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Samford Hall skyline view of campus.

The Office of Information Technology and the Office of Accessibility would like to notify the Auburn community about significant changes to federal regulations regarding digital accessibility.

For the past eight years, Auburn University has had an Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility (EITA) Policy that mandates that all course materials, webpages, videos, social media, and other digital content comply with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Level AA standard. The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has enforced accessibility under the 'public places of accommodation' clause of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which has been in effect for decades.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Justice updated Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act to address digital accessibility, applying the well-established WCAG Level AA standard. This update clarifies that nearly all digital content, including content behind login portals (such as Canvas, AU Access, Elevate, Endeavor, Tiger Buy, etc.), must be accessible. Few exemptions apply to this requirement, with a compliance deadline set for April 2026. Employees—whether faculty, A&P, or staff—are encouraged to begin creating and remediating content to ensure compliance by the deadline.

Listed below are Auburn and external resources that faculty can reference for additional guidance.

  • Biggio Center Canvas Accessibility
  • Office of Accessibility accessibility.auburn.edu/faculty/
  • eAccessibility Academy auburn.edu/eaccessibility
  • Webaim.org
  • Microsoft Accessibility Resources
  • Elevated Courses (available via AUAccess)
    • CM102V Designing Accessible Documents
    • Advanced Accessible PDFs
    • Creating Accessible PDFs
    • Foundations of Accessible eLearning
    • CM109V Designing Accessible Documents 1 -Microsoft Word
    • Accessible Layout for the Web
    • CM110V – Designing Accessible Documents 2 – Adobe Acrobat
    • CR503E Implementing WCAG Guidelines for Instructional Designers
    • Accessible Video : Caption , Search, and Compliance

For assistance or more information, please reach out to the Office of Accessibility or Office of Information Technology. Let’s work together to ensure all our digital content meets these important requirements.