A quick guide to digital ADA compliance for colleges and universities

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), colleges and universities are required to create accessible and inclusive learning environments for all students. And in today’s digital age, digital accessibility is essential to providing equitable—and legally compliant—educational experiences. This quick guide will give you a few pointers that will help your institution meet the ADA requirements for websites, online course material, and mobile applications. 

What does the ADA say about college websites? 

A rule recently published by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) requires entities covered by ADA Title II—such as state postsecondary institutions and community college districts—to make their digital content accessible to people with disabilities.  

With a few exceptions, the rule applies to all digital content that a public institution publishes or makes available, regardless of whether it’s created by the institution or purchased from a third party. Examples of content that must meet the rule’s requirements include web pages, live and recorded videos, mobile apps, PDFs, and online learning material.  

The rule specifies the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 2.1 Level AA as the technical standard for compliance. Notably, WCAG is technology-neutral, which means it’s intended to apply to a broad range of current and future technologies. It's equally applicable to websites built using WordPress as it is to mobile apps developed for iOS or Android. That’s because the guidelines refer mostly to what the user sees and experiences when they visit a website or use an app. If a user with disabilities has a difficult time navigating a digital experience, it probably does not conform to WCAG—meaning it’s probably not ADA-compliant, either.  

Action items for website accessibility 

To achieve ADA compliance, you’ll first need to identify—and address—potential accessibility barriers across your organization’s digital experiences. This process can take time, but the action items below, based on WCAG, will get you started.  

Add alt text to images 

All images that contain relevant information must be accompanied by alternative text (alt text). Alt text is a short description of an image that’s embedded in a web page’s HTML code. The level of detail that alt text should provide depends on the context of the image. For example, an image of ducks might be accompanied by the alt text “Ducks swimming in a pond” on most web pages but will be better served by the alt text “Mallard ducks (Anas platyrhynchos) swimming in a lake in Raleigh” on a website about the birds of North Carolina. 

Add captions to videos 

Much learning content comes in the form of instructional videos. However, if audio alone is used to convey dialogue or other sounds, key information may be inaccessible to people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing. The solution is to provide captions that accurately capture the audio content of the video—including dialogue and sound effects. Captions should also describe music, particularly if it plays a significant role in a video. For WCAG 2.1 Level AA conformance, accurate captions are required for both pre-recorded and live videos, which means that any automatically generated captions should be edited for accuracy. 

Conform to color contrast requirements 

Color plays a crucial role in ensuring that text is readable. The color contrast ratio is a numerical depiction of how text stands out against its background; in other words, it measures the difference between hues. As a benchmark, black text on a white background has a color contrast ratio of 21:1. WCAG 2.1 Level AA recommends a minimum color contrast ratio of 4.5:1 for normal text (12 points or smaller) and 3:1 for large text, giving web designers a bit of leeway to observe their institution’s branding guidelines.  

Organize text with headings and subheadings 

Headings and subheadings divide text into shorter sections that are easier to read. They also help screen reader users locate the information they need. Often, content creators make the mistake of just using a different font size or typeface to indicate a heading, which leads to screen readers not recognizing the differences between sections. Instead, add heading and subheading tags to your content, starting with <h1> for the main heading, <h2> for section titles, <h3> for subsections, and so on. 

Creating accessible, ADA-compliant online campus experiences 

An accessible online learning experience is one that complies with ADA requirements. By conforming to WCAG standards, postsecondary institutions can improve their websites’ usability, make their online learning content easier to navigate, and build an environment where every student feels welcome and empowered to expand their horizons.