Accessibility in Educational Technologies | Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching

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Accessibility in Educational Technologies
Frequently Asked Questions - Title II Update
Last spring, the federal government updated the Americans with Disabilities Act to
establish guidelines for digital content accessibility. Although Stony Brook has had
digital accessibility policy
in place since 2022, the federal law mandates that all digital content must be accessible
by April 2026.
The Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching has compiled the list below of
answers to questions we have gotten about the update.
About Title II
It 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.
Stony Brook University's deadline is April 24, 2026.
All of Stony Brook University (East Campus, West Campus, Stony Brook Medicine). This
includes, but is not limited to:
Faculty
Graduate assistants
Teaching assistants
Staff
Graduate and undergraduate students
There are five exceptions to the rule.
Sections of sites clearly identified as an "Archive" of old data (e.g., a news article
or press release published in 2018).
Documents that are no longer used by/required for users (e.g., a flyer from a 2019
event).
Content posted by a third-party to an entity’s site (e.g., a local community member
posts to social media and tags Stony Brook University).
Note:
Students are not considered a third-party under Title II and this exception does
not apply to content they produce on university sites.
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.
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.
Training and Support
CELT recommends he following three step process:
Review old digital content
Remove old or outdated digital documents, web pages, and/or media so you can focus
on making the remaining digital content accessible.
Remediate
Start updating digital content that is not accessible or finding alternative content.
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.
Recognize what makes a document accessible from the start
Creating new content? Check out our tips on how you can make it accessible.
Yes, CELT offers a wide range of
self–paced Resource Guides
and printable versions of all guides.
Yes, you can book a
virtual consultation
, attend an
in-person drop-in session
, or submit a request for
PDF Remediation
support.
Having issues remediating course content? Schedule a
CELT Accessibility Consultation
to get one-on-one support.
If you have suggestions for additional guides, please reach out by emailing us at
celt@stonybrook.edu
CELT
Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching
celt@stonybrook.edu
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