Frequently Asked Questions

In spring 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a final rule establishing updated regulations under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The rule, which applies to state and local government entities — including all public schools, community colleges and public universities — requires digital/online content be fully compliant with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1, Level AA standard, by a specified deadline. For K-State, that deadline is April 24, 2026.

These regulations require K-State’s digital content, including university websites, mobile applications, and materials housed on third-party platforms, such as our Canvas learning management system, conform to the standards set forth in the rule. This includes both public-facing content and authenticated content behind log-in, which is inclusive of digital course materials.

This is significant because it both elevates the current standard and broadens where it applies. Previously, items behind eID/password and/or within our Canvas learning management system did not require meeting standards outright, only upon accomodation request. This rule will shift us, requiring that we are in compliance out the gate.

Any faculty or staff member (or student) who creates digital content for Kansas State University should be aware of the compliance standard and how to implement it. This includes individuals across all campuses, colleges, controlled affiliates (i.e. the K-State Student Union, K-State Athletics), K-State Research and Extension and more.

April 26, 2026 is the compliance deadline for K-State.

In January 2025, the university stood up the Digital Accessibility Task Force, first charged with building the implementation plan and timeline by March 2025. Since then, the task force has stood up five implementation working groups to carry forward efforts in policy alignment, remediation resource onboarding, training for academic content authors and web authors, and staffing and structure alignment.

Additionally, the task force is communicating closely with many units across the university who also support this effort with content and implementation support, including the Center for Academic Innovation, Student Access Center, Information Technology, and the Division of Communications and Marketing. This includes a series of workshops available both ahead of the launch of the new remediation tools and after.

During summer 2025, content workshops will be available to faculty and staff to assist those who wish to work ahead. In fall 2025, the new academic auditing/remediation tool and web auditing/remediation tool will be onboarded and launch with accompanying trainings. These new tools will offer more exeditious remediation, expanding the university's toolset to support faculty and staff in this effort.

The task force has created a resources pages with some existing aggregated guidance and resources. We will continue to build this out as more resources become available.

The task force recommends that faculty and staff who want to get ahead of the curve on digital accessibility attend a workshop or other consultative offering during Summer 2025.