Overview: What’s Changing and Why It Matters
Back in April 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) issued final regulations under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) that directly impact state and local government entities, including public colleges and universities. These new rules establish enforceable digital accessibility standards and are a major step forward in ensuring equitable access to digital spaces—requiring institutions to create accessible websites, mobile applications, and digital content for both the public and internal users.
Higher education institutions face unique challenges:
- Thousands of legacy course materials
- Distributed content creation across faculty and staff
- A need for institution-wide policy and training
- Gaps in accessibility expertise and auditing capacity
With the compliance deadline of April 24, 2026 quickly approaching, we’ve compiled a list of resources to help you assess, plan, and implement comprehensive digital accessibility policies and practices.
Who Must Comply?
The updated Title II regulation applies to:
- Public colleges and universities
- Community colleges
- State education agencies and local education systems
- All entities governed by state or local government (covered under Title II of the ADA)
Although the rule directly applies to public institutions, many private colleges and universities receiving federal funds under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act will be held to similar standards—making widespread adoption essential across higher ed.
What’s Required Under the New Regulations?
The new DOJ regulations mandate that digital content be accessible according to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1, Level AA—a globally recognized standard for accessibility.
Required areas include:
- Public websites (e.g., admissions, academic departments)
- Mobile apps (e.g. services like registration or library access)
- Online learning platforms (e.g. learning management systems)
- Course content (e.g. syllabi, videos, lecture slides, PDFs)
- Student services portals (e.g., registration, advising, career services)
- Internal systems used by staff, faculty, and students (e.g., intranet, employee portals)
Accessibility requirements include:
- Alternative text for images
- Captioning and transcripts for multimedia
- Keyboard navigability
- Logical heading structures
- Color contrast and readability
- Accessible document formatting (e.g., PDFs, Word docs)
Next Steps: Preparing Your Institution for Compliance
Meeting compliance isn’t just about ticking boxes—it’s about embedding accessibility into the culture of digital teaching and learning. Here are key strategies to support a successful implementation:
1. Create a Strategic Plan
- Establish leadership accountability and buy-in
- Define timelines, responsibilities, and success metrics
- Create policies for procurement, content development, and maintenance
2. Audit Existing Digital Assets
- Conduct a full inventory of your institution’s web pages, apps, and course platforms
- Identify accessibility gaps using tools like WAVE or Axe
3. Train Key Stakeholders
- Ensure your faculty, designers, and IT staff are equipped
- Offer role-specific training on accessible content creation
4. Remediate and Design for Inclusion
- Prioritize fixing the most critical accessibility barriers
- Update content, systems, and workflows to align with accessibility standards
5. Monitor, Evaluate, and Improve
- Set up ongoing compliance checks and gather feedback from users with disabilities
- Build processes for continuous improvement based on evolving technologies and legal guidance
How OLC Can Help: Training, Tools, and Support
At the Online Learning Consortium, we are committed to supporting higher education leaders, instructional designers, faculty, and technologists with the knowledge and tools they need to meet these requirements and create inclusive digital learning environments.
FEATURED WEBINAR
From Policy to Practice: Navigating the New Federal Digital Accessibility Rules for Higher Education
November 6, 2025 | 2pm EST
With a compliance deadline of April 24, 2026, higher education leaders must act now to ensure websites, mobile apps, course content, and digital platforms meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA standards. This session will unpack what the regulations mean, highlight the unique challenges institutions face, and provide practical strategies for auditing, planning, training, remediation, and ongoing improvement. Whether you’re an administrator, instructional designer, faculty member, or IT leader, you’ll leave with the insights and resources needed to move your campus toward compliance—and toward a more inclusive digital learning environment.
Free Resources & Guides
- Accessibility Toolkit – A curated list of relevant resources and documents to help increase your knowledge of digital accessibility.
- Teaching with AI²: Artificial Intelligence for Accessibility and Inclusion – Highlights how generative AI—while not a perfect solution—can serve as a powerful tool to help educators design more equitable, flexible, and engaging learning environments.
- Top Recommendations to Increase the Accessibility & Inclusiveness of Your Presentation – Effective practices and strategies that presenters and educators can utilize to create more diverse, equitable, inclusive, and accessible presentation environments.
- Instructional Designers’ Perceptions of Accessible and Inclusive Online Course Design – Results of this study indicated that instructional designers play a critical role in advocating and advancing initiatives related to designing accessible and inclusive online learning experiences.
Professional Development Workshops
Consider taking a workshop this fall in OLC’s Accessibility Skills Pathway to develop skills to support learner accessibility. In this pathway, you will explore the framing of disability-related language, spot barriers for learners, assess course material accessibility, use universal design for learning, address stereotypes, and create a digital accessibility plan. If you complete 3 or more workshops, you will be eligible for an OLC microcredential!
- ADA & Digital Accessibility | ongoing (self-paced)
Build your confidence in designing ADA-compliant online courses that support all learners. This workshop will help you understand the legal framework, explore accommodations for diverse disabilities, and apply practical strategies to evaluate and improve course accessibility. - Practical Applications for Universal Design for Learning (UDL) | Starts October 20th
Transform your online teaching with Universal Design for Learning, a framework that embraces learner diversity through flexibility and choice. This workshop will guide you in applying UDL principles to eliminate barriers, foster inclusion, and redesign your course for greater accessibility and impact. - Accessible Course Design Using WCAG | Starts October 27th
Ensure your online courses are accessible, inclusive, and compliant with current accessibility standards. In this workshop, you’ll learn practical strategies for applying WCAG 2.1 guidelines, designing accessible documents and multimedia, and developing an action plan to remove barriers for all learners. - Digital Accessibility: Developing a Strategic Plan | Starts November 10th
With new federal requirements and rising legal pressures, digital accessibility is no longer optional for higher education. This workshop will help you translate WCAG standards into a practical institutional plan, equipping you with strategies, tools, and a draft roadmap to ensure compliance and inclusivity. - Reframing Disability: Language, Media, and Universal Design | Starts November 10th
Go beyond accessibility to design truly inclusive online spaces that support disabled and diverse learners. In this workshop, you’ll examine how disability is framed in education, uncover hidden barriers, and explore strategies for creating equitable digital learning environments.
Kaitlin Garrett has worked in the higher education space for about 15 years and possesses a strong passion for creating accessible and inclusive learning experiences. She is currently an instructional designer in the OLC’s Center for Professional Learning where she collaborates with subject matter experts on the design, development, and implementation of scalable and engaging programs that adhere to quality standards. She manages the workshop pathways related to equity, inclusion, and belonging and emerging technology and tools, the suite of self-paced workshops, and the microlearning library. She also oversees the planning, management, and technical execution of OLC’s webinar program.
