Sites Expertise: Trained specifically on Faculty Websites and UCI Sites functionality, policies, and best practices by UCI Sites administrators
- Step-by-Step Guidance: Receive detailed instructions for complex tasks, from basic page creation to advanced customization
- Multilingual Support: Available to help users in multiple languages.
Getting Started
Using Zotline is easy:
- Find the Chatbot Icon: Look for the chat icon in the bottom right of the screen.
- Ask Your Question: Type your question in natural language – no need for technical jargon
- Get Instant Help: Receive detailed, actionable answers tailored to your specific needs
- Follow Up: Ask clarifying questions or request additional information as needed
- Download Your Conversation: When you’re done, simply click the Download icon to either copy the text or download your conversation as a text file.
Example Questions You Can Ask
- “How do I add a new page to my website?”
- “How do I add a new user?”
- “What’s the best way to embed a video?”
- “How can I make my site more accessible?”
- “I’m getting an error when trying to upload images. What should I do?”
Privacy and Security
Zotline is designed with privacy in mind. Your conversations are used solely to provide support and improve the service. You do not need to log in to use the service. No personal information is gathered or stored.
Feedback Welcome
As we continue to improve Zotline, your feedback is invaluable. Let us know about your experience, suggest new features, or report any issues. We will continue to fine tune our responses. Zotline will continue to improve as new features are added to ZotGPT Creator.
Thank you to the OIT AI Team
Special thanks to the OIT AI Team for making this possible! We’re grateful to UCI’s Office of Information Technology AI team for developing ZotGPT Creator, the powerful foundation that makes Zotline possible. Their innovative work in creating an AI assistant specifically designed for the UCI community has enabled us to provide this specialized support experience for Faculty Website users. The OIT AI team’s dedication to leveraging cutting-edge technology to enhance campus services continues to transform how we support our faculty, staff, and students. Zotline wouldn’t exist without their expertise, vision, and commitment to making AI accessible and useful across UCI.
Ready to try Zotline? Start a conversation today and experience the future of Faculty Websites support!
(Look for the “Need Help? ” Widget in the bottom right corner of the site.)
For complex technical issues or account-specific problems, our human support team is still here to help. Contact us.
by Sylvia Bass | Jan 25, 2025 | Announcements
We are conducting our annual inventory to identify inactive websites on Faculty Websites. This process helps us maintain an efficient and up-to-date platform for our community.
What You Need to Know
- Inactive websites are those that have not been updated in more than 2 years.
- Per our Terms of Use, sites inactive for over 2 years may be archived.
Contacting Site Owners of Inactive Sites
If a site has not been updated in the past 2 years, we will be contacting the site owners to see if they still want to keep the website active. If you regularly update your website, no other action is needed. Your site will be considered “active”.
We will be archiving any remaining inactive sites on or after March 31, 2025. Don’t worry, archived sites can be reactivated at any time upon request.
How to Keep Your Site Active
- Log in to your site regularly and update your content. This can be either by editing existing content and publishing the changes, or creating new content.
Questions
Why do you archive sites?
We want to make sure that the sites we host are still needed. Sites are easy to create, so sometimes people create sites and either never use them or haven’t used them in years. People also leave UCI either because they find a new job or retire. We have been running this service for 14 years. Over that time, many of the original sites have been abandoned. By archiving the inactive sites, we can help make sure the information on the websites stays up to date and relevant. We are thrilled if you want to keep using the service. We will happily keep any site active by request or simply update the content on a regular basis, and it will always stay active.
What if I’m no longer at UCI or I have retired?
Your access to editing the site is provided by your UCInetID. While you are an active employee, you should have access to your site. However, after that time, you will no longer be able to log in to make changes. We can export your site’s content upon request. Learn more about UCInetID Deletion Policies.
Help! I missed the email and my website has been archived.
No need to worry. We can easily unarchive your site and return it to its previous state. Contact us! We’re here to help.
We’re here to help! If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
April Update
We have completed our Annual Inventory of Faculty Websites.
- In late-January, we sent an email out to 466 website owners letting them know that their sites had not been updated in 2 or more years.
- We sent out reminders on March 19th to owners who had not yet updated their websites.
- On April 3, 2025, we archived 168 sites that were still inactive.
If your site was archived, but you want it re-activated, please contact us. We’d be more than happy to restore it to an active status.
by Sylvia Bass | Dec 20, 2024 | Announcements
We will be closed for Winter Break from December 24, 2024 to January 1, 2025. During this time, our Web Services staff will be unavailable to provide support.
If you need technical assistance with your website during the closure, please contact CampusPress directly using one of the following methods:
- Email: contact@campuspress.com
- Use the “Need Help” widget in your WordPress dashboard
We appreciate your understanding and look forward to assisting you when we return in the new year.
Happy holidays from the OIT team!
by Sylvia Bass | Nov 19, 2024 | Announcements
Join the Office of Equality Opportunity and Diversity (OEOD) UCI and Siteimprove on Thursday, December 5, 2024 from 11:00 AM to 11:45 AM to learn more about web accessibility. Siteimprove will be hosting an informative session at UCI focusing on the latest trends in website accessibility. This session will address campuswide accessibility issues identified through manual and automated testing by Siteimprove.
Why Web Accessibility is Important
Web accessibility is crucial, especially in higher education, because it ensures that all students, faculty, and staff, regardless of their abilities, have equal access to digital resources and information. In an academic setting, where learning and engagement heavily rely on digital platforms, accessible websites enable individuals with disabilities to participate fully in educational opportunities, access course materials, and engage with the campus community. By prioritizing web accessibility, institutions not only comply with legal standards but also foster an inclusive environment that values diversity and innovation. This commitment to accessibility empowers all members of the academic community to achieve their full potential and contributes to a more equitable society.
Agenda Highlights
- Resize Text (Level AA): Ensuring that pages are readable and functional when text is enlarged up to 200%. We will discuss both 200% browser zoom and text resize.
- Reflow (Level AA): Page content should reflow within a viewport of 256 by 320 CSS pixels when users zoom in up to 400%.
- Non-text Contrast (Level AA): User interface controls and essential graphic elements must have a color contrast ratio of 3:1. We will focus on non-text content such as link underline colors and focus indicators.
- Info and Relationships (Level A): Structure, information, and relationships should be programmatically determined or available as text, with a focus on headings.
- Link Purpose (In Context) (Level A): Links should indicate when they open in a new window or tab. We will discuss handling links that open new windows without warning.
- Non-text Content (Level A): All images, CAPTCHA elements, and other non-text content must have accurate text-based alternatives. We will address issues like incorrect conveyance of characters such as arrows for screen-reader users.
- Screen Reader Demonstration: A thorough demonstration using JAWS and/or NVDA on desktop will be provided.
