What is Changing Under Title II and How to Get Started

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New ADA Title II regulations require public universities to meet WCAG 2.1 AA standards for digital content by 2026. In this episode, instructional consultant, Sarah Guglielmi, explains what that means for faculty and course materials, from Word documents and PDFs to LMS modules and recorded lectures. She shares why accessible design benefits all learners and offers a simple starter plan: focus on one high-impact course, start with one document and one slide deck, and use accessibility checkers to catch quick wins. Plus, learn about campus resources to help you stay on track and make accessibility a habit that improves learning for every student.

Episode Transcript

Maggie (00:03):
Welcome to a special edition of the CATT Teaching
Table Podcast, produced by theUniversity of Buffalo's Office
of Curriculum Assessment andTeaching Transformation, also
known as CATT, and supported bythe Genteel's Excellence and
Teaching Fund.
I'm Maggie Grady, InstructionalInnovation Project Manager with
CATT.
This Teaching Table mini-seriesfeatures short episodes

(00:24):
designed to help faculty preparefor the upcoming ADA Title II
regulation changes taking effectin April.
Together we'll explore whatthese updates mean for teaching
and learning at UB and sharepractical ways to make courses
more accessible and inclusive.
Joining me in these episodes isSarah Guglielmi, CATT's
Instructional Consultant forAccessible and Inclusive

(00:46):
Pedagogy.
Sarah works closely withfaculty to design courses that
are easy to navigate, inclusive,and aligned with accessibility
best practices.
So welcome, Sarah.

Sarah (00:57):
Thanks for having me, Maggie.
It's great to be here.
I'm excited to be here to talkabout how accessible pedagogy
can offer a more impactfullearning experience for our
students, including those withdisabilities.
That's what these upcomingchanges to the ADA Title II
regulations are all about.

Maggie (01:13):
Well, let's start with the basics then.
Title II is something a lot ofus have heard of, but many of us
don't fully understand.
So what's changing, and can youtell our listeners why it's
important for higher ed rightnow?

Sarah (01:27):
Sure.
Title II of the Americans withDisabilities Act, which is also
known as the ADA, applies topublic institutions like UB.
It requires us to ensure thatall our programs, services, and
activities, including ourdigital environments, are
accessible to people withdisabilities.
Recently, the Department ofJustice finalized updates to the

(01:48):
ADA Title II regulations thatspecify digital accessibility
standards that go into law as ofApril 24th, 2026.
These updates mean that publicuniversities must ensure digital
content, including digitalcourse materials, meet a
standard called WICAG, the WebContent Accessibility Guidelines

(02:08):
2.1 level AA.
I collaborate regularly withUB's EIT Accessibility Officer,
and EIT stands for ElectronicInformation Technology.
So our EIT AccessibilityOfficer is Mary Henesey from our
Equity, Diversity and InclusionOffice.
Mary's team has put together afantastic summary of the

(02:31):
regulations, and I encourage allof our faculty to take a look.
We'll provide a link in theepisode resources.

Maggie (02:36):
So these regulations extend beyond the physical
classroom.
It's about how students accessour digital course materials.
Am I understanding thatcorrectly?

Sarah (02:45):
Yes.
More specifically, theseregulations require the digital
accessibility of faculty coursematerials to meet a higher
standard.
Digital accessibility refers tothe technical makeup of a piece
of digital content.
For example, in a MicrosoftWord file or a PDF document, the
titles and the subtitles needto be created in a specific way
so that they can be easilyviewed on a range of digital

(03:08):
devices and platforms.
They also must be created in away that allows the document to
be compatible with differentwhat are called assistive
technologies, such as screenreaders.
If you've ever used atext-to-speech function on your
computer, that's an example of ascreen reader.

Maggie (03:23):
So that makes sense.
Can you share a few moreexamples of digital
accessibility?

Sarah (03:29):
In addition to screen readers, some students use a
keyboard instead of a mouse tonavigate content.
So digital content has to becreated in a way that allows for
that navigation to work.
Also, choosing readable fontsand colors and offering accurate
captions and transcripts aresome other examples.
It's a good time to mentionthat we all learn differently

(03:49):
and we all benefit from digitalaccessibility, even if we don't
have a disability.
For example, if you've everutilized the speed control
settings or closed captions on arecorded video, those are
digital accessibility features.
It allows you to customize howyou take in that information
based on your own learningneeds.
The goal of digitalaccessibility is to make sure

(04:09):
everyone can access and engagewith the content equitably.
These updated regulations giveus clearer guidance and
accountability around that goal.

Maggie (04:19):
That sounds like a big shift for faculty.
What are some realistic firststeps?

Sarah (04:24):
Yeah, it definitely can feel like a lot, but there are
some manageable first steps.
So what I would start with isto suggest to faculty to
familiarize themselves with theaccessibility basics and
accessibility features of theprograms you most commonly use,
like UB Learns, Microsoft Word,Microsoft PowerPoint, and we'll
put a link to UB's trainingresources in the episode notes.

(04:48):
Each of these programs has anaccessibility checker with
embedded help menus that helpyou identify quick fixes like
missing alternative text for animage or fixing poor color
contrast.
These checkers are notfoolproof and they do have some
limitations, but they are agreat place to start.
Next, I'd suggest facultyfocus on their spring 2026

(05:10):
courses and just start with onecourse.
You want to prioritize largerand online classes first, and
just start with one document ata time.
If you think of all thedocuments that potentially need
to be remediated, that's willincrease the overwhelm.
So if you start with one Worddocument, one PowerPoint file,
and one UBLearns course, thattends to get you going, get you

(05:33):
some quick learning and wins,and then it gets less
overwhelming over time.
Next, I would ask for help.
You can ask for help early, andyou don't have to do this
alone.
Each unit has been assigned aunit faculty accessibility
liaison who is available forquestions and support.
And you can also reach out toCATT.
You can sign up for one ofCATT' s virtual digital

(05:54):
accessibility introductions or adigital accessibility office
hour session.
CATT also provides one-on-onesupport through our
instructional support ticketingsystem.
And again, we will put allthese links in the episode notes
for our faculty to check out.

Maggie (06:09):
Great advice, and it makes it a little bit more
manageable to break it down intothose three action steps.
What if someone listening isjust realizing that their course
might need a lot of updates?
How can you avoid feelingoverwhelmed or discouraged?

Sarah (06:26):
Well, I can assure them they're not alone in these
feelings.
It's a very common concern.
And one approach is to thinkabout making progress and not
perfection.
You don't have to fixeverything at once.
And as I shared before, if youcan keep coming back to starting
with one document, one video,one module, each improvement

(06:46):
will build your digitalaccessibility skills.
And then as you mentioned, whathappens over time, it becomes
your habit, how to, what we do,we call it build accessible.
So building accessibledocuments from the start, that
will become the habit, and thenthe overwhelm is really reduced.

Maggie (07:03):
Okay, so before we wrap up, I want to touch on the why.
Beyond compliance, why shouldfaculty care about
accessibility?

Sarah (07:12):
Well, accessibility in the college classroom is
fundamentally about creatinglearning experiences that are
welcoming, equitable, andrigorous for the widest range of
students.
When we design content withaccessibility in mind, we're
ensuring that every student hasthe opportunity to learn and
succeed.
And the truth is, accessibledesign benefits everyone.

(07:33):
Captions and transcripts helpstudents who are learning in
noisy environments, or those whoprefer reading along.
I prefer reading along becauseI retain information better
through reading versuslistening.
I don't have a learningdisability, but the captions
improve my learning experience.
Our students who are non-nativeEnglish speakers, or students

(07:53):
with an auditory processingdisorder, also benefit from
captions and transcripts.
Their learning improves giventhe option to read content and
to be able to go back and reviewat their own pace.

Maggie (08:05):
So very well said, and we appreciate the advice.
Sarah, thanks so much forjoining us and breaking this
down.
This conversation really helpsdemystify the changing under
Title II and how faculty canstart taking action.

Sarah (08:18):
Thanks, Maggie.
It's been great to be here.
I encourage anyone who wants tolearn more to visit CATT's
Digital Accessibility forInstructors webpage and connect
with our team.
We are here to help you takethe next step no matter where
you're starting from.

Maggie (08:32):
What a great start to our series.
Be sure to tune in next monthfor episode two, How to Start
Your Course DigitalAccessibility Review.
And thank you to our listenersfor tuning in to this episode of
the Teaching Table Podcast.
If you enjoyed today'sdiscussion, be sure to subscribe
and leave us a review.
We'll be back soon with moreconversation on teaching,
learning, and technology.

(08:53):
Until then, keep exploring newways to reach and inspire your
students.
As always, be sure to connectwith us online at buffalo.edu
slash cat.
That's C-A-T-T, or email us atubcatt@ buffalo.edu.