In April 2024, the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a rule requiring public entities to make their digital content accessible by April 24, 2026. This rule applies to all public web content, mobile apps, and course materials. The following reflects UITS project team efforts so far:
Completed Activities
- All departments have received an overview of the new legal requirements and were asked to complete a questionnaire to help the project team understand the overall state of Digital Accessibility in each department.
- The Digital Experience team has completed the development of three self-paced digital accessibility training courses. The first course on social media accessibility was rolled out to the Communications Office in August, and the assigned trainees completed the course in September.
In Progress Activities
- Kicking off the Digital Accessibility Liaison Program with recurring meetings, where the objective is to train liaisons on how to be the accessibility ambassador for their department, share best practices, and provide updates on their department’s digital accessibility activities.
- The General Counsel is working on converting all their legal advice PDFs into accessible web content.
What to Expect Next
- We will work with each department to determine a timeframe for rolling out self-paced training courses.
- A third-party product testing strategy will be shared with leadership and then employees in the next two months.
- We will work with departments to define web content remediation strategies for meeting minutes, videos, articles, and other digital assets. These efforts are critical to ensuring full compliance with digital accessibility requirements.
- The Digital Experience team will work with General Counsel and Administration and Finance (A&F) to define an accessible procurement strategy.
If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to the project team: Rob Baker, Kristina England, Ron Agrella and Ana Ligia Rezende.