Ensuring Digital Accessibility Ahead of Upcoming Federal Deadline

From Patricia Price, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Troy J. Hahn, Interim Vice President for Finance and Administration:

As part of CUNY’s commitment to equity and inclusion, we are writing to remind the campus community about the importance of ensuring that all digital materials shared with students, colleagues, and the public are accessible.

The U.S. Department of Justice has issued new ADA Title II regulations requiring public universities to ensure that actively used digital content—including websites, course materials, documents, videos, and applications—conforms to Web Content Accessibility Guideline (WCAG) 2.1 AA accessibility standards. These requirements take effect for New York State on April 27, 2026.

You may review Executive Vice Chancellor & University Provost Alicia M. Alvero’s message to faculty about accessibility sent on January 28, 2026: https://www.qc.cuny.edu/provost/communications-from-the-office-of-provost/.

What This Means for Faculty and Staff

If you create or share digital content in the course of your work, please take steps to make sure your materials are accessible. This includes:

Documents (Word, PowerPoint, PDFs): Use headings, alt text for images, proper reading order, sufficient color contrast, and the document’s built in accessibility checker.
Course Materials: Ensure syllabi, lecture slides, readings, and assessments are accessible for all students. Use Ally within Brightspace to enhance the accessibility of course materials. As a reminder, instructors should be using Brightspace for all courses to, at a minimum, to upload the syllabus and use the gradebook.
Videos: Provide accurate captions and transcripts.
Web Content: Content posted to departmental or program websites must meet current WCAG standards.

CUNY Resources to Help

CUNY provides practical guidance, tutorials, and tools to help you create accessible content:

CUNY CIS Digital Accessibility Guide (PDFs, Office docs, email, videos, social media, web): https://www.cuny.edu/accessibility/content/
Accessibility Toolkit for Open Education Resources (Office of Library Services): https://guides.cuny.edu/accessibility
CUNY Assistive Technology Services (training and support): http://cats.cuny.edu/cuny-assistive-technology-services/

Our campus will continue to provide support to help faculty and staff meet these requirements. Ensuring digital accessibility is essential to supporting all members of our community and complying with federal and state regulations.

Thank you for your partnership and your ongoing commitment to inclusive education.

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