The U.S. Department of Justice’s April 2024 final rule updating regulations of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)external site requires state and local governmental entities, including public early childhood, K-12, and postsecondary institutions, to ensure that web- or mobile app-based digital learning resources are accessible and usable for students with disabilities.  The deadline for state and local governments with more than 50,000 people is April 24, 2026, and for state and local governments with under 50,000 people and special districts it is April 26, 2027.

Key considerations related to the guidance include:

• All digital learning resources used by public education entities; websites, web content, web apps, mobile apps, documents must meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 Level AA standards (WCAG). This includes:
  • teacher-created content
  • school and district communications
  • and new social media posts.
• ADA Title II requires covered entities to ensure content is accessible with exceptions for
  • Archived web content (Example: school board meeting minutes from a meeting that took place in 2020 and that are kept only for historical purposes).
  • Older electronic documents (Example: A flyer for a Veteran’s Day ceremony that took place in 2021).
  • Content posted by third parties that is not covered by a contractual, licensing or other arrangement with the public entity (Example: an individual’s posts to a discussion board would be covered by the exception, but not the discussion board platform procured by the covered entity under a contract).
  • Individualized password-protected documents (Example: a transcript intended for an individual student who needs to log in with their credentials to download it).
  • Preexisting social media posts (Example: a school district’s posts to what was then known as Twitter made in 2020).

Note: For archived and older electronic documents, the exceptions would only apply if the content remained unchanged after the deadlines take effect.

Resources:

• Department of Justice Guidanceexternal site
• WCAG 2.1 Level AAexternal site
• Blog Post: Learning on the Go: ADA Title II Updates and Requirementsexternal site
• Podcast: The Learning Experience ADA Title II Updatesexternal site
• Integrate Accessible Educational Technology Systems
• Presentation: CITES CoP March 2025 DOJ Title IIA.pptxexternal site