Higher education ACA compliance with digital inclusion and remote learning

Article | Higher education compliance

Digital inclusion: Adapting to the DOJ's new rule for ADA

July 24, 2024 · Authored by Kyra Castano

As recipients of Title IV federal funds (i.e., financial aid), nearly all U.S. colleges and universities are subject to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Sections 504 and 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Rehabilitation Act).

The ADA provides broad nondiscrimination protection in employment, public services and public accommodations for individuals with disabilities. Under the ADA, both public and private colleges and universities are required to provide equal access to postsecondary education, including extracurricular activities, for students with disabilities.

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of physical or mental disability. In 1998, Congress enacted Section 508 to reduce the obstacles in information technology for people with disabilities by requiring electronic and information technology to be accessible to people with disabilities, including employees and members of the public.

2024 rule

The Department of Justice has released a final rule updating the regulations for Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act. This rule, which applies to public higher education institutions, sets out clear requirements, including specific technical standards, to ensure that services, programs and activities provided by state and local governments are accessible to the public through websites and mobile apps*.

Summary requirements

An institution should determine if:

The mobile applications and web content (e.g., public-facing and password protected) are accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities

The technical standard for web content and mobile apps follows the set of guidelines called Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Version 2.1, Level AA**. The guidelines help create web content accessibility that meets the needs of individuals, organizations and governments internationally

Who and when?

Depending on the total population size of the state or local jurisdiction, the public institution must comply with the ruling in April 2026 or 2027.

April 24, 2026: Public state universities or K-12 schools with a county or city population of 50,000+ people

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ADA in higher education: supporting and protecting the campus community

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No.	Exception	Examples
1	Archived web content	A webpage that was created before April 2026 or April 2027
2	Preexisting conventional electronic documents, unless such documents are currently used to apply for, gain access to or participate in the public entity’s services, programs or activities	Newsletters or archived reports created before April 2026 or April 2027
3	Content posted by a third party, unless the third party is posting due to contractual, licensing or other arrangements with the public entity	Articles or blog posts written by a guest contributor
4	Conventional electronic documents that are about a specific individual, their property or their account and that are password-protected or otherwise secured	Student's academic records or report cards accessible through a secure online portal
5	Preexisting social media posts	Social media posts created before April 2026 or April 2027

Area	Question(s)
High-level oversight	Is there a named responsible individual or an action plan to appoint a responsible person for leading web content compliance efforts?
Policies and procedures	Are there formalized policies and procedures that are consistent with the new rule?
Train and communicate	Are you consistently training faculty members on how to ensure all class materials are consistent with the technical standards?
Audit and monitor	How are you maintaining a listing of all web content, including digital textbooks and mobile applications? Are you considering vendors that are compliant with standards?
Effective reporting	How is the campus community reporting instances of inconsistencies with WCAG?
Disciplinary mechanisms	How are you tracking the inconsistencies with WCAG for the purpose of analyzing trends and repeat offenders?
Corrective actions	Are you fixing the inconsistencies with WCAG on a regular basis? Are you reviewing for inconsistencies with WCAG on a regular basis?

What we do	What you get
Assess an institution’s policies and resources related to supporting students with disabilities	A facilitated discussion with key process owners to foster communication across departments and encourage collaboration.
Identify the roles and responsibilities between departments that are involved in the process	A clear understanding and layout of any controls or collaboration efforts in place to facilitate effective compliance
Evaluate current procedures to assess compliance with institutional policies and federal regulations and alignment with industry-leading practices	Actionable recommendations to address identified gaps, challenges, risks or enhancement opportunities based on institutional policies, federal requirements and industry-leading practices