accessiBe - Title II document readiness: A strategic checklist for higher education

Preparing your digital campus for April 2026

For most public colleges and universities, the Department of Justice’s ADA Title II rule means that digital accessibility is no longer just a goal — it’s a requirement. Starting in April 2026, your digital documents and PDFs need to be accessible to every student and faculty member. This checklist is designed to help you see where your institution stands today and what you’ll need to focus on next.

How to use this checklist

Review your departments Look at both academic and administrative units.

Mark your progress Check off what’s done, what’s in the works, and what still needs a plan.

Set your priorities Use these results to decide which documents to tackle first.

01. Audit your assets

List academic materials Find all syllabi, assignments, and required readings used in your current courses.

Identify registration forms Locate the PDFs and documents students use to enroll and change their schedules.

Review financial documents Identify all files related to tuition, billing, and financial aid applications.

Catalog student service files Find the documents used for campus health, housing, and accommodation requests.

Audit institutional notices Gather digital versions of official policies, handbooks, and campus announcements.

Categorize by usage Separate active documents used daily from older files that are just kept for archives.

02. Prioritize by impact

Focus on service-critical files Start with the documents students must have to attend class or use university services.

Address high-traffic content Fix the most-viewed and time-sensitive files first to help the largest number of people.

Include LMS content Make sure all files shared through platforms like Canvas or Blackboard are on your list.

Standardize your rules Use the same priority system across every department so the whole school stays aligned.

Check relevance, not age Decide what to fix based on how often a document is used today, not how old it is.

03. Standardize your content

Set document standards Establish clear rules for creating accessible Word documents, PDFs, and slide decks across the university.

Provide accessible templates Offer ready-to-use templates for common documents so faculty and staff don't have to start from scratch.

Define faculty expectations Clearly communicate the accessibility requirements for all new course materials and student resources.

Review before uploading Check every file for accessibility before it is published to the website or the learning management system (LMS).

Eliminate image-only PDFs Stop using scanned, "image-only" PDFs and replace them with text-based, screen-reader-friendly versions.

04. Remediate and future-proof

Find accessibility gaps Use a clear process to identify any existing documents that do not currently conform to WCAG.

Fix essential files Remediate all service-critical documents within a documented and reasonable timeframe.

Resolve recurring errors Identify the root cause of common accessibility failures to stop them from happening again.

Test before publishing Implement a final accessibility check to catch document errors before they reach your users.

Assign long-term ownership Ensure that document accessibility is a permanent part of your institutional operations.

05. Maintain long-term conformance

Assign clear accountability Name the departments responsible for accessibility and establish policies that apply to every academic unit.

Audit third-party vendors Include accessibility requirements in all software contracts and verify the accessibility of PDFs generated by outside tools.

Support faculty and staff Provide ongoing training on how to create accessible documents for both the classroom and administration.

Track institutional progress Conduct regular spot checks on high-risk files and document your good-faith efforts toward the April 2026 deadline.

Enable student feedback Maintain a clear process for students to report document barriers and resolve these issues promptly.

Eliminate "upon request" barriers Ensure required documents are accessible by design so students don't have to ask for access.

A note on your path to compliance

Under ADA Title II, demonstrating a proactive and organized approach is key to mitigating legal risk. Defensibility is built on your institution’s ability to show that you have identified existing barriers, prioritized the most impactful educational materials, and established repeatable processes to address them. This checklist serves as a foundation for that strategy, helping you document your good-faith efforts as you work toward the April 2026 deadline.