Digital Accessibility: ADA Title 2 Rules effective April 2026

A guide to the updated ADA Title 2 rules for digital accessibility including resources and support available for meeting compliance. See also our college web page on Accessible IT and self-enroll to the Accessibility Micro-Courses.

New ADA Title 2 Regulations on Digital Technologies: What it Means

• ADA Title 2 updates require state and local government entities to ensure all web content, mobile apps, and digital documents conform to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA standards. Compliance guide for small entities.
• Covered content includes websites, apps, social media, videos (with captions/transcripts), and documents (PDFs, Word, slides), requiring compliance by April 24, 2026.
• Because Evergreen is a public state institution, we are implementing WCAG 2.2 Level AA, the standards which WA State will be requiring starting July 1, 2026. See Digital Accessibility Policy | WaTech for details.

Required Content and Accessibility Standards:

• Websites and Apps: Public-facing websites, mobile apps, and third-party tools provided must be fully accessible.
• Digital Documents: All documents, including PDFs, word-processing files, presentations, and spreadsheets, must be accessible and correctly tagged for screen readers.
• Multimedia Content: Videos must include accurate, synchronized captions, and audio content requires transcripts to support individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing.
• Non-Text Content: Images, charts, and graphs require alternative text (alt text) to provide equivalent information to users with visual disabilities.
• Interactive Components: All online forms, widgets, and navigation elements must be operable with assistive technologies.
• Archived Content Exception: Documents created before April 24, 2026, that are used only for reference or record-keeping and are not updated, may be exempt unless specifically requested by a user with a disability.

What steps do we take?

For digital content made

• Prior to April 24, 2026 - Address, remediate, remove, or archive non-accessible content that is available to public or internal access.
• After April 24, 2026 (Federal level) - Any content created needs to meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA accessibility standards before making it available to the public or for internal access.
• After July 1, 2026 (WA State level) - Any content created needs to meet WCAG 2.2 Level AA accessibility standards before making it available to the public or for internal access.

Where to start? What to prioritize?

• Prioritize addressing public/external-facing, critical and/or student-facing content, such as web pages, online forms, digital newsletters, etc. Content at the college website, www.evergreen.edu, is monitored by the Web Team.
  • Perform Accessibility reviews using built-in accessibility checking tools and manual testing as needed.
  • Remediate, remove, or archive as appropriate.

• Then work on/apply same process to internal content

Tip: Create an “Accessibility” channel in your Team

Use your work area's Microsoft Team for communicating and tracking changes and progress.

Digital Accessibility Practices and Standards Guides

• Accessibility Checklist - covers the basic essentials: headers, lists, color contrast, descriptive text links, alt text, captions
• How to Meet WCAG (Quick Reference) for 2.2 Level AA

Questions?

Please submit questions and support requests at help.evergreen.edu. Include as much information as possible and the term, "digital accessibility," in the subject line.