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.
• 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're also going to be aiming for (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.

How do we approach meeting compliance with existing content?

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.

What to prioritize?

• Prioritize addressing public/external-facing and critical content, such as web pages, online forms, digital newsletters, etc.
  • Perform Accessibility reviews using built-in accessibility checking tools, though manual testing may also be needed.
  • Remediate, remove, or archive as appropriate.

• Then work on/apply same process to internal content

Tip: Create an “Accessibility” channel

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