Since coming out of the pandemic and remote learning, schools have steadily moved more of their information, resources and learning materials online. What once might have lived in a printed handbook, classroom folder or paper form now moves through websites, learning management systems, parent portals, shared documents, videos and social media. New federal accessibility requirements mean districts will soon need to ensure much of that digital content is accessible to people with disabilities.
Think about how much digital information moves through your school every day. A parent completes an enrollment form. A counselor posts a resource. A teacher uploads a PDF to the LMS. Someone updates the school website, shares a video or posts to social media.
That everyday reality now intersects with new federal requirements under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The U.S. Department of Justice’s new web accessibility rule requires public entities to ensure covered web content and mobile applications meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA accessibility standards. For entities with populations of 50,000 or more, compliance is required by April 26, 2027, while smaller entities, including most Michigan public school districts, generally have until April 26, 2028.
That doesn’t mean districts need to treat this as a massive compliance project tackled all at once. With time before the new requirements take effect, schools have an opportunity to begin building accessibility into the everyday practices staff already use to create and share digital content.
What You Need to Know Now
Our friends at Miller Johnson published a helpful article outlining what the new ADA requirements mean for public school districts. One important takeaway is that district responsibility may extend beyond content created or managed directly by the district, including some third-party tools and platforms used to provide district services and programs.
The classroom implications are particularly important. Digital content provided to students through an LMS, including documents, images, videos and other course materials, may be subject to the same accessibility requirements. What might initially appear to be a website or technology compliance issue therefore has implications for people creating and sharing digital content throughout the district.
There are exceptions for certain archived and preexisting digital materials, but that doesn’t mean districts can simply ignore everything created before the deadline. Content that is still actively used to provide district services or programs, including materials being used by students in a current course, may still need to meet the requirements.
Use the links below to learn more:
- Read the Miller Johnson Article on the new ADA rules
- Review the Web Accessibility Standards
- Check Your District Population
The scope can feel significant when you begin thinking about all of the digital content created across a district. The goal isn’t to tackle everything at once. A better place to begin is by changing what you create going forward and then working intentionally through the content you already have.
Step 1: Set New Standards Going Forward
Start by establishing some basic expectations for anyone creating digital content. These don’t need to be complicated, but they do need to become common practice across the district. That includes not only staff updating the district or building website, but also teachers uploading and sharing digital resources with students through an LMS.
A few examples include:
- Add meaningful alt text to images so someone using a screen reader understands what the image communicates.
- Use descriptive hyperlinks instead of “click here,” and link words that explain where the user is going.
- Caption videos and multimedia content.
- In designed documents, make sure important information isn’t communicated through color alone.
- Ensure that the color contrast between background and foreground content is great enough to be legible for all users.
- Use built-in headings and lists rather than relying only on font size, bolding or visual formatting.
- Review PDFs before posting, especially scanned documents that may simply be an image of text.
Step 2: Decide Where to Start
Trying to review every piece of existing digital content at once would be overwhelming. Instead, prioritize content based on how frequently it is used and how important it is for students, families and staff to access it successfully.
Some places to start might include:
- District and building homepages
- Enrollment forms
- Student and parent handbooks
- Calendars
- Counseling resources
- FAQ pages and documents
- Frequently accessed PDFs
- Parent portals
- Teacher LMS courses and frequently used digital instructional materials
At the classroom level, that might mean asking teachers to begin with materials they reuse every year or provide to large numbers of students rather than trying to review every file they have ever created. From there, districts can continue working through existing content based on use, importance and impact.
Step 3: Establish Leadership and Shared Responsibility
Accessibility can’t simply become another responsibility for your IT or network administrator. Districts need someone to coordinate the work, but accessibility ultimately depends on the everyday practices of everyone who creates and shares digital content.
Identify who will lead and coordinate the district’s accessibility efforts, how expectations will be communicated, what training and support staff will need, and how responsibility will be shared across Central Office, buildings and classrooms.
The goal isn’t simply to “fix the website” before a deadline. It’s to make accessibility part of how your district creates and shares digital information every day.
MASSP will continue to help districts prepare by providing additional learning opportunities and practical resources around WCAG 2.1 Level AA accessibility standards, including a webinar planned for later this fall.
Note: AI tools were used in the drafting process to support organization and clarity. This reflects the same responsible use of AI we encourage in our schools: using it to enhance, not replace, our thinking.