Division of Information Technology (DoIT)

Dear Stony Brook Faculty and Staff,

If you use the Google suite - Documents, Slides, and Sheets - Stony Brook has a new tool to help you ensure your files are accessible.

Grackle helps identify and correct digital accessibility issues in the Google suite.

This powerful accessibility checker and remediation tool helps you find and fix:

Missing headings and alternative text
Table structure and header rows
Color contrast deficiencies
Reading order
And more

A Google Slides presentation is open with the third slide selected. On the right side, the Grackle Slides accessibility checker panel is visible, showing '1 Presentation error and 5 Slides errors' and a green 'Passed' status for the tables in the presentation.

Benefits of Grackle

For Faculty: Review and remediate course materials (syllabi, lecture notes, assignments).
For Staff: Ensure documents, forms, reports, and internal communications are professional, compliant, and universally readable across all platforms and assistive technologies.

Getting Started

Open your Google file and navigate to Extensions (or Add-ons) → Grackle.
Give Grackle permission to access your Google Drive materials. You will only need to do this once.
Wait for the Accessibility Check to run.
Update your document so it passes all the checks.

Screenshot of the Google Extensions drop-down menu options with Grackle Docs open to Launch.

Explore Grackle as you work in your Google Drive. Updating materials is a big job. Accessibility checkers like Grackle will help you learn accessibility requirements and get used to building files that are fully accessible. Together, let’s take a significant step toward fostering an inclusive academic environment.

For additional support, please review the Grackle training resources, and visit the DoIT service page for Grackle.

A Reminder About Accessibility

Digital accessibility ensures all people - regardless of ability - can fully experience and engage with materials for class, work, and other university operations.

Effective this April, updated federal accessibility standards mandate that all digital content (websites, apps, documents, videos, and online services) from public entities (including public universities like Stony Brook) conforms to WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility requirements so that they are fully usable by people with disabilities who rely on assistive technologies.