ADA Title II compliance target date announced, resources available

Virginia Tech is advancing an initiative aimed at achieving compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Title II, which mandates equal access for individuals with disabilities in all public services and programs. As part of this effort, the university has developed a dedicated webpage providing essential resources to assist the university community in making digital accessibility a priority.

Virginia Tech’s Office for Civil Rights Compliance and Prevention Education (CRCPE), in coordination with Technology-enhanced Learning and Online Strategies’ (TLOS) Accessible Technologies group, emphasize that all employees, including teaching faculty, are responsible for ensuring that the materials they create, share, or use are accessible to people of all abilities. This includes materials in all formats such as documents, websites, videos, and other media.

For almost a decade, Virginia Tech has promoted accessibility education and the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL). UDL guides educational practices and ensures high-quality learning experiences by addressing the needs of all learners and removing learning barriers from the educational curriculum. When a course, application, or website is designed with the principles and best practices outlined by the UDL framework in mind, it will be far more likely to meet the needs of all users from the beginning, reducing barriers to learning and engagement.

The newly launched Title II resources page will serve as a central hub for tools, training, and support to assist employees in meeting these obligations. Key features of the webpage include:

• An Overview of ADA Title II Compliance and Virginia Tech’s commitment: Clear guidelines on how ADA Title II impacts university practices and policies.

• Accessibility Tools: Links to helpful tools such as accessibility checkers for websites, documents, and multimedia content.

• Training Resources: Easy access to educational modules on accessibility standards and best practices for creating inclusive materials.

• FAQs: A collection of frequently asked questions to address common concerns regarding accessibility across university programs and services.

“Ensuring digital accessibility is a shared responsibility, and it is critical that all members of the university community, especially our teaching faculty, are equipped with the knowledge and tools to provide a learning environment that is geared to the needs of all our students,” said Kelly Oaks, associate vice president for Civil Rights and Prevention Education. “We are committed to supporting our employees in this important initiative, and we believe these resources will empower them to create accessible content for all students, faculty, and staff.”

All faculty, staff, and students are encouraged to visit the new webpage and familiarize themselves with the available tools and resources. The university remains dedicated to fostering an environment that embraces our Principles of Community and provides equal access for people of all abilities – indeed, this is something we can all do to create a better environment for working, learning, and self-discovery across all our communities.

To learn more, visit accessibility.vt.edu/title-ii.html.