The new Title II ADA updates represent—and cement—an ongoing trend toward accessibility. In today’s digital age, accessibility is no longer optional—especially for higher education institutions. As Concept3D research from 2023 shows, nearly 80% of students and professionals believe that removing digital barriers to make content more accessible should be a priority.
But it’s not just about what your audience believes. With more than half of the students responding to that survey reporting a disability, not prioritizing digital accessibility means potentially locking your content away from a significant portion of prospective and current students.
Against that backdrop, new Title II ADA updates from the U.S. Department of Justice must become an important point of consideration for any higher ed professional looking to optimize communications.
These updates, introduced earlier this year, have specific implications for how colleges and universities can—and should—display public-facing digital content. Let’s dive into these nuances to create a road map that any institution can use to ensure their website and other digital properties remain compliant.
A Brief Overview of the DOJ’s Title II ADA Updates
First introduced in 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has long been the guiding legislation for colleges and universities when it comes to providing equal access for all of their students. The U.S. Department of Justice, in turn, has regularly proposed new rules within that act. These changes help keep it current with modern needs and trends among people with disabilities.
Within the ADA, Title II focuses specifically on state and local governments providing equal access and opportunity to benefit from all of their programs and services. That makes the new Title II ADA updates particularly relevant for public colleges and universities. These organizations fall within the entities defined in the law as state and local governments. In addition, experts now expect similar changes to be introduced in the near future for Title III. Title III covers private colleges and universities—making the changes an important consideration for all higher education institutions.
Broadly speaking, the updates address two core issues:
- Requiring digital accessibility standards for all public-facing websites of local and state governments and governmental entities
- Requiring digital accessibility standards for all public-facing mobile apps of local and state governments and governmental entities
A Closer View
More specifically, both websites and mobile apps covered under the new Title II ADA updates need to follow Web Content Accessibility Guideline (WCAG) 2.1, Level AA. This includes websites and mobile apps created for state and local public entities by third-party partners like web or app development agencies. Only limited exceptions remain in place, including:
- Archived web content
- Existing PDFs and other digital documents
- Pre-existing social media posts
- Password-protected existing content
According to the initial announcement, the compliance date will vary based on the size of the city in which the university is located. For small cities below 50,000 residents and in special district governments, the deadline for compliance is April 26, 2027. For cities with 50,000 residents and above, the deadline moves up to April 24, 2026.
Implications for Higher Education Institutions
It’s difficult to overstate just how significant these new standards and rules are, especially for public colleges and universities. Websites, in particular, are generally considered the most important recruitment mechanism for new students, and they are increasingly taking center stage in fundraising efforts. Similarly, mobile apps can play a central role in communicating with your core audiences.
And, of course, it’s not just about following the new Title II ADA updates for compliance reasons. In both recruitment and retention efforts, effectively reaching and communicating with your entire audience is vital. By ensuring that your public-facing digital presence is accessible, you can ensure that your entire current and future student body can equally access and benefit from your content.
More particularly, the new rules affect three types of public-facing content:
Alt-Text and Navigation
Your website will need to include alt text for images, video, and audio content. Your team will also need to ensure that users can fully navigate it with a keyboard. Ultimately, all content must be easy to consume, operate, and understand, no matter the device and assistance tool used.
Campus Map
Your campus map will need to prioritize four accessibility factors. It needs to be:
- Perceivable through features like alt text, voiceover options, and written transcripts
- Operable through features like keyboard navigation and arrow key controls
- Understandable through intuitive, straightforward content and form fields
- Robust enough to function on all browsers and devices, along with all common accessibility tools
Mobile App
Your mobile application will need to offer alternative ways to complete core tasks and access all of its content, leverage an accessible app interface, and include clear instructions and tutorials for using all of its features related to accessibility.
Fortunately, most institutions won’t need to start from scratch. In fact, chances are that at least part of these requirements are already in place. The key, then, is building a roadmap to ensure that all of them are met sufficiently to comply with the new Title II ADA updates.
3 Practical Steps to Ensure Compliance
With the final rule issued by the Department of Justice to the Federal Register in late April 2024, the time to act on the new Title II ADA updates is now. Compliance is not necessarily easy or straightforward. But it can be accomplished by following three basic steps: assessment, implementation, and training.
1. Assessment
Digital accessibility is not a new topic. So, at least some of the newly required standards are likely already in place for your online presence. That, in turn, means the best place to start is with understanding that baseline.
Conduct an accessibility audit of your current digital assets using WCAG 2.1 standards. Free tools like this Accessibility Checker for your website can help you better understand where you’re in good shape and where some work is required. Identifying those gaps and areas for improvement provides a roadmap toward compliance with the new rule.
2. Implementation
Next, it’s time to turn that roadmap into tangible improvements. Create a detailed plan for every piece of your public online presence. This includes the timelines and resources needed to become compliant across the board.
Don’t treat this move as a one-time effort. All new content will need to be accessible as well, requiring institutions to integrate accessibility features and guidelines directly into their web and app design and development. It also means creating and publishing accessibility statements so that everyone creating content on behalf of the institution is aware of the regulations and requirements.
Finally, implement a system that monitors your accessibility on a regular basis. Conduct regular audits to understand where gaps have been filled and where work is still required. A form or other opportunity for users to report problems to fix can also help identify areas that your own audit may have missed.
3. Training and Awareness
Ultimately, accessibility on this broad of a scale cannot be fully centralized. Key stakeholders exist across each institution who will need to understand both the new regulations and the importance of compliance.
Start by developing clear and enforceable policies that anyone working with public-facing digital content must follow. These policies should include tangible, actionable steps to remain in compliance.
In addition, invest in training for all of these stakeholders. Cover everything from development to content creation. Especially in decentralized website management systems where institutional units may be responsible for their own part of the online presence, both initial training and follow-up sessions can become invaluable tools for communicating and implementing best practices.
During and beyond these training sessions, gather feedback from your stakeholders. Understand their needs and current expertise level. That way, you can adjust and improve your communication and training over time to be as effective as possible.
The Benefits of Title II ADA Compliance
To this point, our guide has mainly focused on the need for compliance when it comes to its legal restrictions. Indeed, this should be a major motivator toward digital accessibility for any institution. After all, the average website accessibility lawsuit settles for $5,000 to $20,000—and it’s not a stretch to imagine that those figures will go up significantly with the new rules in place.
The perceptional issues of failing to meet accessibility standards and regulations can add to those complications. Higher education institutions, especially the public institutions that this rule initially applies to, often operate under an “access” mission to an advanced degree. Failing to provide access to vital information related to enrollment and academic success directly contradicts that mission.
On the other side of the coin, prioritizing digital accessibility has positive impacts on your institution that go beyond mere compliance. It is directly related to promoting equality among your student body, aligning directly with the ethical standards your institution has most likely set for itself and its operations. By ensuring equal access and benefit to all of your digital content, you can foster an inclusive environment in which all students can participate.
Being at the forefront of digital accessibility, therefore, also has a potentially significant reputational impact. Prospective students, especially those in a generation that cares more about inclusivity than any other before them, will appreciate an institution that openly prioritizes building a sense of belonging among its student body.
Preparing for the New Title II ADA Updates Starts Now
The compliance deadline may not be for a few years. But the complexity of higher education websites, mobile apps, and other content means the time to make your necessary updates is now. As the Department of Justice continues to move toward making digital accessibility a core part of ADA, institutions of all sizes should act early to ensure compliance—and reap the rewards.
That process is not necessarily simple. However, it does become simpler with the right partners by your side. Concept3D has long prioritized accessibility in its campus map and virtual tour solutions, providing a turnkey platform that will easily comply with the new Title II rule. Learn more by contacting us today, and get started proactively on becoming compliant with accessibility standards.