The US Department of Justice (DOJ) earlier this summer announced its final rule revising Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), requiring web and mobile application content to be accessible to people with disabilities.
Title II of the ADA applies to all state and local governments, which includes, among other entities, public schools, community colleges and public universities.
The rule, designed to ensure all digital services are ADA-compliant, clarifies the obligations of public education institutions to make their websites and mobile apps “readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities,” including via the use of accessible text, images, sounds, videos, controls, animations, and electronic documents. This includes converting pictures and documents so they can be read with assistive technology for individuals with vision loss, adding audio description on videos and providing captions for all live and pre-recorded audio and video for individuals with hearing loss.
It also closes gaps in the ADA, which set standards for physical sites but contained little direction for the accessibility of digital content. The rule outlines specific requirements, including the adoption of technical standards, for making services, programs and activities offered at schools accessible to the public through the web and mobile apps. Those technical standards, the DOJ said, mimic those outlined in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1, Level AA, an internationally recognized accessibility standard for web access, to which the department has directed governments and businesses in the past in lieu of its own established guidance.
Although enforcement will not begin until 2026 at the earliest, school leaders should begin taking steps to ensure that their digital presence complies with the new regulations.
What are the technical requirements?
WCAG 2.1 AA, standards outline a few requirements for captioned and audio described web content that higher-ed institutions will need to plan for. These include:
- Captions (pre-recorded): Captions are provided for all pre-recorded audio and video content.
- Audio Only (pre-recorded audio): Requires a text alternative (transcript) for audio-only content.
- Captions (live): Captions are provided for all live audio content in synchronized media.
- Audio description (pre-recorded): Audio description is provided for all pre-recorded video content in synchronized media.
Enforcement of the new rule will begin in 2026 or 2027, depending on the size of the institution.
- April 24, 2026, for public entities with population of 50,000 or more
- April 26, 2027, for public entities with a population of fewer than 50,000
For higher-ed, colleges and universities should determine population sizes based on the locality’s population and not the institution’s population. For K-12, the district would determine population size.
Exceptions to the rule
There are a few pieces of web and mobile content that don’t need to conform with WCAG 2.1 under the new regulations, including for archived content, pre-existing documents, third-party content, password-protected documents and old social media posts.
Archived web content
Archived web content is excepted if it meets all four of the following criteria:
- It was created before the new rule came into effect
- It is used solely for reference, research or recordkeeping
- It has not been updated since the date of archiving
- It is organized and stored in an area clearly marked as being archived
Pre-existing electronic documents
Electronic documents saved in word processing, presentation, PDF or spreadsheet formats and posted to the school’s website or app prior to the compliance date are exempt from this rule. This exception doesn’t apply if the documents are still in use to apply for, gain access to or participate in services, programs or activities.
Third-party content
Content posted by third parties on a school’s website or mobile app would not need to meet WCAG 2.1 AA.
Password-protected documents
Schools, universities and colleges sometimes use password-protected websites to share documents that are for specific individuals. Documents that meet all three of the following points do not need to meet WCAG 2.1 AA:
- The documents are in a word processing, presentation, PDF or spreadsheet format
- The documents are about a specific person, property or account
- The documents are password-protected or otherwise secured
Older social media posts
For many schools, universities and colleges, making all past social media posts accessible would be a daunting task. There also may be very little use to making old posts accessible as they often were intended to provide updates about things happening at the time they were posted. For these reasons, social media posts published before the compliance date do not need to meet WCAG 2.1 AA.
What the exceptions do not change
The ADA, however, still requires that schools provide individuals with disabilities with effective communication, reasonable modifications and an equal opportunity to participate in or benefit from their services, programs, and activities. So if a student who is blind or with low vision requests a picture the university posted on social media in 2021, the school should provide effective access by providing an alt-text description of the image.
Keep accessibility top of mind
More than 4,600 ADA lawsuits were filed in 2023 and the growing number of suits over the years has made it clear to website owners, developers and digital marketers that accessibility needs to be considered when designed web sites and web content.
Creating inclusive learning experiences requires specialized expertise. Verbit’s team has the experience, knowledge and solutions ─ including live and pre-recorded captions, transcription and audio description ─ to help. We’re trusted by a variety of colleges and universities, such as the University of California, Santa Barbara, the University of Akron and the University of Texas at San Antonio, among others, to make their classes and classrooms more inclusive.
Connect with us to learn more about how we can work together to enhance the accessibility of your courses, campus events and more.