K-12 schools and districts, higher education institutions, and education technology companies should prepare for significant costs and time commitments to comply with the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) new Title II web accessibility standards, according to the Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA).
Why it matters: The DOJ estimates that meeting the new requirements will cost $113.8 million to remediate existing third-party websites for school districts and $93.6 million for higher education. Additionally, it will cost $1.134 billion to remediate K-12 courses and $5.5 billion to remediate postsecondary courses.
Key Details
- Compliance involves adhering to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1, Level AA, and ensuring the accessibility of websites, mobile apps, and digital textbooks.
- The rule also applies to social media postings, with some exceptions for pre-existing content and third-party postings not governed by contracts with public entities.
What’s next: The new rule takes effect on June 24, but schools and universities, depending on their population size, have two to three years to comply.
- Schools in larger areas (50,000+ population) must comply by April 24, 2026, while those in smaller areas have until April 26, 2027.
