Why accessibility matters in education
Education websites serve a wide audience: prospective students comparing programs, current students checking deadlines, parents, staff and alumni. Some of them are blind or have low vision, some are deaf, some navigate only with a keyboard or a switch, and some have learning disabilities that make dense, unstructured text hard to follow.
An accessible website lets all of them find a program, apply, pay fees and use course materials without asking for a workaround.
The DOJ ADA Title II web rule
In 2024 the US Department of Justice published a rule under Title II of the ADA for state and local governments, which includes public schools, school districts, community colleges and public universities. Their websites and mobile apps have to meet WCAG 2.1 level AA.
In 2026 the DOJ moved the compliance dates with an interim final rule:
| Public entity | Compliance date |
|---|---|
| Population of 50,000 or more | April 26, 2027 |
| Population under 50,000 | April 26, 2028 |
Private schools, colleges and course providers are covered by other parts of the law. How these rules apply to your institution is a question for your counsel, and dates can change, so check the current DOJ guidance.
The pages that matter most
- Admissions and application forms. Multi-step forms with unlabeled fields, timeouts without warning, errors that are not announced.
- Program and course pages. Long text with skipped heading levels, low contrast, "Learn more" links that all sound alike.
- Calendars and timetables. Information shown only by color, tables built from images, date pickers that need a mouse.
- Documents and media. Syllabi and handbooks as scanned PDFs, lecture videos without captions, podcasts without transcripts.
- Payment and enrollment through third party portals.
Issues we often find on education sites
- Missing or generic page titles and page language on microsites and landing pages.
- Form fields without labels in inquiry and application forms.
- Images without alt text, including campus photos, staff portraits and event posters with text.
- Links without names in news grids and social media icons.
- Low contrast in brand colors used for text and buttons.
What a free check covers
Our checker scans your home page on desktop and mobile against WCAG 2.2 level A and AA, which includes everything in 2.1 AA, and emails you a private report with issues sorted by severity. It never logs in to learning platforms or submits forms.
Automated tools find only part of the issues. Captions, PDF accessibility, keyboard flow through applications and screen reader testing need a person, which is what a full audit covers.
Last updated October 18, 2026. This page is general information, not legal advice.