April 24, 2026. That's the date public colleges and universities need to have their digital house in order, and for many, it's coming up fast.
If your institution is scrambling to understand what updated Title II regulations actually mean for your disability services team, you're not alone. Here's what you need to know. ⤵️
So, What Is Title II?
Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act has been around since 1990. It requires state and local governments — including publicly funded colleges and universities — to make sure their services and programs are accessible to people with disabilities. Simple enough in theory.
The big change? In 2024, the Department of Justice finally caught up with the digital age. They updated the law to explicitly cover websites, web apps, and mobile platforms, requiring all of them to meet WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) standards.
In plain terms: every PDF needs to work with a screen reader. Every video needs captions. Every image needs alt text. Every third-party platform your campus uses needs to meet the bar too. Miss the deadline and you're looking at government lawsuits and hefty fines.
Why Your Accommodations Office Is Right in the Middle of This
Here's the thing people often miss: Title II compliance isn't just a task for IT. It lives right inside your accommodations workflow.
Think about it... If a student with a visual impairment has to navigate an inaccessible portal just to submit an accommodation request (the system designed to support them) your institution has failed them before you've even started. That's not a hypothetical. It's happening right now at campuses that haven't prioritized accessible technology.
And the staffing reality makes it worse. Nearly half of U.S. universities have just one or two people working on technology accessibility, according to a 2023 Educause survey. Only 22% of instructors consider accessibility when designing course materials. A third of faculty aren't even aware the new federal requirements exist.
Disability services teams are already doing more with less. Without a platform that bakes accessibility into every step, the compliance burden lands squarely on shoulders that are already full.
What to Actually Look for in a Platform
Not every tool that claims "accessibility" is ready for what Title II demands. Here's what matters:
Does the platform itself meet WCAG 2.1 AA? Every form, portal, and page a student touches should be accessible out of the box — not as an add-on. If the accommodation request system isn't accessible, nothing else matters.
Are documents handled accessibly end-to-end? Accommodation letters, intake forms, supporting docs — all of it needs to be screen reader-compatible when it lands in a student's or faculty member's inbox.
Can you prove compliance over time? A good platform gives you audit trails and reporting so you can demonstrate good-faith effort and catch gaps before they become legal problems.
Do your integrations hold up? Your LMS, SIS, and other campus tools all need to meet the same standards. Ask vendors directly: how do you handle accessibility in your integrations, and how do you keep them current as standards evolve?
Is your vendor actually committed — or just checking a box? Look for a clear accessibility roadmap, not just a compliance statement from two years ago. Regulations are shifting the market, and the best vendors are getting ahead of it.
The Takeaway
Title II compliance and great accommodations management aren't two separate goals. Done right, they're the same goal: creating a campus where every student can fully participate from day one.
As one higher education accessibility expert put it, this isn't just about avoiding penalties — "Title II is about growth and opportunity. And when you implement accessibility for people with disabilities, it improves everyone's lives."
The deadline is real. The right platform makes meeting it possible.
