When Jacob, a visually impaired tenth grader, enrolled in an AP class, he felt like a castaway.
His ambitions to learn were thwarted because his teacher had assigned him handouts and a three-week lesson plan that depended on a website he found difficult to navigate. As a result, he felt frustrated and isolated: “I’m stranded on this desert island because that site doesn’t work (with my screen reader),” Jacob later said. He told a researcherHe added: “You can’t just go back and change your entire teaching plan, especially when you’ve distributed it.”
Like Jacob, many students with disabilities are forced to work harder, advocates argue. They have to learn like other students, but they may also have to deal with assignments they can't access and other digital obstacles. That's particularly the case in K-12 classrooms, where teaching materials can be difficult to parse, according to Prepress from a research paper arguing that many of these students have to figure out how to access basic documents on their own, outside of school. (The article cites Jacob's story, though the author declined to provide further details to EdSurge, citing ethical concerns.)
But there is a push to change that.
In April, the US Department of Justice published its final rule for web and mobile accessibility. Updated Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the law that requires state and local governments to provide equal opportunities, including in services such as public schools, community colleges, and public universities, for people with disabilities. The update aims to expand access by detailing specific technical standards that government entities must follow.
This latest update was crucial because it set a deadline for schools to make digital materials accessible and specified standards for how to measure whether they are, according to some observers.
Time is running out
According to the new guidelines, texts, images, audios, videos, documents, controls and digital animations must comply with a series of “success criteria.” By reporting From Community College Daily, these include:
- “Content should not be limited to a single viewing orientation, such as portrait or landscape.
- Closed captions are provided for all live audio content in synchronized media.
- Closed captions are provided for all pre-recorded audio content on synchronized media.
- Audio description is provided for all pre-recorded video content on synchronized media.
- Non-text content must have an equivalent text alternative.
- “The colors used are striking enough to be seen on the screen.”
It is historic that the law now clearly sets the path for public institutions to measure digital accessibility, says Glenda Sims, director of information accessibility at Deque Systems, a company focused on digital accessibility. These types of requirements have It has been known for yearsHe adds, but now there is a “rule” in the law to measure whether they have been met.
Some disability rights advocates say they appreciate that the Justice Department has shifted the burden off of students. Until now, students (and sometimes teachers) have had to work to make digital content accessible, says Natalie Shaheen, an associate professor of blind education in the College of Education at Illinois State University.
But under the rule, educational institutions are responsible for the websites and materials they use for education. So schools now have to worry about purchasing inaccessible materials, according to Elizabeth Barker, technical assistant and project manager for CAST, a nonprofit that created the Universal Design for Learning framework.
Although not new, the obligations established in the standard have become pressing.
Depending on the size of your populationSchool districts and state and local governments have until April 2026 or April 2027 to ensure that their web content and mobile applications meet Level AA of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1.
This will mean that they will have to act quickly.
“Most public universities are facing a two-year deadline to comply with the rules, which began running a few months ago,” Jarret Cummings, senior policy and government relations advisor at Educause, wrote in an email to EdSurge. It is vital that they “promptly engage with their corporate vendors” to determine how they will meet these standards in a timely manner, Cummings wrote.
This also applies to K-12 education: Districts should examine accessibility as part of their procurement process, says CAST's Barker.
For private edtech companies, the situation is a little more complicated. Suppliers are “indirectly responsible” for these rules, according to experts. The burden of the rule falls on the public institutions themselves (primary and secondary schools, colleges and universities), but if suppliers want to continue working with these educational institutions, they must also comply with the regulations, according to Sims of Deque Systems.
Right now, it appears that families can't sue providers directly, she says. But that doesn't mean they can ignore it. In fact, she adds, contracts with schools can mean there could be “legal pressure” on providers if they don't follow guidelines. Over time, they could even face lawsuits from families. For example, in California, there's a proposed law that would allow people to sue providers directly. sue companies directly whose websites are not accessible. Sims says he is closely monitoring the bill.
There is also a “Business case” by considering accessibility during product design, Sims says. As schools realise that they are responsible for the digital accessibility of the companies they buy from, companies that can demonstrate accessibility will benefit. What's more, the cost of fixing accessibility issues is significantly higher once a product is launched rather than at the design phase, Sims argues, emphasising the need to carefully consider these issues from the start. Cost Can scale quicklysays, especially when some critics have Detected multiple accessibility issues on all home pages.
On the hook
Accessibility has emerged as a major focus area in education policy. The U.S. Department of Education’s revised national educational technology plan singled out “access” as one of three major technology gaps—access, design, and use—that can prevent students from fully engaging with education. At the time of its release, experts said they hoped the review would move the national conversation beyond mere access to educational technology and focus on how effective technology is for learning. But funding lapses this year have threatened to reduce access, including the end of the Federal Communications Commission’s “access” plan.Affordable Connectivity Program”, which was key to connecting many families to the Internet.
Will all this translate into greater access for disabled students? Advocates are optimistic, especially in the broader context of accessibility legislation.
“This is certainly the most we've ever seen,” says Illinois State's Shaheen. There may be more to come. The Department of Education is planning an update to its computer accessibility standards under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation ActThese latest changes provide a model for that, according to Educause's Cummings. That rule would apply to private institutions, he wrote, adding: “Private colleges and universities should therefore consider getting a head start on implementing the accessibility requirements that are likely to be placed before them.”
For Shaheen, removing barriers for disabled students really depends on schools holding on to the obvious. Schools aren’t taking full advantage of what’s known about building digital interfaces that are easier for disabled students to use, she says. But, she adds, the most common barriers for disabled K-12 students are the easiest to work around. For example: One common hurdle is that images don’t have “alt text,” she adds. This is an alternative representation of the image for blind and low-vision people, and it can usually be added without special programming knowledge because many content creation platforms already have the capability as a built-in feature, she says. So whoever is creating the content would simply need to right-click on the image and add the alt text.
To truly help disabled students, however, schools need to be more “proactive,” Shaheen says. That means devoting resources and staff to providing greater accessibility, she says.
However, securing resources may prove difficult as the primary, secondary and university education sectors are under enormous pressure at the moment. They face a number of serious challenges, including declining student achievement following the pandemic, declining enrolments and the end of ESSER funding.
Another problem is that unless they have been following the program, primary and secondary schools may not even know they are required to pay their suppliers, says CAST's Barker. It hasn't received enough attention, she adds.
But for advocates like Shaheen, there are many teachers and families across the country dedicated to increasing accessibility, and the formal rule gives them additional leverage, she says: “It's hard sometimes to make social justice things happen. But it's pretty amazing what some teachers are able to accomplish.”
