ADA Title II Compliance Frequently Asked Questions

All public web content, mobile apps, and digital course materials must meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA standards by April 24, 2026.

Yes. The DOJ Title II update explicitly includes "password-protected" or "authenticated" content. All instructional materials in Canvas for current and future courses must be accessible.

Content is generally exempt if it was created before April 2026, is retained exclusively for research or record-keeping, and is not currently being used for active administrative or academic purposes.

Yes. According to the Department of Justice (DOJ) Final Rule (28 CFR Part 35), FSU is responsible for the accessibility of all "services, programs, and activities" it provides or makes available. Because RSOs and faculty labs are funded, recognized, or operate under the university’s "umbrella," their web content is considered part of FSU’s digital programming.

The rule applies broadly to all web content and mobile apps provided "directly or through contractual, licensing, or other arrangements." Since the RSO Handbook serves as a license for these groups to operate as part of FSU, they must meet the WCAG 2.1 Level AA technical standards.

The DOJ has outlined specific exceptions where content does not need to meet the full technical standards:

• Archived web content: Content created before the compliance date that is no longer updated or used.
• Preexisting conventional electronic documents: Older PDFs or documents (like old RSO constitutions), unless they are still needed to apply for or participate in university programs.
• Content posted by a third party: This is a narrow exception. It applies only to independent content like public comments on a message board. It does not apply to RSOs or labs because they have an "arrangement" with the University.
• Password-protected documents: Files about a specific individual (like personal records) that are secured.
• Preexisting social media posts: Posts made before the official compliance date.

Compliance and remediation are a distributed responsibility. Departments and units are encouraged to reprioritize their web teams or task student interns with reviewing legacy content to ensure compliance. Training is available via Siteimprove Academy and LinkedIn Learning.

Focus on the "Accessibility" score within the DCI dashboard. High-traffic pages like homepages and syllabi should be remediated first to reduce barriers for the largest number of users.

Yes. For prerecorded video, both captions and audio descriptions are required. You can satisfy this by naturally describing visual actions within your video's main script.

Audio Description: A spoken account of visual factors occurring throughout a television show, movie, video, etc. This serves to fill in details that a person who cannot see or a person who otherwise has difficulty in processing visual information could miss. Audio description should not interfere with spoken content.

Transcript: A written version of dialogue and/or spoken content in a television show, movie, video, etc. This serves to provide a written account of verbal information for those unable to hear or otherwise process spoken content. Transcripts should fully encompass all spoken material.

New social media posts must be accessible moving forward. While backdating every post is not strictly required, high-impact pinned posts or essential information should be updated with Alt-Text and captions.

The ADA Title II rule applies to all official FSU accounts. It does not apply to personal accounts unless they are used to conduct university business or promote university programs, services, and activities; in those cases, the content must be accessible.