Title II FAQs

Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act ensures that anyone with a disability has equal access to state and local government services such as public education, and it covers the accessibility of web content and digital applications. The updates in the new rule are a clarification stating that all digital course content needs to be accessible from the start when it is posted, rather than in response to a request for accommodation. Title II defines a set of technical standards that must be met for content to be considered accessible.

Digital course content is accessible when it follows WCAG 2.1 A and AA guidelines. This involves using features in all digital programs (such as Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, PDFs, Video production software, Canvas, Google tools, etc.) that allow assistive technologies to move through the content. A few examples are using headers, the bulleted list feature, adding alt text for pictures, having captions in videos, etc. The CTT has created resources to help you learn how to make your content accessible.

The ruling went into effect on June 24, 2024, but the end of the stated grace period for compliance is April 24, 2026.

April 24, 2026 is UNL's deadline for Federal compliance. The Fall 2025 is a suggested internal deadline to help instructors make progress toward being compliant by April.

We hear you. Making content accessible does take time and effort, especially at first. While there is no direct compensation available for individual faculty, the CTT offers a range of resources to help ease the process, including access to instructional designers who can consult on accessible course design and help identify practical strategies for compliance. Resources from across campus will also be collected at ada.unl.edu.  In addition, we’re deploying Accessibility Ambassadors across departments to provide more localized support and guidance. Departments are also welcome to use their own budgeted funds if they wish to hire additional help for accessibility remediation or instructional support.

Yes, because alt text and long descriptions serve separate purposes and both are required for complex images. Alt text provides a brief explanation of the image content and purpose and should be based on the intent and context within the document. In addition, complex visual content that cannot be fully described in a couple sentences needs a full text description so that students using screen readers or other assistive technology can access the same information. To learn more, check out CTT's Guide for Complex Images, which offers practical guidance and even an image description generator.

It can take a little bit of thinking, but it is possible to write alt text that doesn’t reveal the answer. Each time you write alt text, you will consider the use of the image and adjust your description accordingly – which includes not revealing the answer. The more you practice this, the easier it will get. Students with visual impairments may have access to additional support through their accommodation.

If you're using software that’s widely adopted in your field but not officially supported by UNL, you’re still responsible for doing what you reasonably can to ensure students with disabilities can participate. That might mean offering alternatives, reaching out to vendors for accessibility info through the procurement process (ask them for their VPAT), or consulting with Institutional Equity and Compliance about developing an Equally Effective Alternate Access Plan (EEAAP) to accommodate students if the tool isn’t accessible.

Yes, all course materials, including textbooks, do need to meet accessibility standards. Publishers are increasingly aware of these requirements, so the best first step is to ask them directly about their commitment to accessibility (like screen reader compatibility, keyboard navigation, alt text for images, and PowerPoints). Libraries can also help vet materials or find alternatives if needed. The libraries have information on their accessibility practices and course reserves, as well as contacts for their subject specialists

Public entities like universities are required to meet the new Title II digital accessibility standards by April 24, 2026. The focus will be on helping people meet the requirements, so frequently the first step for noncompliance is to explain the violations to the responsible party and request compliance. Continued noncompliance could lead to civil rights complaints or enforcement actions from the appropriate federal agency. This is a civil rights issue — and one that’s being taken seriously.

There isn’t a course-by-course audit happening right now, but the university as a whole is responsible for complying with the law. That means if a student files a complaint or if there is a federal investigation or court case, the institution must be able to show that reasonable steps were taken to make course content accessible. If your course isn’t compliant, it could lead to barriers for your students and legal risk for the university. The focus is on the shared goal of making sure no one is excluded from learning, not on punishing instructors.

This is a final rule under the Americans with Disabilities Act, and it is already in effect and the April 24, 2026 deadline is merely the end of the stated grace period for compliance. The Department of Justice has made it clear this is a civil rights obligation, not a temporary policy. While it’s natural to feel skeptical, this standard for how we create digital content won’t be going away, so we recommend getting started now to save time and effort later.

You're not required to toss all your PDFs, but any PDFs you use for your course must be accessible to all students. Unfortunately, many older or scanned PDFs are not accessible, and PDFs are more challenging to remediate than other document formats. In those cases, it’s best to look for more accessible formats, request remediated versions, or talk to your library or accessibility team for help converting key materials. The “don’t use PDFs” advice is really about avoiding inaccessible formats whenever possible. For example, for accessibility it is better to leave Word Documents and PowerPoints in their original file format rather than converting those document types into a PDF format. See this PDF Accessibility Checklist for more information on what is required to make a PDF fully accessible.

The accessibility rules apply to any content you require students to use as part of your course. If student-to-student work like peer review is required, the work that students produce should meet the standards. This is a great opportunity to introduce your students to the concept of digital accessibility which many of them will need to implement when they graduate and have jobs that involve creating digital materials.

Going paper-only isn’t a realistic solution for most modern classrooms. The reason you’re making materials available digitally in the first place is likely because of the benefits for both students and for you as an instructor. Removing digital materials limits access for many students and makes your course harder to manage in the long run. Digital materials can actually increase accessibility, and many students now rely on screen readers, digital note-taking, and flexible formats to succeed. The goal isn't to restrict how you teach, but to ensure that all students have equal accesss to what you're teaching. Once you’ve learned how to use the accessibility features in the programs you use, you may be pleasantly surprised how easy it is to make accessible documents!

Ally is a very helpful place to start, but on its own, no. Ally won’t catch everything that’s required—no software can do that. For example, a few items it tends to miss are raw link text that should be turned into a descriptive hyperlink, PDFs with inaccurate OCR or improper tagging, and missing headers on Canvas pages. As you’re working with Ally, we recommend using these individual program checklists to make sure you’re catching everything.

The goal is 100%. However, automatic checking tools are not enough by themselves and even with them sometimes a perfect score is impossible, for reasons beyond our control. For example, there are reports of Ally flagging contrast issues when black text is on a white background. You can’t improve the contrast any more than that so you should consider this a glitch with the Ally tool and move on. 

No, Title II doesn’t change anything about the content that you cover in your course. As an instructor, you still have the ability to determine what you teach and which pedagogical tools you use. The goal of this law is just to ensure that all students have equal access to the content you choose to use for the course. National statistics indicated that 1/5 of college students have a disability (this includes registered and unregistered disabilities). Adding features to increase access will meaningfully support students even when they don’t disclose their disability. When materials are accessible from the start, it benefits everyone, including students using mobile devices, those with temporary impairments, or even students who simply learn better with captions, transcripts, or readable documents.

The reason we aim to make course materials accessible proactively is because Title II of the ADA requires public institutions to ensure equal access to all students—not just after a student discloses a disability, but as a default. Waiting until a student requests an accommodation can create delays that affect their ability to fully participate in the course.

Also, many students don’t disclose their disabilities—whether due to stigma, lack of diagnosis, or uncertainty about their rights—so a reactive approach can leave them unsupported. When materials are accessible from the start, it benefits everyone, including students using mobile devices, those with temporary impairments, or even students who simply learn better with captions, transcripts, or readable documents. Ultimately, it’s about reducing barriers before they become problems.

Your instructional designer! You can find the instructional designer assigned to your college and reach out with your questions within your course.

You can contact Institutional Equity and compliance about legal and policy issues by emailing access@unl.edu or calling (402) 472-3417