This year marks the 36th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a law ensuring that people with disabilities have the same rights and opportunities as everyone else. In education, accessibility is about more than compliance; it’s about equity and inclusion.
According to a U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, about 21% of college students report having a disability, including visual, hearing, cognitive, and motor impairments. Many more choose not to disclose their disability and often struggle quietly through their coursework.
Creating Accessible Learning Environments
Accessible course materials give all students a fair opportunity to succeed. Every day, some students encounter barriers such as:
- Images or videos they cannot see
- Documents that screen readers cannot interpret
- Audio they cannot hear
- Websites or platforms that cannot be navigated without a mouse
Chances are, you already have students in your courses who face these challenges—even if they haven’t disclosed them.
Upcoming ADA Compliance Requirements
In 2024, the Department of Justice updated Title II of the ADA to require all publicly funded organizations, including colleges and universities, to conform to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) developed by the World Wide Web Consortium.
- Most institutions must comply by April 24, 2026.
- Smaller municipalities and districts (under 50,000 people) have until April 26, 2027.
Non-compliance can result in lawsuits and significant penalties—so now is the time to ensure your materials meet accessibility standards.
While Brightspace is accessible to persons with disabilities, uploaded content may not be. Instructors should make a conscious effort to make sure content is accessible.
How Brightspace Supports Accessibility
Our Brightspace Learning Management System (LMS) is built with accessibility in mind and meets WCAG requirements. However, while the platform itself is accessible, uploaded course content may not be. It’s up to instructors to make sure their materials—documents, media, and links—are accessible to all students.
Practical Steps You Can Take
Making accessible content doesn’t have to be complicated. A few simple practices go a long way:
- Use clear headings and descriptive hyperlinks
- Add alternative text (alt text) for all images
- Provide captions for videos and transcripts for audio
- Ensure documents (especially PDFs) are screen-reader friendly
- Avoid using color alone to convey meaning
Even small efforts make a big difference. Not only will your materials support students with disabilities, but you’ll also improve the learning experience for everyone. Plus, if you reuse your course content each semester, accessibility updates you make now will continue to pay off in the future.
In an upcoming series of blog posts, I will go into more detail on the things you can routinely do when you create content and setup your Brightspace courses to make them accessible.
Image credits:
Image by cris renma from Pixabay
HandicappedAccessibleSign by Free SVG is licensed CC0