The US Department of Justice recently released a Final Rule under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act that clarifies the role of local and state government agencies in making their websites and other digital content more accessible to individuals with disabilities. Among the entities covered by ADA Title II are public colleges and universities with more than 13 million students enrolled as of 2022. 

Some experts believe that as many 20% of college students have one or more disabilities, and the lack of accessibility in educational institution websites might keep them from fully participating in student life and class discussions. This can result in ADA compliance website lawsuits involving costly settlements or fines. We will discuss the relationship between the ADA and website accessibility and how public institutions can protect themselves from accessibility lawsuits.

The ADA and website accessibility

Until recently, the ADA itself was silent on website accessibility. Different states had different interpretations of the law; some courts refused to recognize websites as public accommodations subject to accessibility requirements; courts in other states ruled that websites had to be accessible to individuals with disabilities. 

The differences in legal opinions led to an environment where organizations and institutions, particularly colleges and universities, failed to avoid ADA liability. In one month in 2023 alone, thirteen higher education institutions faced accessibility lawsuits, part of a growing trend of accessibility litigation. Fortunately, the recent DOJ ADA Title II announcement clarifies what public colleges and universities need to do to achieve website accessibility.

The new rule calls for Title II institutions to use the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Level 2.1 Level AA as an accessibility benchmark. The WCAG consists of 78 success criteria that follow four key principles: perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust. It is organized into three levels – A, AA, and AAA – with increasing levels of conformance. In an educational context, the success criteria indicate that all learning content, websites, and digital applications must be readable, usable, and scalable. 

You might ask yourself, though, why the new rule is such a big deal when Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act has already covered colleges and universities since 2018. The stark difference between the two is that Section 508 only involves institutions that receive federal funding (which may include Pell grants or research grants), while ADA Title II does away with the federal funding requirement by requiring all state- or locally-funded institutions to maintain accessible websites, no matter how much federal funding they receive. 

How public institutions can avoid ADA lawsuits

As a result of the new ADA Title II rule, it’s reasonable to expect the number of accessibility lawsuits to increase. Unless public institutions start pushing for WCAG 2.1 Level AA compliance, they might also become the target of costly, inconvenient lawsuits.

There are a couple of methods a college or university can take to become WCAG compliant. The first method involves manual accessibility testing and remediation, which includes hiring a user with disabilities to test the website’s usability or running a series of tests that simulate the user experience for a number of disabilities. However, this approach is costly and tedious and might require the website to be taken down during the testing period.

The other method involves automated testing, where the tester uses AI-powered software to check the website code for potential accessibility violations such as images without alt text, misplaced headings, or insufficient color contrast. This allows website administrators to detect and remediate accessibility issues more efficiently. Automated testing can be combined with an accessibility widget that gives users a customized user experience, including the ability to switch between fonts and color combinations.

Experts suggest combining both approaches so entities can benefit from the insights of manual testing and the speed and efficiency of automated testing. A combined approach also allows administrators to ensure that new content is accessible the moment it goes live. 

ADA compliance: Protecting your institution from costly litigation

The new ADA Title II Final Rule has given state and local higher educational institutions a definitive set of accessibility standards. However, it also leaves the same institutions vulnerable to accessibility lawsuits, especially those that receive little to no federal funding. WCAG 2.1 Level AA compliance is the only way to become accessible under the ADA, keeping your institution from disruptive lawsuits while making its website and digital content more inclusive to students and faculty with disabilities.