Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) Title II Update

What is ADA Title II?

requires state and local governments to ensure their services, programs, and activities, including those offered online and through mobile apps, are accessible to people with disabilities (ADA.gov).

What Do You Need to Know?

The Title II update requires that most online content and applications (there are limited exceptions) be accessible under the applicable technical standard of , Level AA, by April 24, 2026.

Â鶹Ãâ·Ñ°æÏÂÔØBoulder has had a serious and long-standing commitment to digital accessibility compliance long before the Title II updates. The Digital Accessibility Office’s (DAO) guidance on approaching Title II updates continues under this pre-existing commitment. Please review our campus policy and standards to better understand our campus’s commitment and processes.

We provide resources to help the entire Â鶹Ãâ·Ñ°æÏÂÔØBoulder community create and maintain accessible digital content, platforms, and services. Our offerings include:

The campus digital environment is vast and consistently changing. This is where you and your colleagues come in.

We need your partnership through proactivity. We ask that you contact us with your questions or when you need assistance. We may not be aware of your specific situation or an area that could require attention, so we strongly recommend scheduling time with us (creates email) to discuss how you and your teams can help Â鶹Ãâ·Ñ°æÏÂÔØBoulder fulfill its commitment to meet these requirements.

What Should You Be Doing?

Create Accessible Content

Ensure that the digital content you create, including emails, websites, documents, presentations, and multimedia follow accessibility best practices.

Follow DAO guidance when developing:

  • Emails and newsletters
  • Web content
  • Software applications
  • PDFs and Word documents
  • PowerPoint presentations
  • Videos and multimedia

Prioritize Accessibility in Procurement

Stress the importance of accessibility when working with:

  • Vendors
  • Suppliers
  • Software providers
  • Contractors

Review our Talking to Vendors About Accessibility newsletter for guidance on discussing digital accessibility with all these groups.

Accessibility should be considered early in purchasing and implementation processes, not after adoption. The DAO has resources that can help you ask questions about and better understand the accessibility of products you’d like to obtain.

Educate Yourself and Your Team

Take advantage of DAO-offered training sessions and learning opportunities. Building internal knowledge is one of the most effective ways to create sustainable accessibility improvements. Following are available asynchronous training sessions you can access:

  • (Boulder Campus only)
  • (Skillsoft Course)

We also provide group and individualized training tailored to your specific needs, or you can take our 5-part digital accessibility foundations training series. If you’d like to learn how to make content accessible in your specific environment, send us an email.

Talk About Digital Accessibility

Promote a culture of accessibility by talking about it openly. Encourage discussions about accessibility in meetings, workshops, or even over coffee with colleagues. Remember, it’s much easier to implement digital accessibility at a foundational level than to retrofit it once a project is done.

Review our Advocating for and Implementing Accessibility in an Organization newsletter for more information about approaches and questions to help you advocate, prioritize, and implement digital accessibility within your organization.

Â鶹Ãâ·Ñ°æÏÂÔØBoulder's Commitment to Digital Accessibility

Â鶹Ãâ·Ñ°æÏÂÔØBoulder is committed to building and maintaining an accessible digital environment through:

  • Its digital accessibility policy and standards
  • Regular manual testing of CU-purchased, created, and maintained technologies
  • Ongoing campus education and outreach
  • Partnership with campus units to remediate any identified barriers
  • Continuous commitment to compliance and inclusive design

Digital accessibility is a shared responsibility. By working together, we can create a more inclusive campus experience for everyone.

FAQs

  • Same as they have been under the university's policies. Work to make your content accessible and use established processes to have your software purchases reviewed for accessibility (ICT review and DAO testing).
  • Take offered training on content creation and other items as needed. Of importance is to know that you’re not alone. The Digital Accessibility Office exists to help you meet university, state, and federal accessibility standards.
  • You may create barriers to people accessing your materials.
  • You put you and the university at risk of complaint and lawsuit.
  • The U.S. Department of Justice updated Title II regulations to clarify that most digital (web content and mobile applications) services, programs, and activities provided by state and local governments must be accessible. For higher education institutions like Â鶹Ãâ·Ñ°æÏÂÔØBoulder, this explicitly includes websites, mobile apps, digital documents, and online systems.
  • The compliance deadline for digital accessibility is April 24, 2026.

Yes. If your department creates, manages, purchases, selects, maintains or shares digital content or technology used to deliver services, programs, or information, Title II applies to you. This includes:

  • Departmental websites
  • Online forms
  • Learning platforms
  • Shared documents
  • Email communications
  • Software platforms
  • Third-party tools

You are not alone. The expectation is not immediate perfection, but rather to make demonstrable, ongoing effort toward improvement by:

  • Identifying high-impact or high-traffic content.
  • Addressing the most significant barriers first.
  • Building accessibility into all new content and purchases.
  • Developing a remediation or alternate access plan (ask DAO for a template).
  • Documenting your efforts and showing consistent progress is key.

Focus first on:

  • Public-facing websites.
  • Required course materials.
  • High-use forms and documents.
  • Core business systems.
  • Frequently accessed resources.
  • If you're unsure where to begin, schedule a consultation, and we (DAO) can help you prioritize.

Accessibility must be considered during procurement and renewal processes. Departments should:

  • Ask vendors about WCAG 2.1 AA conformance.
  • Request accessibility documentation (e.g., a Voluntary Product Accessibility Template - VPAT or an Accessibility Conformance Report - ACR).
  • Include accessibility language in contracts.
  • Consult with DAO early in the procurement process.
  • Accessibility is significantly easier and more cost-effective when addressed before purchasing.
  • Not necessarily, and not necessarily all at once. It depends on the content and use.
  • Generally, prioritization should focus on active, current, and frequently accessed materials. Older or archived materials that are not actively used may be addressed differently. Our office can help address your specific circumstances.
  • Regardless, if a person with a disability has requested access to materials to participate in or benefit from university services, programs, and activities, those materials must be made accessible in a timely manner.
  • Our office can help you address your specific circumstances.
  • Title II of the ADA is an important, federal civil rights law. Noncompliance can result in complaints, investigations, violations, or lawsuits.
  • Â鶹Ãâ·Ñ°æÏÂÔØBoulder's approach is to reduce risk through steady, documented progress and proactive engagement. The most important thing you can do is begin now and demonstrate ongoing effort.
  • Review the and the Â鶹Ãâ·Ñ°æÏÂÔØBoulder digital accessibility policy and standards.
  • Schedule a DAO training session.
  • Create new content accessibly.
  • Evaluate existing high-priority materials.
  • Schedule time with us to develop a plan tailored to your area.
  • You do not have to navigate this alone — but engagement from departments is essential. Please contact us with your questions or concerns.