NCADEMI: National Center on Accessible Digital Educational Materials & Instruction
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Act Now: Understanding New PreK-12 Digital Accessibility Requirements

Description

The Department of Justice recently announced new requirements that will fundamentally change how PreK-12 schools, districts, and state education agencies provide digital educational materials. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) now requires all web content and mobile apps used in public schools to meet specific accessibility standards. Join this webinar to learn about the new ADA requirements, the timeline for compliance, and actions you can take now. Come to a coaching session later in the week for help on getting started.

Presenters

Summary of Q&A Discussion

We did not record the question-and-answer portion of main presentation or the coaching session, but took note of those questions and discussions and have provided a summary below:

What is the deadline to comply with the new ADA rule?

Either April 24, 2026 or April 26, 2027, depending on the population size of the state or local government in which your educational agency operates. For SEAs, the deadline is April 24, 2026. For school districts, refer to your local government size and additional guidance in this Department of Justice fact sheet for the new rule.

Why does the new rule specify Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 2.1 when the current standard is 2.2?

In the April 24, 2024, Federal Register notice, the Department of Justice acknowledges that WCAG 2.2 was published in final form on October 5, 2023. In explaining the decision to adopt WCAG 2.1 as the technical standard for the final rule, the Department states, “W3C, while recommending the use of the most recent recommended standard, has made clear that WCAG 2.2 does not ‘‘deprecate or supersede’’ WCAG 2.1 and has stated that WCAG 2.1 is still an existing standard. The Department recognizes that WCAG 2.2 is a newer standard, but in crafting [this update to Title II] the Department sought to balance benefits for individuals with disabilities with feasibility for public entities making their content accessible in compliance with [this update to Title II].”

Is there a governing body reaching out to EdTech vendors to ensure their products comply with the new rule?

No. State and local governments, including educational agencies, are obligated to meet the requirements of the new rule. To that end, educational agencies need to communicate the requirements to vendors by addressing accessibility in purchasing decisions.

If we commission education content that is hosted on an external website not owned by the educational agency, would it be exempt from the new rule?

No. The rule applies to web content and mobile apps an educational agency provides or makes available. As stated in the Department of Justice fact sheet, “this includes when [an educational agency] has an arrangement with someone else who provides or makes available web content [or a mobile app] for them.”

Do you know about any efforts to include information about digital accessibility in college and university teacher preparation programs?

NCADEMI is providing technical assistance to pre- and in-service educator and preparation programs to better prepare new personnel for providing and using accessible digital educational materials and instruction. Preparation programs are encouraged to contact us for information.

When we receive a completed Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT®) or Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR) from a vendor, how do we understand and verify the accessibility of a tool when we don’t have time to test everything ourselves?

First, your district is taking the correct action to require an ACR from vendors. As your question shows, acquiring an ACR is not the first and last step of considering accessibility in the procurement process. Verifying the accuracy of an ACR is definitely a challenge for schools. NCADEMI is in the process of developing resources for evaluating EdTech products for accessibility. In the meantime, we recommend WebAIM’s article, Making VPATs and ACRs More Effective in Procurement.

What training resources are available to help teachers learn about digital accessibility requirements?

NCADEMI is developing resources for school districts to improve accessibility of digital materials and instruction. We realize that a lot of the content used by students is created by teachers, and teachers choose many of the websites and apps used for lessons on a daily basis. Our resources will include supports to help teachers improve their digital accessibility skills.

Calls to Action

As presented in the webinar, states and school districts have a short timeframe to meet the requirements in the new ADA Title II regulation. Decisions being made now about digital materials and edtech products used in schools will have a direct impact on compliance. Take action by following two recommendations from Tier One of the NCADEMI Title II Roadmap:

Establish a cross-disciplinary steering committee

Start by asking an administrator in your agency if there is already an individual or committee responsible for meeting the new accessibility requirements. If there is – reach out to them and ask how you can help. Make sure they’re aware of NCADEMI’s roadmap.

If that person or committee doesn’t already exist, reach out to the individuals and offices listed under Tier One of the roadmap to start a conversation about digital accessibility. Be prepared to notify them of the conformance deadline that applies to your agency (April of 2026 or 2027). Below is a sample email:

Sample Email (Copy and Paste):

Dear [Name(s)]:
Have you heard about the new Americans with Disabilities Act digital accessibility requirements for making sure web content and mobile apps provided and used in schools meet minimum standards? Here’s a fact sheet about it. I recently came across this roadmap for state and local education agencies on meeting the requirements. We are under a deadline to meet the new requirements by April [2026 or 2027] and there are some urgent discussions that we need to start having right away. Do you have a few minutes that we could touch base and discuss establishing a steering committee to discuss the new requirements?

Address accessibility in purchasing decisions

Purchasing decisions your state or school district makes this year about digital content will directly impact compliance with the new ADA Title II regulation. Now is the time to ensure your agency’s procurement policies and guidelines align with the requirements. Review language in template documents and forms, such as Requests for Proposals, contracts, and related agreements with vendors. Relevant requirements include but are not limited to:

Also seek an accessibility statement aligned to the recommendations of the World Wide Web Consortium/Web Accessibility Initiative (W3C/WAI). Specifically, the statement should contain the accessibility standard applied, any known accessibility limitations, measures taken to ensure accessibility, technical prerequisites, and the environments in which the content has been tested to work. A statement posted on a vendor’s website is a good indication that the vendor has a commitment to accessibility.

Finally, your agency should also consider the accessibility obligations of a vendor after a contract is in place. For example, what recourse will be taken should a product claimed to be in compliance by the vendor later be determined not to be? Make sure that contract language includes accessibility as a requirement and details the steps taken should you discover an accessibility issue that wasn’t disclosed during the decision-making process.