On April 8, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice finalized a landmark update to Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This new rule establishes clear standards for digital accessibility, ensuring state and local government services are accessible to everyone, including people with disabilities.
What You Need to Know
The updated rule adopts Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA as the technical standard for digital content.
- Who it Applies To: State and local government entities such as public schools, hospitals, courts, and libraries.
- What Needs to Be Accessible: Websites, mobile apps, PDFs, spreadsheets, presentations, audio, video, and online forms.
- Compliance Deadlines:
- April 24, 2026: Large entities (50,000+ people served)
- April 26, 2027: Smaller entities and special district governments
- Exceptions: Archived content, older documents, third-party content, and older social media posts may be exempt or have a later compliance deadline TBD.
The challenges and opportunities for higher ed teams
Your school’s web environment and digital materials may already be mostly compliant, or there might be some work ahead of the April 26, 2026 deadline. Here are some things to consider as you and your teams prepare:
- Your accessibility audit includes your website(s) and the large and complex volume of content your institution has accumulated over time, including your multimedia content, research publications, forms, interactive tools like course registrations, portals and PDFs.
- Can the required resources of people and time be allocated for making existing content accessible? Will you need additional resources?
- Is your current CMS “accessibility ready”, which will help you maintain standards over time?
- Are your third-party integrations compliant, and who is responsible for compliance?
- Consider your plans for ongoing training and awareness for stakeholders.
Steps to ensure compliance
Navigating these new requirements starts with a plan:
- Audit: Review all digital assets for accessibility gaps.
- Tools like Lighthouse and SiteImprove can help you scan your sites on your own.
- Hire a partner to oversee the process if your site and content volume is unmanageable for your teams.
- Plan: Prioritize updates to meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA standards.
- Train: Teach your team about accessibility best practices.
- Implement: Make necessary updates to your websites, apps, and documents.
- Test: Regularly evaluate accessibility, including user testing with people who have disabilities.
- Maintain: Create processes to keep new content compliant.
Services NewCity provides
- Accessibility consulting
- Accessibility audits
- Accessibility strategy development
- Accessibility training
- Content strategy and web governance consulting
More accessibility content from NewCity
Let's start a conversation
Accessibility isn’t just about meeting regulations—it’s about creating better digital experiences for all humans. At NewCity, accessibility is built into our human-centered approach and is at the heart of everything we create. Our developers, designers, content strategists and UXers work in accessibility every day, and we’re here to help you navigate this new landscape, with strategies and tools to make your digital content work for all.
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