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Federal Digital Accessibility Guidelines

Accessibility

UNCW has long prioritized accessibility on campus and across its digital platforms, and we will continue to uphold that commitment as an institution. University digital content — including instructional materials, audio, videos, documents, forms and websites — must be accessible by April 26, 2027, under a federal mandate outlined by the U.S. Department of Justice. 

Faculty, staff and students must understand their responsibilities to help the university meet this requirement and maintain accessibility for our community. 

For more than a year, multiple units within UNCW have been engaged in ongoing work to review and prepare for the U.S. Department of Justice’s ADA Title II digital accessibility guidelines, which apply broadly to websites, mobile applications, learning management systems, and more. On Monday, April 20, the federal government extended the deadline for compliance to April 26, 2027. The university will continue to build on the compliance efforts outlined below during the year ahead. 

Digital Accessibility Working Group  

UNCW built on normal accessibility work to convene a Digital Accessibility Working Group in spring 2025 to support shared understanding and early coordination. Cabinet charged Chief Information Officer Sharyne Miller and Chief Marketing and Communications Officer Andrea Weaver with co-chairing the group, which included members from across campus units, including Academic Affairs, Student Affairs, Athletics, Advancement, ITS, Office of University Relations, Human Resources and General Counsel. This working group has served as a temporary, collaborative forum rather than a governance body. 

Over the course of the year, the group:  

  • Reviewed current digital content and system practices  
  • Evaluated the DOJ’s ADA Title II WCAG 2.1 AA requirements and their institutional impact  
  • Identified gaps and risks across campus areas  
  • Suggested practical training, resources, services and support to assist employees as they adapt to the April 2026 regulation  

The co‑chairs extend their sincere thanks to all members of the Digital Accessibility Working Group for their time, expertise and thoughtful contributions. Their engagement has been instrumental in helping the university prepare responsibly and proactively for these expanded federal requirements. We anticipate continued support and expertise as the university continues its accessibility efforts in a different structure.

Existing Student and Employee Accommodations Framework  

This work complements the university’s existing accommodation frameworks. Reasonable student accommodations are coordinated through the Disability Resource Center (DRC), while reasonable accommodations for employees and applicants are addressed through Human Resources under university policy. UNCW’s digital accessibility initiatives focus on proactively reducing barriers in core systems and content to support access for the broader university community, not just students and staff.  

Key Actions Taken  

Across campus, university units have focused on building awareness, reviewing current practices and taking practical steps to address compliance. These actions have included:  

  • The May 2023 launch of the redesigned website incorporated accessibility measures across the platform to enhance the user experience through text, images, audio, videos and documents. 
  • The university removed 18,000+ PDFs prior to the redesigned website launch and established a remediation process for website-based documents that were determined to be inaccessible.  
  • The Web Team implemented comprehensive, required content manager training to support best practices in accessible content development. The Web Team also launched an informational webpage specific to the federal digital guidelines, which are part of the overall accessibility resources online. 
  • The university implemented a feedback feature on the accessibility webpage to enable individuals from the campus and community to quickly notify UNCW about accessibility concerns. 
  • Through the Office of Distance Education and eLearning, the university is implementing a phased transition focused on instructional content delivered via the Canvas LMS, building on strong existing ADA practices such as universal design for learning, closed captioning, systematic LMS accessibility review and remediation, and additional accessibility tools for all faculty. This approach includes internal process upgrades, staff expertise development, faculty training and outreach, and a sustainable long‑term model for continuous review, upscaling and just‑in‑time accessibility support for all courses and faculty on a year-round basis.  
  • Information Technology Services continues to assess new technology purchases and renewals for ADA compliance. Soft Docs was procured to assist in transitioning from non-compliant PDFs and will be rolled out this year. Accessibility training for Word and PDFs was developed and is available as a self-paced training in Percipio. 
  • Summer 2026 — The university’s ADA Coordinator role is transitioning under the Office of the General Counsel, creating an opportunity for university-wide oversight, compliance and coordination with relevant campus units. 

Guiding Principles  

Full compliance across all digital platforms is an ongoing effort. Given the scope of systems, legacy content and third‑party platforms, remediation and improvements will continue over time. UNCW’s ongoing efforts to improve and provide digital accessibility is guided by the following priorities:   

Prospective Students and Students First  

Digital accessibility for current and prospective students and their families is the university’s top priority, with emphasis on admissions, instructional platforms, academic content and student‑facing services. 

Visitors and Guests  

Accessibility for campus visitors, guests and the public, particularly for events, programs and informational resources, is another high priority.  

Faculty, Staff and Applicants Support  

Faculty and staff are supported through resources, training, services and guidance to help them create accessible digital content within their roles. The university provides assistance to qualified applicants who request reasonable accommodation during the hiring process. When accessibility barriers impact an individual employee’s ability to perform essential job functions, reasonable accommodations are addressed through Human Resources, consistent with applicable policy and law.  

Conclusion 

While the Digital Accessibility Working Group’s activities have concluded, the information, resources and recommendations emerging from the group’s work will continue to support accessibility at UNCW well into the future. The university will continue to update the community about its accessibility efforts as it transitions into a Section 504 ADA Coordinator-led effort. 

— Posted April 20, 2026 by Dr. Sharyne Miller, Chief Information Officer, ITS, and Andrea Monroe Weaver, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, OUR 

What it means

The 2027 deadline is an extension based on a final rule under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) that the Department of Justice signed in April 2024 to ensure digital content and mobile applications are accessible for people with disabilities.

Digital accessibility is the practice of making technology and digital content more accessible to people with a diverse range of hearing, movement, sight and cognitive abilities.

This rule confirms access for individuals with disabilities and users of assistive technology, ensuring inclusivity in our digital landscape.

Rule requirements

This final rule includes three main required elements.

  1. The rule requires state and local governments — including public universities such as UNCW — to make their digital content accessible.
  2. The rule establishes a technical standard to follow, Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Version 2.1 AA.
  3. The rule sets a compliance deadline that has since been extended. Now, all university digital content, including instructional content, audio, videos, documents, forms and websites, must be accessible by April 26, 2027.

Individuals are responsible for ensuring the digital content they create or maintain for university business is accessible and meets WCAG 2.1 AA guidelines.

What must be accessible?

Digital content is defined as the information and experiences available on the web, such as text, images, audio, videos and documents and the webpages and platforms that house them. The Department of Justice rule also requires mobile apps to be accessible.

Essentially, content accessed using a computer or smartphone is digital content. This includes content that also exists in a physical format. For example, if your department has a paper form and a PDF of that form online, the PDF version must be accessible.

The rule also applies to third-party content that the university or vendors post on university websites or platforms.

Your responsibilities

Everyone at UNCW is responsible for ensuring the digital content they create or maintain for university business is accessible and meets WCAG 2.1 AA guidelines. Your specific responsibilities may vary depending on your role.

Staff

All digital content created for university business must be accessible by April 26, 2027. Everyone who creates or maintains digital content will make that content accessible, but some units may centralize accessibility work. Work with your team, department or unit to clarify responsibilities.

Staff who procure content, such as training courses, websites, platforms, software or apps, must ensure that content is accessible during the procurement process.

Instructors and faculty

All course content must meet WCAG 2.1 AA guidelines by April 26, 2027.

This includes third-party content. For example, if you link to or embed a YouTube video in your course, you are required to ensure it has accurate captions or provide a transcript as a text alternative — even if you did not create the video.

Archived reference content, such as courses from previous semesters, does not need to be accessible. However, if you reuse the course or content from the course, it must be made accessible.

Students

If you create digital content for university business, that content must be accessible by April 26, 2027. As a student, university business may include work you perform in a student job or content you create for a university-sponsored student organization or club. You are not required to make your schoolwork or personal content accessible.

For example, if you have a student job creating social media posts for a department, those social media posts must be accessible and meet WCAG 2.1 AA guidelines. Ask your supervisor to clarify any responsibilities you have as you create and post content. You do not have to make old posts accessible retroactively.

Or, if you maintain a website for a university-sponsored student organization that is registered with UNCW Campus Activities & Involvement Center, that web content will need to meet accessibility requirements. If you create or maintain that content, you are responsible for making it accessible.

Exemptions

The Department of Justice ruling does make a few exceptions, largely for archival and reference content or preexisting content, including old social media posts. These exceptions must meet specific conditions and generally do not apply to content that is active and current. General Counsel will review and approve any exceptions.

Frequently Asked Questions

Federal guidance emphasizes that organizations must demonstrate active, documented progress toward compliance, including establishing a process, creating a transition plan, and prioritizing widely used or high-impact content.  

Practical ways to show progress include: 

  • Prioritize critical/high‑traffic content first. 
  • Document your remediation plan, including timelines and responsibilities. 
  • Begin updating new and frequently used materials to WCAG 2.1 AA as you go. 
  • Track improvements to show consistent movement toward the mandate. 

WCAG requires that digital content be perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust for people with disabilities — regardless of whether it is hosted internally or externally. Before linking or embedding third‑party content:  

  • Check for captions, alt text, keyboard navigation and clear structure. 
  • Use automated accessibility checkers.  
  • Avoid embedding content that clearly fails basic accessibility criteria unless an accessible alternative is available. 
  • Request accessibility conformance documentation (e.g., VPAT) from vendors when possible. 

Several units across campus support digital accessibility, including guidance on WCAG standards, tools, training, document remediation, and web support. Visit UNCW's accessibility webpage to learn more. 

UNCW website owners, delegates and content managers with access to Cascade may revisit the WEB 102: Digital & Web Accessibility training video in Percipio to review best practices for accessibility.

Help with captioning or transcripts is available through DEeL for materials created for instructional purposes. Details on the help available can be found on DEel's website.