Accessibility in Educational Technologies

Title II is a subsection of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), signed into law in 1990. Under Title II, the law prohibits public entities from discriminating against any individual on the basis of disability.

“The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Version 2.1, Level AA is the technical standard for state and local governments’ web content and mobile apps” (Civil Rights Division, 2024). 

Source: Civil Rights Division. (2024, April 8). Fact Sheet: New Rule on the Accessibility of Web Content and Mobile Apps Provided by State and Local Governments. U.S. Department of Justice.

The rule set two deadlines based on population size. Farmingdale State College's deadline is April 2026.

All of Farmingdale State College. This includes, but is not limited to:

• Faculty
• Staff
• Teaching assistants
• Graduate and undergraduate students

There are five exceptions to the rule. 

1. Sections of sites clearly identified as an "Archive" of old data (e.g., a news article or press release published in 2018).
2. Documents that are no longer used by/required for users (e.g., a flyer from a 2019 event).
3. Content posted by a third-party to an entity’s site (e.g., a local community member posts to social media and tags Farmingdale State College). Note: Students are not considered a third-party under Title II and this exception does not apply to content they produce on university sites.
4. Password-protected Word, presentation, PDF, or spreadsheet files (does not apply to other file types or code). For example, a water bill in PDF format meant for a specific customer would be an except, whereas a general notice about a change in service to all customers would not apply. Note: Password-protected course content does not fall under this exception.
5. Pre-existing Social Media posts (e.g., a tweet from 2017 about a class cancellation).

Note, these exceptions only apply to content published prior to the April 2024 rule. If any content that once fell under the exception is revised, edited, or updated after April 2024 then it must be made accessible to meet the technical standard. For example, if archive course content from a Fall 2023 course is copied into a Fall 2026 course, the content in the new section needs to be remediated.

No, the Department of Justice did not include any ability to apply for any additional exceptions to the rule beyond the five listed in the rule.

Yes, students are not exempt from the rule. If they are creating content that is being distributed to other members of the class digitally, it needs to be accessible and meet the guidelines. 

Our office recommends he following three step process:

1. Review old digital content
   1. Remove old or outdated digital documents, web pages, and/or media so you can focus on making the remaining digital content accessible. 
2. Remediate
   2. Start updating digital content that is not accessible or finding alternative content. 
   3. Choose a strategy that works for you: Start by going over the material for the classes you teach most frequently and have the most students enrolled in. As an alternative, you could begin by updating a single kind of content across all of your courses, like Word documents, slide decks, or videos.
3. Recognize what makes a document accessible from the start
   4. Creating new content? Check out our tips on how you can make it accessible. 

Yes, SUNY and the Office of Distance Learning provide events that can be attended to learn more about accessibility. See our events page to find an event to attend.

Yes, you can book a virtual consultation, attend an online drop-in session, or submit a request for PDF remediation support.