Digital Accessibility (ADA Title II)
Director of Student Success, Director of Accessibility Resources, Director of Applications and Infrastructure, Web Content Specialist, Instructional Design and Development Coordinator, Academic Operations Coordinator, Faculty representatives, Computer Help Center ITS2/D2L Administrator, Institutional Effectiveness Project Manager
Project Purpose
This project aims to eliminate digital content accessibility barriers by achieving compliance with the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Title II Web Accessibility Rule by April 26, 2027.
Compliance requires public colleges to provide accessible digital content aligned with Web Content Accessibility Guidance (WCAG) Version 2.1, Level A/AA standards for digital content that supports the College’s programs, services and activities, including, but not limited to:
- Public-facing websites and official social media accounts
- Learning management systems and online course materials
- Digital documents, forms and multimedia content (e.g., PDF, Word, PowerPoint, video, images)
- Official college email communications
- Digital signage on campus used to convey required information
- Internal communications (e.g. Employee Portal)
Deliverables
- Assemble a cross-functional accessibility workgroup to coordinate efforts, provide recommendations to leadership and serve as knowledgeable digital accessibility advocates to impacted groups.
- Create a phased implementation plan outlining high‑impact practices to achieve ADA Title II digital accessibility compliance, including identified impacted groups, training needs, milestones, timelines, and anticipated resource considerations.
- Determine a college-wide communication plan to establish awareness of the regulatory requirements, compliance deadline and expected changes to digital content practices.
- Identify digital content creators across the college and equip them with role-based training, tools and resources to integrate accessibility into digital content workflows (e.g. in-service training, ticketing system, internal resources, software, etc.).
- Research and recommend digital accessibility software and identify users.
- Review Minnesota State system policies related to digital accessibility and determine if additional college policies and procedures need to be developed.
- Determine a long-term governance and monitoring framework to assess and sustain digital accessibility compliance.
- Document progress toward meeting ADA requirements for audits and required reporting to the Minnesota State system office.
Project Scope
In Scope
Public website, learning management systems and online course content (e.g. syllabi, assignments, rubrics, lecture slides, etc), digital documents and forms (e.g., PDF, Word, PowerPoint, spreadsheets), official college email communications, employee portal, official college social media accounts, video signage that conveys required information.
Out of Scope
Physical facilities (addressed under separate ADA process), archived or inactive digital content that is not required for access to current programs, services or activities.
Constraints
Compliance deadline, availability of faculty and staff time for training and remediation, software costs, D2L software integration limitations, broad group of faculty and staff responsible for digital content creation.
Effectiveness Measures
Definition of Success
Success is achieved when equitable access to digital information is a shared institutional responsibility and accessible digital content is created by default across all of the college’s digital platforms in alignment with ADA requirements.
Financial Impact
Software user licenses, liability for non-compliance.
Roles
Direct Impact
Employees who create, edit, publish, or maintain digital content in support of College programs, services, or activities, including those responsible for websites, course materials, documents, communications, and multimedia.
Indirect Impact
Students, employees, and members of the public who access the college’s digital content.
Roles Impact
Digital content creators will participate in training and use knowledge, tools and resources to apply accessibility standards when creating, updating, or remediating digital content.
