Dear Colleagues,
We are writing to provide the instructional community with guidance in preparing course materials for the upcoming Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Title II update, which will take effect on Friday, April 24, 2026. We are also writing to advise you on how to communicate with your students about these new requirements.
As we have communicated previously, the updated requirements of the ADA require that digital course materials provided to students, even materials inside password-protected course sites like bCourses, will need to comply with accessibility standards (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA). Digital course materials include electronic documents provided, as well as any digital tools, platforms, or external resources connected or linked to a bCourses course site. We recommend you prioritize your accessibility efforts for courses that you will be teaching following the Friday, April 24, 2026 deadline (e.g., summer and fall 2026, and beyond).
To Do Now:
- Use the Accessibility Checker (Ally) in bCourses to survey the accessibility status of your existing course content, and follow the guidance that Ally provides for fixing different issues. Prioritize materials you will actively use on or after April 24, 2026.
- Visit and bookmark the Accessibility in Teaching and Learning Resource Hub as needed to avail yourself of resources and tools for making material such as slides, documents, and PDFs accessible.
- Utilize the Accessibility of Library Resources: When possible, link to accessible licensed library resources instead of uploading scanned pages or personal PDF copies. The library is working to ensure its resources are compliant with the updated ADA.
To Do On Or After April 24, 2026:
- Remove access to inaccessible Course Content from bCourses sites: Use the “Restrict Access” in bCourses to turn off student access to materials not in current use while you work on making them accessible. This way, you can update materials gradually, beginning with those that will be shared with students on or after April 24, 2026.
- Inform your students that you are actively working on accessibility and invite them to flag any materials that are inaccessible. Include a simple message in your syllabus such as, “I am continuing to review and improve course materials for accessibility this semester. If you encounter a document or page that is difficult to navigate, please let me know so I can address it or help find an alternative.”
- Start with editable formats: All new materials created on or after April 24, 2026 should be built accessibly from the outset. Start making accessibility fixes in your original, editable format. Formats such as Canvas pages (HTML), Word or Google Docs, and ePub versions are easier for students to navigate and typically require far less remediation than scanned PDFs.
Our goal is to support improved accessibility of course content, recognizing that these are new standards. We will continue to share useful resources, including FAQs and training throughout the year, and RTL has recently begun sending digital accessibility-themed newsletters that you may also find helpful. If you hear of additional useful resources, please feel free to reach out to vpue@berkeley.edu to share them with us.
Our thanks and appreciation in advance for your work improving accessibility for our students.
With our best wishes,
Oliver O’Reilly
Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education
Anne Marie Richard
Assistant Vice Provost and Chief Academic Technology Officer