SYLB 101: Syllabus Template (Heading 1 style)

This syllabus template contains the minimum syllabus elements required at West Virginia University. It has also been created with several accessibility and readability features, including headings, logical document structure, and appropriate color contrast. Accessibility can change as you add content and make changes, so use the Check Accessibility option on the Review tab to identify and fix any errors before you share this document with your students.

Instructor Information (Heading 2 style)

Name: Enter instructor name

Email: Enter instructor WVU email

Office Hours: Provide office hours

If you add a photo or a map to your office, you can right-click (or control-click on MacOS) on the image to view and edit descriptive alternative text (alt text). You can alternatively select the image and navigate to the Format tab to edit alt text.

Alt text should be informative and does not need to include words like photo or image, as assistive technology will indicate it’s an image. If the image is a photo of the instructor, simply noting the instructor’s name is sufficient alt text unless there is something more about the image it is important to share.

Learn About Document Structure (Heading 3 style)

The terms “Heading 1, Heading 2, Heading 3” are calling your attention to specific tags that can be used to properly structure a document. Document structure helps users skip to sections of the document that they need; proper tagging of that structure as you create your document allows users of assistive technology to do the same thing. Heading 1 is for the document’s title and should only be used once. Heading 2 is for the main sections, Heading 3 for sections within a Heading 2 section, and so on.

Heading 4

Heading 5

Heading 6

Nesting beyond Heading 6 isn’t recommended, as some assistive devices won’t recognize further headings. Information in the actual document header is also unlikely to be recognized. Please remove the prior references to the heading level before sharing this document with students.

Note: Styles for the headings above and other options like this Star City blue box can be accessed in the Styles pane on the Home tab. The styles will still be available even after you delete this explanatory text. This is not a “text box” because screen readers often skip them. It is instead a styled paragraph. Using the word “Note” at the beginning alerts users who don’t see the formatting that this paragraph deserves extra attention.

Course Information

Number of Credit Hours: Enter credit hours

Meeting Times: Enter meeting times

Indicate Prerequisites, Repeatability, Cross-list information (if applicable)

Important! Students can access a copy of the syllabus, the grade book, and more information in the course shell, available through the eCampus (Blackboard) Login.

Course Description or Overview

Provide the course description or course overview for students.

Learning Outcomes

For existing courses, ask your supervisor for the Learning Outcomes for the course, as they should already be recorded in the Course Inventory Management system.

For new courses, see your college’s curriculum committee for guidance.

By the end of this course, learners will be able to:

Create a syllabus meeting the minimum University requirements for syllabi.

Use Styles in Word to tag and format Headings to create accessible document structure.

Add meaningful alternative text to images.

Create accessible tables by using table header options and not merging cells.

Create descriptive text for links.

Make sure lists are created using one of the built-in list-types located on the Paragraph section of the Home tab so they are recognized by screen-readers.

Course Materials

Note the required and optional course materials for your course. Check any digital content (electronic textbooks, handouts, required websites external to eCampus) for accessibility.

Academic Policies

Students are responsible for reviewing institutional and course policies as they apply to this course. Each policy has been hyperlinked to the University website or catalog for ease of access. These policies include: 1) academic integrity, 2) academic standards including academic dishonesty, 3) adverse weather, 4) appropriate use of technology, 5) Student use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), 6) attendance, 7) campus carry, 8) campus safety, 9) class recording, 10) inclusivity (including accessibility), 11) incompletes, 12) mental health, 13) sale of course material, 14) sexual misconduct, and 15) student evaluation of instruction.

Instructor Use of AI (CAHS required only if instructor uses AI in prep or delivery of course)

Inform the audience if you have used AI in the development of your course or any course materials, or plan to use AI to deliver any aspect of this course. Sample statements include:

Some course materials have been developed with the assistance of AI tools. All such content has been reviewed and edited by the instructor for accuracy.

ChatGPT (OpenAI) and Claude (Anthropic) were used to brainstorm, revise, and refine the language in this syllabus. All final content was reviewed and edited before publishing for intended message, tone, and institutional context.

Assessments

Provide a list of major assignments and where students will be able to find the grading criteria for them (whether that is provided in the syllabus, is provided in eCampus, or will be provided later).

Grades

This should provide information for the student on how the student’s grade will be calculated. This is most often done through lists or tables.

If grade information is shared in a table, make sure the table has the table header row and first column, as appropriate, indicated for accessibility. Table styles can be changed in the Table Styles section of the Table Design tab which appears when you move the cursor into or onto a table.

Sample Table for Grade Scale

Grade	Percent Range
A	90-100%
B	80-89%
C	70-79%
D	60-69%
F	59% and below

Mid-semester Grade

Each undergraduate course should have at least 20% of the course's total grade reported for a mid-semester grade. Instructors should also indicate what assignments will determine the mid-semester grade and what % of the total course grade the mid-term grade represents.

Sample Mid-semester Grade Table

Assignments Due by Mid-semester	Points
HW 1, 2, 3, and 4 (10 points each)	40
Quizzes 1, 2, and 3 (20 points each)	60
Test 1 (50 points)	50
Participation	10
Mid-semester Total	160 (32% of final grade)

Course Policies

Students should review the University Syllabus Policies and Statements. These policies are adopted by reference into my syllabus.

Note: When sharing links, please use descriptive text indicating the destination. This allows assistive devices that skim the links in a document to give the user sufficient information to know where they are going.

Attendance Policy

Instructors or programs set attendance requirements and policies that are appropriate for the goals and instructional strategies of their courses. Please provide students with your attendance policy.

Late Work Policy

Provide guidance on submission of late work.

Student Use of Artificial Intelligence

The University Syllabus Policies and Statements page contained several optional statements for the Use of Artificial Intelligence, please clarify for students.

Additional Course Policies

Additional headings can be added to address any policies you have for your course.

Course Schedule

To help make sure your tables are accessible, use the table headers and first column checkboxes (view the Table Design tab which appears at the top of Word when you click on or in a table) and do not merge or split cells. It is also helpful to select header row(s) and choose for them to repeat on each page. Finally, it is good practice to precede a table with a header style so it can be easily found by users.

Weekly Topics Example

Event	Topics/Assignments
Week 1	Introduction Syllabus Review
Week 2	Week 2 Topics
Time Skip	If no content is needed write N/A or None instead of leaving an empty cell.
Week 15	Saturday, November 21 through Sunday, November 29 is Fall Recess
Week 16	Wrap up and Review
Final Exam	Date and time are to be determined

Weekly Tuesday / Thursday Schedule Example

Week 1 Readings, Topics, and Assignments

Day	Readings and Class Prep	Topics	Assignments	Assignments Due Date
T – 18th	Syllabus	Syllabus Review Course Overview	Syllabus Quiz, Introduce Yourself Discussion	August 25th by midnight EST.
Th – 20th	First three sections of Chapter 1 Videos linked in Week 1 folder (check accessibility for videos)	The Scientific Process	Assignments for Class 2 Make sure assignment instruction documents pass accessibility checks.	August 27th by midnight EST.

Week 2 Readings, Topics, and Assignments

Day	Readings and Class Prep	Topics	Assignments	Assignments Due Date
T – 25th	Final three sections of Chapter 1	Topics for Week 2	Assignments for Class 3	September 1st by midnight EST.
Th – 27th	First four sections of Chapter 2 Videos linked in Week 2 folder	Topics for Week 2 continued	Assignments for Class 4	September 3rd by midnight EST.

Keep Word Document

It is not recommended to save your syllabus as a PDF file, as this Word document will be the most accessible way to share your syllabus. If you must have a PDF, save the accessible Word document first, then save it as a tagged PDF and check its accessibility in a PDF accessibility testing tool such as Adobe Acrobat or the PDF Accessibility Checker (PAC).

Keep the Word document in case it is needed in the future, or consider making it available to students in addition to the PDF version of the document.

Additional Resources

WVU Digital Accessibility Website

WVU Colors and Accessible Combinations

Section508.gov Authoring Meaningful Alternative Text

Section508.gov on Document Headings

Section508.gov on Descriptive Link Text