The clock is ticking! On April 24, 2026, the Department of Justice’s Final Rule on ADA Title II takes full effect for many higher education institutions. The new regulations require public entities to meet rigorous new standards for digital accessibility.
What does this mean for you?
If your institution serves a population of 50,000 or more (based on census data), your digital content — including websites, apps, course-related content, documents and social media — must meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA. (Smaller institutions have until April 2027 to comply, and private universities that receive federal funding must meet similar standards under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.)
We’ve highlighted six Digital Collegium member institutions leading the charge toward ADA compliance. Read on for their strategies, tools and resources to help create and remediate content so it’s accessible to all.
- Arizona State IT Accessibility (ASU)
- Coppin State University Digital Accessibility (CSU)
- Harvard University Digital Accessibility Services (Harvard)
- University of Michigan Digital Accessibility (U-M)
- University of Minnesota Office for Digital Accessibility (UMN)
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Digital Accessibility Office (UNC-Chapel Hill)
Getting started: Make it manageable
Not sure where to begin tackling your digital content? These overviews and actionable tips will help you get started:
Learn the Law
- CSU gives a succinct but meaningful overview of what digital accessibility is, how it impacts higher ed, WCAG core principles and relevant federal guidelines. U-M shares top five things to know about the law, including examples of content that must be accessible.
Create a plan
- UNC-Chapel Hill has developed a three-step Digital Accessibility Compliance Plan with links to resources to help you prioritize; they also remind us that “accessibility is a process” rather than a one-time fix. U-M provides a compliance roadmap with suggested timeline to “Create it, Fix it, Remove it.”
Build your skills
- UMN identifies 7 core accessibility skills and the 3Rs framework – remove, revise, right first – to prioritize your accessibility work. ASU has a five-step “Get Started” guide, along with a high-level accessibility checklist for content creators. UNC-Chapel Hill provides Top Ten Tips as a starting point, complete with a handy printable poster.
“While the April 24 deadline sets a legal mandate, digital accessibility is a matter of civil rights and human dignity, not just a checkbox on a compliance list.”
Build Your Skills: Use a Guide
Once you’ve identified your priority content, check out these resource hubs for detailed tutorials, trainings and guides.
A role for everyone
- U-M provides targeted resources for faculty, staff and students, with on-demand training, tutorials and recommended tools.
- ASU offers FRAME – Faculty Resources for Accessible Media Essentials – to assist with the development of accessible course materials.
- UNC-Chapel Hill also offers a faculty-specific guide, with recommended live and on-demand courses, tools and checklists.
- Harvard provides learning paths by role, including practices for managers to prioritize accessibility within their teams. These learning paths use a combination of instructor-led and on-demand trainings, as well as in-page quick tutorials.
- UNC-Chapel Hill provides downloadable toolkits with graphics, templates and talking points to help leaders, managers and communicators spread the word about the April 24 deadline.
Targeted instruction
- ASU breaks down its accessibility guides by content type, with guidance on what you should know “at a minimum.” Each instructional article includes examples, testing tools and relevant WCAG documentation.
- U-M’s How to Make It Accessible guide is also organized by content type and includes formats that might easily be overlooked (e.g., sheet music, math equations). The guide supports and reinforces U-M’s “Create It, Fix It, Remove It” model.
Tools of the trade
- UNC-Chapel Hill’s Digital Accessibility Toolbox includes testing tools, editors, caption services and more.
- CSU provides comprehensive toolkits for faculty and staff, with video tutorials, guides, checklists, decision guides, quick fixes and more.
- UMN has compiled its resources into a one-stop Digital Accessibility Resource Guide for faculty and staff.
Level up: get hands-on help
Sometimes you need assistance from an expert. The institutions we reviewed all offer in-person services to help meet digital accessibility goals.
Customized advice and reviews
The institutions use combinations of office hours, consultations, content reviews, procurement reviews and customized trainings to meet their constituents where they are.
Most of these services are provided by departmental staff and/or through liaison programs, where volunteers from across the institution serve as a resource for their respective areas. For example, UMN has two types of representatives who serve their respective units/departments: Academic Digital Accessibility Liaisons and Web and Email Digital Accessibility Coordinators.
A culture of accessibility
Groups such as U-M’s Digital Accessibility Community of Practice and UNC-Chapel Hill’s Digital Accessibility Liaisons meet regularly to network and share resources. Harvard includes timely accessibility content in each issue of its Digital Digest. UNC shares a “Talking Accessibility” podcast to help deliver an “accessibility mindset.”
And U-M and UMN are co-sponsors of a virtual Global Accessibility Awareness Day event. This year’s theme, “Design, Develop, Deliver,” is about “making accessibility an integral part of everything we do — from the way we communicate, design and innovate, to how we create a more equitable future for everyone.”
“When we prioritize accessibility, we create a better user experience for everyone — including those with temporary disabilities, non-native speakers and mobile users.”
Why accessibility matters: beyond compliance
While the April 24 deadline sets a legal mandate, digital accessibility is a matter of civil rights and human dignity, not just a checkbox on a compliance list. And when we prioritize accessibility, we create a better user experience for everyone — including those with temporary disabilities, non-native speakers and mobile users.
Inclusive and equitable
- ASU notes that 19.4% of U.S. undergrads, and 25% of student veterans, have a reported disability. Further, most of us experience temporary or situational disabilities. Digital accessibility ensures that all members of your community have equal access to your institution’s information and resources.
Accessibility benefits everyone
- CSU shares quick videos that illustrate how accessibility features can help users with and without disabilities. Video captions, for example, can be crucial to people who are deaf or hard of hearing, and helpful to those in loud environments. Text to speech makes content accessible to blind users, and also benefits those who prefer to listen while multitasking.
Celebrating impact
- CSU sets the standard here, with its inspiring faculty spotlight series and student testimonies. U-M uses its Accessibility Spotlight to celebrate individual and team successes.
Want to learn more?
Check out Digital Collegium’s 2026 Accessibility Summit on July 28. Members can also log into Digital Collegium’s Professional Development Library to access summit archives, including presentations by some of the institutions featured here.
