Accessibility remediation can feel overwhelming when a department has years of documents, webpages, presentations, forms, videos, and other digital content.

The goal is not to fix everything at once.

Instead, start by identifying what you have, determining what is still needed, and prioritizing the content that has the greatest impact. This approach also aligns with GCCCD's broader strategy of separating legacy-content remediation from expectations for creating accessible new content.

Step 0: Document Your Process

Before beginning your inventory, create a spreadsheet or document to track your progress through Steps 1–6. Choose something you can easily update, revisit, and share with your team.

Spreadsheets are particularly useful because you can organize information into columns, assign responsibilities, track progress, and include links to digital resources.

Step 1: Identify What You Create, Manage, or Share

Start by looking across the digital content your department is responsible for. Your inventory might include:

• Word documents
• PDFs
• PowerPoint presentations
• Excel spreadsheets
• Forms
• Webpages and web content
• Canvas or other instructional materials
• Emails and newsletters
• Flyers and digital communications
• Images
• Videos and audio
• Other frequently shared digital resources

You do not necessarily need to inventory every file stored on every drive. Start with the materials your department currently uses, distributes, maintains, or makes available to others.

Step 2: Capture the Basics

For each item, record enough information to understand what it is and how it is used.

• Item: What is the document, webpage, course material, form, video, or communication?
• Owner: Who creates, maintains, or is responsible for it?
• Location: Where does it live or where is it shared? Include a link when available.
• Audience: Who needs to access it? Students, employees, or the public?
• Frequency: How often is it accessed, distributed, reused, or updated?

Step 3: Ask: Do We Still Need It?

Before remediating something, determine whether it should continue to exist. Ask:

• Is this content still current?
• Is it still being used?
• Is there a newer version somewhere else?
• Is it duplicated?
• Does it still serve an institutional purpose?

If the content is no longer needed, remediation may not be the best use of your time.

Consider archiving or removing outdated, duplicate, or unnecessary content rather than spending resources remediating it. Before doing so, confirm that the content is no longer needed for current services, institutional requirements, or applicable records-retention obligations.

Step 4: Prioritize by Impact

For content that remains necessary, consider who needs it, how important it is, and how often it is used.

Prioritize

Content should generally move higher on your remediation list when it is:

• Student-facing
• Public-facing
• Frequently accessed or distributed
• Required to complete an important task
• Connected to essential student services
• Necessary for instruction
• Reused regularly
• A template that will continue generating new content
• Known to present an accessibility barrier that prevents someone from accessing information or services

Schedule for Later Review

Content may be a lower priority for proactive remediation when it is:

• Rarely accessed
• Used by a very small audience
• Near the end of its useful life
• Scheduled to be replaced
• Duplicated elsewhere
• No longer actively distributed

Important: Lower priority does not mean exempt from accessibility requirements. If someone needs an inaccessible resource to participate in a program, service, or activity, their access needs must be addressed promptly. Prioritization should also account for applicable compliance deadlines.

The Access GCCCD inventory approach starts with high-impact and student-facing materials rather than treating every legacy file as equally urgent.

Step 5: Decide What Happens Next

Once you understand the content and its priority, assign an action:

• Keep and maintain: The content is already accessible. Continue reviewing and maintaining its accessibility as needed.
• Fix: The content is important and can reasonably be remediated.
• Replace or recreate: The content is important, but creating a new accessible version is more practical than repairing the existing version.
• Archive or remove: The content is outdated, duplicated, or no longer necessary, and removal is consistent with applicable institutional policies and retention requirements.
• Refer for support: The content is important but requires specialized accessibility or technical assistance.

For example, before spending time remediating an existing PDF, consider whether the information could be presented more effectively as an accessible webpage or online form.

Step 6: Turn Your Inventory Into a Work Plan

Your inventory should ultimately answer four questions:

• What needs attention?
• What should happen to it?
• Who owns the work?
• What should happen first?

Using the document or spreadsheet you created in Step 0, assign ownership, identify any needed training or tools, establish realistic priorities, and set target completion and review dates.

Accessibility is a shared responsibility, but that does not mean every employee needs to become an accessibility remediation expert. Content-producing areas can remain responsible for their materials while receiving centralized standards, training, templates, tools, and specialized remediation support as needed.

Start Small

You don't need to inventory an entire college at once.

Choose one department or one type of content and identify 10–20 high-use items.

For each item:

1. Inventory it.
2. Determine whether it is still needed.
3. Prioritize it.
4. Assign an action.
5. Identify an owner.
6. Set a target completion or review date.

Then use what you learn to expand the process.

Remember: Inventory Before You Remediate

The goal isn't simply to find inaccessible content. The goal is to make informed decisions about what to fix first, what can wait, what to replace, and what no longer needs to exist.

This supports the Accessibility Capability Maturity Model (ACMM) emphasis on establishing sustainable processes to evaluate, prioritize, remediate, and replace existing digital materials.

Accessibility is not a project to complete. It is a culture to cultivate.