Meeting the ADA Title II Digital Accessibility Requirements

Guidelines for Auditing and Preparing Digital Resources for Accessibility

The Importance of Auditing Your Digital Resources

Conducting a thorough audit of your digital resources is a critical first step in the accessibility remediation process. Whether it's documents, websites, audio/video content, or supplemental applications, these assets must meet accessibility standards to ensure all users, including those with disabilities, can engage with them equally. An audit helps units to identify existing digital resources, determine which will be archived/updated, identify accessibility barriers, and develop a plan to address them. By proactively reviewing and remediating these digital resources, units can ensure compliance with ADA Title II standards, promote inclusivity, and create a more accessible digital environment for all users.

Audit Expectations

The pie chart below provides a detailed breakdown of expectations for units as they manuever through each phase of the process. Click on a resource for additional guidance. To assist with tracking your progress, use the DCAAP Tracker spreadsheet [XLSX]. NOTE: This resource is for internal use only.

Websites Documents Audio/Video Supp. Applications

Auditing your Documents

When auditing documents, units should consider the following:

  • Identify personnel responsible for ensuring documents are accessible.
  • Focus on Word, PowerPoint, and PDF documents.
  • Decide which documents will be archived and which ones need to updated/remediated.
  • For documents hosted on websites, determine if they can be converted into HTML pages (e.g., forms) or merged in with existing web content (e.g., LMS modules/content areas)?
  • For documents that need to be updated/remediated, use Panorama to assist you with determining how accessible they are.
    • Documents that fail to meet accessibility standards, should be remediated in-house or submitted to the ATI.

Auditing your Website(s)

When auditing websites, units should consider the following:

  • Identify personnel responsible for ensuring documents are accessible.
  • Identify and list all published websites for your department – unpublish/delete any that are no longer needed.
  • Ensure all websites have been entered into DubBot.
    • Identify the starting Accessibility Score and record the date.
    • Record any specific WCAG 2.1 A & AA standards listed in DubBot for each site
    • Identify any documents linked to your site (PDF, Word, PPT and Excel) -- NOTE: See Documents for additional guidance.
    • Identify any video and audio files on your site -- NOTE: See Audio/Video for additional guidance.
    • Determine who will remediate (i.e. Send to ATI/in-house) – Tasks can be assigned in DubBOT.

Auditing your Audio/Video Content

When auditing audio and video content, units should consider the following:

  • Identify personnel responsible for ensuring videos are captioned, transcribed, and audio-described (as needed).
  • Decide which audio/video content will be archived and which need to be updated/remediated.
    • Identify if video(s) have accurate, synchronized captions (i.e., no auto-captions). Audio/Video content that lack transcripts, captions, and/or audio descriptions should be remediated in-house or submitted to the ATI.

Auditing your Supplemental Apps

For supplemental applications, units should do the following:

  • Identify any supplemental applications that are being used by your unit (e.g., Padlet, polling apps, newsletters, content creation, etc.).
  • Reference the ASRB Ready Software List opens a new windowto determine if it has been approved by the ASRB.
  • Search the vendor's website to see if there is any accessibility-related information (e.g., H5P accessibility opens a new window)
  • For inventory and tracking purposes only, report any supplemental apps/tools being used to the ATI.

DCAAP Pilot Findings: Assistive Technology Initiative

The table below summarizes the ATI's findings after a review of internal websites (ati.gmu.edu opens a new window, accessibility.gmu.edu opens a new window):

Resource Total Identified Identified for Update/Remediation Avg. Compliance Score (%) Key Issues Identified
Documents 140 9 87% Missing alt text, incorrect reading order
Websites 2 2 94% Missing alt text, non-discernable hyperlink text, keyboard access issues
Audio/Video 21 8 0% Videos lack accurate, synchronized captions, transcripts, and/or audio descriptions
Supplemental Applications 14 8 N/A Apps not reviewed for accessibility through ASRB

For a more detailed review of how the ATI office conducted their digital accessibility audit, view the ATI's DCAAP Tracker spreadsheet [XLSX] opens a new window.