Web Accessibility Overview: Title II of the ADA
This section includes an overview of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act and how it impacts repository content.
What is Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act?
Title II requires state and local governments, including public schools, community colleges, and public universities, to make sure that their services, programs, and activities are accessible to people with disabilities
This includes the services, programs, and activities offered online and through mobile apps.
On April 24, 2024, the federal government published a new rule on the accessibility of web content and mobile apps provided by state and local governments that includes specific requirements about how to ensure that web content and mobile applications (apps) are accessible to people with disabilities.
What does the new rule say?
Mandates that web content or mobile applications published by state and local government entities must meet accessibility standards.
The new rule establishes specific requirements and technical standards for accessibility – Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1 AA)
Compliance dates are based on population size.
2 years for populations of 50,000 or more. (Compliance date = April 2026)
3 years for populations less than 50,000. (Compliance date = April 2027)
Libraries should use the total local community population to determine their compliance date.
Exceptions to Title II and Institutional Repositories
The new Title II guidelines include exceptions where web content provided by state and local governments would not need to meet WCAG 2.1, Level AA. The exceptions are specific and refer to information that is repeated elsewhere, outdated, or not currently being used. A full description of the exceptions can be found on the ADA website.
Generally speaking, the digital accessibility of materials that are in active use should be addressed. Institutions should consult and follow the guidance of their university's accessibility office or general counsel in regards to exceptions to the Title II rule.
Please also refer to the American Library Association’s https://www.ala.org/accessibility/ada-rule-exceptions.
Exception 1: Archived web content
Although institutional repositories are sometimes referred to as “archives,” they may not fall under the ADA’s exception for archived web content. Institutional repositories are built for ongoing public discovery and active dissemination and reuse of research and scholarship. Institutions should consult and follow the guidance of their university's accessibility office or general counsel in regards to this exception.
Exception 2: Pre-existing electronic documents
Institutional repository items and files uploaded before the deadline may qualify only if they are purely historical, not in current use, and no user has requested access. Institutional repository content is actively found through Google and library search, cited in new research, and is sometimes used in coursework and teaching. Institutions should consult and follow the guidance of their university's accessibility office or general counsel in regards to this exception.
Exception 3: Content posted by a third-party
Though third parties do often submit items to IRs through automatic ingests or mediated/unmediated deposit, these items may not fall under the exception. The definition of third parties are “members of the public or others who are not controlled by or acting for state and local governments”or others that the government may not be able to change the content that they post. Members of the university community or publishers who are submitting to the IR arguably do so on behalf of the state government and repository administrators have control over content that is submitted to the IR.
Exception 4: Individualized documents that are password-protected
Although DSpace has the ability to restrict the availability of items to specific individuals, it does not do so in a way that falls under the exception for individualized documents that are password protected. Though items may meet 1 of the 3 points laid out in the exception, they do not meet point 2. Items in IRs are not “about a specific person, property, or account” and the DSpace platform is not being used to provide access to documents outlined in the exception, such as a water or tax bill.