ADA Title II Compliance: What Community Colleges Need to Know in 2026

The U.S. Department of Justice finalized updates to Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act in April 2024, establishing specific technical requirements for web accessibility in state and local government entities — including public community colleges and technical schools.

What Changed?

The updated rule requires all public-facing web content and mobile applications to conform to WCAG 2.1 Level AA standards. For institutions with populations under 50,000 (most community colleges), the compliance deadline is April 2026.

Key Requirements

All web content must meet WCAG 2.1 AA success criteria, which covers areas like color contrast for text, keyboard navigation, alternative text for images, form labels, video captions, and proper heading structure. The rule applies to all pages — not just the homepage.

What Should Your Institution Do?

Start with a comprehensive accessibility audit of your entire website. Identify critical violations first (missing alt text, broken keyboard navigation, low contrast), then work through serious and moderate issues systematically. Document your remediation progress — this matters in the event of a complaint.

How Project ADA Can Help

Project ADA automates the entire process: continuous WCAG 2.1 AA scanning across every page, violation tracking by severity, remediation priority reports, and compliance statements ready for publication. Our clients typically go from Grade C to Grade A within 6 weeks.