This whitepaper will help you develop a deeper understanding of ADA Title II’s upcoming digital accessibility requirements.
The checklist you need to keep your university on track for ADA Title II in 2027
The rules haven’t changed. The deadline has.
In April 2026, the Department of Justice extended ADA Title II compliance deadlines — giving most public colleges and universities until April 26, 2027 to ensure all digital content meets WCAG 2.1 Level AA standards. Smaller institutions have until April 26, 2028.
But here’s what the extension doesn’t give you: immunity from lawsuits, a pass on your legal obligations, or permission to slow down. Courts are still applying WCAG 2.1 Level AA as the benchmark in accessibility litigation against universities right now, regardless of where the official deadline sits.
The checklist below covers every content type your institution needs to address — videos, audio, documents, live lectures, learning platforms, and campus communications. Whether you’re just getting started or working through years of backlog, this is where to begin. For institutions ready to tackle ADA Title II compliance at scale, Campus Complete is Verbit’s all-in-one higher education accessibility subscription — covering captions, transcripts, audio descriptions, and translations campus-wide under one predictable plan.
Plus, we’ve launched an ADA Title II Readiness Workbook to help you and your team work through exactly what’s needed and how to prioritize.
A must watch on ADA Title II compliance requirements
Watch our on-demand webinar for practical strategies to meet ADA Title II requirements and plan accessible video workflows.
1. Caption all instructional and public-facing video content
Why it matters: Captions support not only students who are deaf or hard of hearing but also multilingual learners, commuters and students in noisy environments.
ADA requirement: All video content shared on public websites or used in the digital classroom must include accurate, synchronized captions.
How Verbit helps: Verbit provides highly accurate captions for both live and pre-recorded video. Universities use Verbit to caption lectures, seminars, guest talks and on-demand learning content across platforms like Canvas, Zoom and Panopto.
2. Include audio description for visual-heavy media
Why it matters: Students who are blind or with low vision rely on audio description to access visual information embedded in videos, animations and demonstrations.
ADA requirement: When visuals are critical for understanding content, audio descriptions must be provided.
How Verbit helps: Verbit offers professional audio description services that integrate with your media platforms, allowing students to access the full learning experience without barriers.
3. Transcribe audio-only content for academic use
Why it matters: Audio formats like podcasts, interviews or recorded lectures are common in higher education but inaccessible without transcripts.
ADA requirement: All public-facing and instructional audio content must be available in accessible text formats.
How Verbit helps: Verbit produces fast, searchable transcripts that meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and ADA standards, helping faculty and departments maintain compliance while improving usability.
4. Ensure your LMS, other learning platforms and websites meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA
Why it matters: Course portals, library systems and university websites must be usable by students who rely on screen readers, keyboard navigation or voice commands.
ADA requirement: Digital interfaces must conform to WCAG 2.1 Level AA standards to be considered accessible.
Verbit’s role: While Verbit doesn’t build websites, we partner with IT and accessibility teams to ensure that audio and video content embedded in your platforms is fully accessible, whether via captions, transcripts or audio descriptions.
5. Support real-time accessibility in virtual and hybrid learning
Why it matters: Students participating in live lectures, webinars or virtual office hours must be able to access spoken content live.
ADA requirement: Real-time communication must be accessible, including live captioning and other auxiliary aids.
How Verbit helps: Verbit’s real-time captioning integrates seamlessly into Zoom, Microsoft Teams and other learning platforms, delivering live captions for classes, events and campus-wide communications.
6. Deliver accessibility across campus communications
Why it matters: Admissions videos, campus announcements and public-facing webinars must all meet the same accessibility standards.
ADA requirement: Any digital material made available to the public must be fully accessible.
How Verbit helps: Verbit supports large-scale accessibility efforts across university departments, helping marketing teams, registrars and communications offices caption and transcribe high-volume media quickly and reliably.
7. Audit and remediate legacy content for Title II compliance
Why it matters: Many institutions have years’ worth of legacy media and course materials stored on servers, LMS platforms and websites that may not meet current accessibility standards.
ADA requirement: Existing public-facing content must be made accessible unless it qualifies for a specific exemption.
How Verbit helps: Verbit supports large-scale media remediation projects, offering captioning and transcription services to help higher-ed institutions bring their legacy content into compliance.
How Verbit helps higher education institutions meet ADA Title II requirements
The April 2027 deadline is closer than it looks — and remediating multimedia content at scale takes time. Verbit is a trusted accessibility partner to hundreds of institutions, offering:
- Scalable transcription, captioning, and audio description services
- Integrations with LMS and video platforms including Canvas, Blackboard, Moodle, Panopto, and Zoom
- AI-powered automation plus human quality assurance
- Real-time accessibility support for hybrid and live learning environments
For institutions looking to manage everything under one predictable subscription, Campus Complete is Verbit’s all-in-one accessibility plan built specifically for higher education — covering unlimited AI captions, transcripts, audio descriptions, translations, and accommodations support campus-wide.
Whether you’re developing a WCAG 2.1 Level AA compliance strategy from scratch or working through a content backlog, Verbit’s tools and expertise can help you build sustainable accessibility workflows and move forward with confidence.
