Introduction
In 2024, both the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) finalized updates for the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Title II and Rehabilitation Act of 1973 Section 504 (Section 504) regulations. These updates require identified entities to ensure that any web content and mobile apps they provide or make available are accessible to specific technical standards. Separate documents for both the ADA Title II (Google Doc) and Section 504 (Google Doc) updates summarize the final rules and highlight sections that are especially relevant to academic libraries.
Responses to the updated regulations will vary based on context and type of web content or mobile app. These are selected resources for planning and support across different library functional work areas.
Regulations
ADA Title II
- Americans with Disabilities Act Title II Regulations
- Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability; Accessibility of Web Information and Services of State and Local Government Entities (PDF version)
- Fact Sheet: New Rule on the Accessibility of Web Content and Mobile Apps Provided by State and Local Governments
- Accessibility of Web Content and Mobile Apps Provided by State and Local Government Entities: A Small Entity Compliance Guide
- State and Local Governments: First Steps Toward Complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act Title II Web and Mobile Application Accessibility Rule
HHS Section 504
- Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
- Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability in Programs or Activities Receiving Federal Financial Assistance (PDF version)
- Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 Part 84 Final Rule: Fact Sheet
- Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 Final Rule: Section by Section Fact Sheet for Recipients of Financial Assistance from HHS
Guidelines & Support
General Guidelines & Support
- Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 (World Wide Web Consortium)
- ADA Title II Regulations: Implications for Libraries (PDF) (Association of Research Libraries)
- The Law and Accessible Texts: Reconciling Civil Rights and Copyrights (PDF) (Association of Research Libraries)
- WebAIM Resources (WebAIM, Utah State University)
Accessibility Toolkits
These toolkits are applicable to multiple functional areas.
- Accessibility Toolkit (Accessibility Standing Group, Orbis Cascade Alliance)
- PDF and Digital Materials Remediation Checklist (Accessibility Standing Group, Orbis Cascade Alliance)
- Library Accessibility Toolkit (Google Doc) (Library Accessibility Alliance) *some links are broken
Acquisitions
- See also “Accessibility Toolkits” for general information about working with vendors
- See also “Licensing & Electronic Resources” for licensing best practices and guides
- Accessibility in Third-Party Products and Services (University of Washington)
- How to Interpret a VPAT (Harvard University)
- Vetting for Accessibility (National Center on Accessible Educational Materials)
- Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) (Information Technology Industry Council)
- VPAT Training | Module 8: ACR Readers and Evaluators (YouTube, 36:24) (Information Technology Industry Council)
Archives & Digital Collections
- Guidelines for Accessible Archives for People with Disabilities (Society of American Archivists)
- Digital Library Accessibility Policy and Practice Guidelines: A Guide by the Digital Accessibility Working Group (Digital Library Federation, Council on Library and Information Resources)
Cataloging & Metadata
These resources are for catalogers’ information and likely not part of immediate work in response to the ADA Title II updates. The WCAG 2 Layers of Guidance note “metadata may assist users in finding content most suitable for their needs,” but the W3C presents guidance in other documentation. Also, the European Accessibility Act shares goals to improve awareness of accessible content via metadata.
- Accessibility (Ch 6), The DEI Metadata Handbook by H. E. Wintermute, Heather M. Campbell, Christopher S. Dieckman, Nausicaa L. Rose, and Hema Thulsidhos [ebook] (Iowa State University)
- Creating and Editing Accessibility Metadata MARC Tags for Library Staff (Accessible Libraries)
- MARC21 Bibliographic 341 Accessibility Content field (Library of Congress)
- MARC21 Bibliographic 532 Accessibility Note field (Library of Congress)
- User Experience Guide for Displaying Accessibility Metadata 1.0 (World Wide Web Consortium)
- Accessibility Metadata Display Guide for Digital Publications 2.0 [draft] (Publishing Community Group under the W3C Community Contributor License Agreement)
- IFLA Accessibility Metadata Network (International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions) [formed in May 2024]
Fulfillment
- Creating Accessible Emails (Harvard University)
- Creating Accessible Email Messages (General Services Administration)
- How to Code Accessible Emails with Semantic HTML and ARIA (Email on Acid)
Instructional Materials & LibGuides
- See also “Accessibility Toolkits” for accessibility basics and digital materials remediation
- Creating Accessible Documents (National Center on Accessible Educational Materials)
- Captions, Transcripts, and Audio Description: Taking your Video Accessibility to the Next Level by Anaya Jones, Northeastern University (ACRL Distance & Online Learning Section)
- Creating Accessible Video (National Center on Accessible Educational Materials)
- Making Audio and Video Media Accessible (World Wide Web Consortium)
- Accessibility for LibGuides (Springshare) *access limited to Springshare tool login
- Accessibility – LibGuide Design: Best Practices and Guidelines (Washington State University Libraries)
- Best Practices for LibGuides Accessibility (Salt Lake Community College)
- NYU LibGuide Accessibility (New York University Libraries)
- LibAnswers FAQ Accessibility (Springshare) *access limited to Springshare tool login
- How to Make Your Course Accessible to Students with Disabilities (University of Washington) *includes resources for Blackboard, Canvas, D2L, Moodle, and Sakai
Library & Vendor Accessibility Features
- Accessibility Tips for Library Resources (Oregon State University Libraries)
- Library Resources & Accessibility (Central Oregon Community College Library)
Library Publishing
- See also “Cataloging & Metadata” for accessibility metadata resources
- Accessibility Guidance for University Presses (Association of University Presses) *access limited to AUPresses members
- Accessible Publishing Best Practice Guidelines for Publishers (Accessible Books Consortium)
- Describing Visual Resources Toolkit: Describing Visual Resources for Accessibility in Arts & Humanities Publications (University of Michigan Library)
Licensing & Electronic Resources
- See also “Accessibility Toolkits” for general information about licensing and e-resources
- See also “Acquisitions” for VPAT/ACR resources
- Licensing Best Practices for Orbis Cascade Alliance & Member Institutions (PDF) (E-Content Group, Orbis Cascade Alliance)
- See Accessibility Requirements for model language
- Locate specific licensing language for product subscriptions from the Alliance ER Licenses Google Drive folder
- Electronic Resources Accessibility Testing Evaluations (Library Accessibility Alliance)
- Dear Colleague letter to library vendors (regarding the ADA Title II updates)
- TRLN Guide to Negotiating Accessibility in E-Resource Licenses (PDF) (Triangle Research Libraries Network)
Open Educational Resources
- Accessibility Toolkit – 2nd Edition [ebook] (BCcampus)
- Accessibility Toolkit for Open Educational Resources (OER) (CUNY Library Services)
- Creating Accessible OER (OER Commons)
- Open Education Resources: Ensuring Inclusive Learning in Uncertain Times (National Center on Accessible Educational Materials)
- Protocol for Curating Accessible OER (National Center on Accessible Educational Materials)
Resource Sharing
- See also “Accessibility Toolkits” for accessibility basics and digital materials remediation
- Making Library Materials Available in Accessible Formats via Interlibrary Loan (PDF) (SHARES Executive Subgroup on Accessibility)
- 2023 NWILL Presentations on Accessibility/Print Disabilities (YouTube, 44:42)
- Outside the Box: Bringing Disparate Systems Together to Serve Patrons with Print Disabilities by Erika McNeil and Stan Huzarewicz, University of Connecticut (17:40)
- AccessibILLity: Accessibility in the Interlibrary Loan Process by Jalesia Horton, Southern Methodist University (15:32)
Systems
- See also “Accessibility Toolkits” for accessibility basics and testing for digital accessibility
- See also “Acquisitions” for VPAT/ACR resources
- Accessibility in Angular (Google)
- CSS and JavaScript Accessibility Best Practices (Mozilla)
- Evaluating Web Accessibility Overview (World Wide Web Consortium)
- Includes sections for initial checks, evaluation tools, conformance evaluation, using combined expertise, and involving users
Webinar Recordings & Materials
These webinars present information about the ADA Title II and Section 504 updates from the perspectives of higher education institutions, libraries, and/or digital accessibility subject matter experts.
- ADA Title II and You (Kaltura, 49:50) with slides (Google Slides) from the University of Minnesota’s Global Accessibility Awareness Day 2024 virtual event. Speakers include Keith Hays (ADA IT Coordinator at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign) and Khaled Musa (Academic Technologist with accessibility focus at University of Minnesota). May 16, 2024.
- ADA Title II: Considerations for Libraries (YouTube, 32:57) with slides (PDF) from RAILS (Reaching Across Illinois Library System) Digital Accessibility. Speakers include Keith Hays (ADA IT Coordinator at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign) and Monica Harris (RAILS Executive Director). June 6, 2024.
- Understanding the Revised ADA Title II: Implications for Library Publishing with Vimeo recording (1:01:12) and slides (PDF) from the Library Accessibility Alliance. Speakers include Peter Bossley (former Deputy ADA Coordinator at The Ohio State University and current Senior Manager of Accessibility at Thomson Reuters) and Angel Peterson (Production Specialist and Accessibility Coordinator with Penn State University Libraries Open Publishing). June 18, 2024.
- AEMing for Access Learning Series: Breaking Down ADA Title II Updates & Requirements (YouTube, 31:27), with podcast version (31:05), from National Center on Accessible Educational Materials, CAST. Moderated by Elizabeth Barker (Senior Technical Assistant and Project Director, AEM), with speakers Luis Pérez (Disability and Digital Inclusion Lead, CAST) and Rick Ferrie (Head of Accessibility and Universal Design for Learning, Savvas Learning Company). July 1, 2024. *focused on K-12, but applicable for higher education
- Revised ADA Title II in the Library with Zoom recording (46:33) and slides (Google Slides) from the Big Ten Academic Alliance. Speakers include members of the Library Accessibility Group. August 27, 2024.
- Title II and Research Libraries: Community Call with YouTube recording (1:35:43) and resource (PDF) from the Association of Research Libraries. Includes several sections with multiple speakers: an overview of the regulations, exceptions, and limitations; applicability of the regulations to library content; licensing accessible content; and panel discussion. September 17, 2024.
- Updates to Federal Disability Rights Law in the Digital Space (not recorded) with written summary and resources from NWHeat (Northwest Higher Education Accessibility Technology Group). Presentation from Mary Lou Mobley, National Disability Expert in the Office for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Education. October 29, 2024.
- Planning for Effective and Sustainable Digital Accessibility: ADA Title II Compliance (YouTube, 1:04:20) from GrackleDocs. Presentation from Dr. Ann Knettler, Vice President of Consulting at GrackleDocs. [Also promoted as Navigating ADA Title II and the Health and Human Services Act Amendments.] November 6, 2024.
- ADA Title II Regulations Exemptions and Questions with YouTube recording (1:05:06) and slides (PDF) from NWHeat. Presentation and facilitation from Judith Risch, Title IX & Equity Access Services Special Advisor at Grand River Solutions. November 20, 2024.
- Americans with Disabilities Act Title II Web & Mobile Application Accessibility Rule with YouTube recording (1:00:53) from the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division. Presentation and facilitation from Rebecca Guterman, Attorney Advisor in the Disability Rights Section. January 16, 2025.
- Planning for Success: New ADA Title II Web Content and Mobile App Requirements with Zoom recording (1:31:53) and handouts from the Great Lakes ADA Center. Presentation and facilitation from Kelley Frake, Program Coordinator of Technical Assistance. January 21, 2025.
- Navigating DOJ Accessibility Rules: Practical Approaches for Higher Education with YouTube recording (58:01) and slides (PDF) from WCET (WICHE Cooperative for Educational Technologies). Moderated by Suzanne Ehrlich (WCET Steering Committee, Associate Professor & Co-Director, UNITE Design Lab, University of North Florida), with speakers Kelly Hoyland (Director, Post-Secondary Education & Workforce Programs, 1EdTech) and Monica Olsson (Policy Associate, Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges). January 30, 2025.
- Collaboration Creates Capacity: Supporting Shared Pathways to Digital Accessibility Maturity with YouTube recording (59:02), slides (Google Slides via Bitly), and resources (Google Drive via Bitly) from NWHeat. Presentation from Michele Joy Bromley (Manager, Digital Accessibility and Content, Portland State University) and Chennettée Jelleberg (Director, Office for Student Access,Oregon Health and Science University). February 11, 2025.
- Document Accessibility Workshop Series from NWHeat. Presentation and facilitation from Michele Joy Bromley (Manager, Digital Accessibility and Content, Portland State University)
- Session 1 – Getting Started with Word Processing Accessibility with YouTube recording (TBA) and slides (Google Slides via Bitly)
- Session 2 – Word Processing Accessibility in Practice scheduled for April 17 at 10am PDT (register via Zoom)
- Session 3 – Getting Started with Presentation Accessibility scheduled for May 1 at 10am PDT (register via Zoom)
- Session 4 – Presentation Accessibility in Practice scheduled for May 15 at 10am PDT (register via Zoom)
- Session 5 – Getting Started with PDF Accessibility scheduled for June 5 at 10am PDT (register via Zoom)
- Session 6 – PDF Accessibility in Practice scheduled for June 18 at 10am PDT (register via Zoom)