NE North Dakota News

In 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was enacted to prohibit discrimination against individuals with disabilities. Initially focused on physical accessibility, the ADA has evolved to address digital accessibility in response to technological advancements. In 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice introduced new ADA rules to accommodate the increasing reliance on digital interactions, impacting institutions like the University of North Dakota (UND).

As a state entity under Title II of the ADA, UND must comply with these new digital accessibility standards by April 2026. This involves ensuring that public-facing web and social media content meets the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, Version 2.1 Level AA.

Beth Valentine, equity compliance and education manager and deputy ADA coordinator for UND’s Equal Opportunity & Title IX office, emphasized the importance of equal access: “Equal access is about making sure that all of the ways in which people access our programs and activities, all of the ways in which we interact and provide services and communicate with the public, are accessible.”

The changes at UND will affect websites, web-hosted documents, blogs, digitally accessed course content, and external platforms partnered with UND. The aim is to transition from reactive measures to proactive digital accessibility practices.

Valentine noted that over one in four adults have a disability according to recent data from the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. At UND alone, more than 280 accommodation requests were approved for over 690 courses during spring 2024.

“So, instead of accessibility as only an accommodation or as an afterthought, the goal is to make documents and webpages accessible from the beginning — to take an approach where accessibility is baked into the process by default,” Valentine remarked.

UND President Andrew Armacost has established a University Committee for Title II Digital Accessibility to lead efforts across campus. Initial strategies include promoting existing resources and training opportunities related to WCAG 2.1 Level AA compliance.

Resources such as Equal Opportunity & Title IX’s website offer information on document and course content accessibility. The Teaching Transformation & Development Academy provides workshops on best practices in instructional design.

UND plans to introduce on-demand training through Deque University’s platform. Valentine highlighted its “Accessibility 101” series: “They have an ‘Accessibility 101’ series that I would recommend to everyone.”

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights defines accessibility as providing individuals with disabilities equal opportunity to acquire information and engage in interactions equivalent to those without disabilities.

Valentine suggests using tools like Yuja for captioning video content: “Accessibility checking is going to be the new spell checking,” she said.

To meet these goals by April 2026, UND launched "UND: Strive for 85," focusing on achieving an Ally score of at least 85% for course content on Blackboard by spring 2026.

Lee Ann Williams from UND's Digital Accessibility Steering Committee shared her perspective: “It’s made me more intentional... not just because it’s required but because it’s the right thing to do.” She emphasized how accessible environments empower students and align with UND's strategic plan aspirations for inclusive excellence.

Williams also noted increased collaboration between faculty and student services: “We’re sharing tools and strategies that benefit each of us.”

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