How AI Can Help Schools Meet ADA Accessibility Requirements Before the 2026 Deadline

By Anushree Raipat, Dr. Jiheng Jing, and AristAI Accessibility Team

You might think accessibility is just a “best practice,” but in reality, it’s required by law. This blog explores the urgency of ADA accessibility implementations, covering everything from the deadlines to who's involved, and highlights how AristAI Accessibility Suite can help schools meet these requirements.

ADA Compliance in Education

The digital revolution in education has opened doors to incredible opportunities—but it has also created significant barriers for students with disabilities. While technology has transformed learning, many digital platforms and tools remain inaccessible, leaving students with disabilities at a disadvantage.

The U.S. Department of Justice has reinforced the urgency of this issue with a clear mandate: all digital content must be accessible to ensure equal access for individuals with disabilities.

Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), enacted in 1990, prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all services, programs, and activities provided by state and local governments. This includes ensuring digital accessibility for websites, online platforms, and more.

Imagine this:

• A deaf high school student tries to watch a recorded lecture, but there are no captions.
• A visually impaired college student attempts to access their syllabus on a mobile app, but the text is incompatible with screen readers.

These aren’t hypothetical scenarios—they’re everyday realities. Failing to address digital accessibility doesn’t just create inconvenience; it actively excludes students from receiving an equal education.

The Legal Landscape: Why Accessibility Must Happen NOW

Title II of the ADA: A Clear Mandate

On April 24th, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice updated Title II of the ADA, requiring all state and local governments to verify that their web content — including mobile apps and social media postings — is accessible for those with vision, hearing, cognitive, and manual dexterity disabilities.

This federal rule requires public K-12 schools and higher education institutions to perform a comprehensive review of their digital content to ensure it meets accessibility standards. Schools must now evaluate their websites, learning management systems, mobile applications, and other digital platforms to identify and address accessibility gaps.

Who’s Involved?

This rule applies to all public entities, other than a special district government. This includes:

• All public schools and colleges
• State and local government agencies
• Any educational institution receiving federal funding

The Clock is Ticking: Deadlines to Comply

The compliance deadlines are based on the size of the local government’s population, not the student body size. Here’s the breakdown:

• April 2026: If your institution serves a population of 50,000 or more, this is your deadline to comply.
• April 2027: If your institution serves a population of 49,999 or less, mark this date on your calendar.

What Needs to Be Accessible?

The mandate covers nearly all digital content, including:

• Websites and web applications
• Learning Management Systems (Canvas, Blackboard, etc.)
• Documents, such as PDF, Word Doc, and PowerPoint
• Videos and multimedia content
• And more ...

As stated in the Federal Register Document (Source: Federal Register

"Title II of the ADA provides that no qualified individual with a disability shall, by reason of such disability, be excluded from participation in or denied the benefits of the services, programs, or activities of a public entity."

WCAG 2.1 Level AA Compliance

Entities must comply with the WCAG 2.1 Level A and AA success criteria and conformance requirements. These guidelines ensure digital content is perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust for all users, including those with disabilities.

Challenges in Education

Ensuring digital accessibility is a complex process, especially for universities with vast amounts of existing materials. At AristAI, we break down the challenges across key categories and the obstacles institutions face:

Categories:

Digital Platforms:

The course platforms and public websites require adjustments based on the platform.

• LMS: Platforms like Canvas, Moodle, and Blackboard need structured content, proper formatting, and accessibility tools to ensure inclusivity.
• Webpage: Course webpages must use accessible design elements (headings, lists, link colors) and built-in accessibility checkers.
• Apps: Tools like Google Apps, iWork, LibreOffice, OpenOffice, and Pope Tech require accessibility features to support all users.

Documents:

These documents listed below, including those used by students with disabilities, need to be made accessible.

• MS Word: For creating accessible Word documents using headings, lists, descriptive links, alt text for images, and proper color contrast allows all including those with disabilities.
• PDF: Remediating PDFs for accessibility is a lengthy process requiring proper tagging for headings, lists, alt text for images, descriptive links, and language settings to ensure accessibility.
• MS PowerPoint: Using descriptive slide titles, proper reading order, alt text for images, accessible templates, and high color contrast to create inclusive presentations for all students.
• MS Excel: Excel spreadsheets also need to follow universal guidelines including effective alt text for images, descriptive hyperlink text, and accessible color choices.

Multimedia:

Media is increasingly being used for teaching and learning, so video and audio content requires transcription, captioning, and audio descriptions as well to meet accessibility standards.

• Video and Audio: Accurate captions are essential to video accessibility and additional narration describing visual elements is required for multimedia content.

Challenges:

Revamping Existing Materials

Universities often have large volumes of existing content that need to be revised to meet accessibility standards. This is a time-consuming and resource-heavy task, particularly when considering the variety of formats involved.

Plus, the cost of assigning human resources to this project is often prohibitive, and it is not realistic to expect instructors to revise every piece of content themselves.

Limitations of Current Technology

While tools like Accessibility Checkers and PopTech exist, they come with limitations:

• Inaccuracy: These tools may not accurately detect all accessibility issues, requiring manual intervention.
• Lack of Solutions for Fixes: Even when issues are identified, these tools don’t always provide the necessary guidance on how to fix them.
• No One-Stop Solution: No single tool currently exists that can address all types of content and categories we discussed earlier, whether it's LMS/Webpages, documents, or multimedia. Different tools are needed for different content types, making the process more complicated.

Time Constraints

With a limited window of less than one or two years to resolve these accessibility issues, the urgency to act is high. Universities need quick, efficient solutions to bring existing materials up to standard within a tight timeframe.

How AristAI Accessibility Suite Can Help

The AristAI Accessibility Suite is a powerful AI-driven solution designed to help schools meet ADA accessibility requirements before the 2026/2027 deadlines. Here’s how it works:

Video Accessibility Tool

• WCAG 2.2 A–AAA compliance for video content.
• Provides multi-language descriptive transcripts, captions, and audio descriptions.
• Features an accessible media player with flexible built-in audio describer and soft-embedded captions.
• Supports swift updates to captions, transcripts, and descriptions.

Document Accessibility Tool

• Full WCAG 2.2 and ADA compliance for diverse document types (e.g., PDFs, Word).
• Automated audits with one-click fixes for issues like missing alt text.
• Scalable for large libraries with centralized dashboards and detailed file-level reports.

LMS & Webpage Accessibility Tool

• WCAG 2.2 (A/AA) compliance for webpages and LMS content, such as Canvas.
• AI-driven real-time detection and one-click remediation of accessibility issues.
• Course-level analytics with a unified dashboard for managing content.
• Effective scalability for large institutional websites and LMS content.

Shared Core Features

• Seamless integration with LMS platforms for effortless deployment and content updates.
• Adherence to WCAG 2.2 standards ensures robust accessibility.
• Built to scale, supporting extensive content with centralized reporting and automated remediation.

Transforming Challenges into Opportunities

As we’ve discussed earlier making all platforms accessible comes with significant challenges. AristAI solves these challenges in one unified platform. Here’s how:

Overcoming Technology Limitations

• Accuracy: AristAI’s advanced AI algorithms detect accessibility issues with high precision, reducing the need for manual checks.
• Comprehensive fixes: The suite not only identifies issues but also provides actionable solutions to fix them, addressing the limitations of other tools on the market.

Meeting Tight Deadlines

• Efficiency: AristAI Accessibility Suite operates rapidly, enabling universities to meet tight deadlines without compromising quality.
• Streamlined Workflow: The Suite can automate repetitive tasks, accelerating the process of bringing materials up to standard.
• Proactive Compliance: Ensures institutions are prepared well before the 2026 and 2027 deadlines, reducing last-minute stress and resource allocation.

Streamlining Content Updates

• Scalability: Handles content across multiple formats (LMS, documents, multimedia), making it easier to scale accessibility efforts across the institution.

Conclusion

The updated ADA guidelines underscore the importance of digital accessibility in education. Schools must act now to ensure equal access for all students. The AristAI Accessibility Suite offers a streamlined, AI-driven solution to help institutions meet these requirements efficiently and effectively.

By addressing these challenges head-on, schools can not only comply with the law but also create a more inclusive and equitable learning environment for every student.

About AristAI

AristAI is committed to meeting the evolving needs of colleges and universities. Our comprehensive suite of tools addresses pressing concerns around student support and accessibility:

• AI Teaching Assistants Our AI solutions—like the 24/7 AI Tutor—provide instant support to students by answering questions, clarifying concepts, and offering resources. Instructors benefit by offloading routine inquiries, freeing them to focus on higher-level teaching responsibilities and personalized guidance.
• AI Accessibility Detector & Remediator This tool automatically scans and remediates course materials—including videos, documents, and LMS-hosted content—to ensure compliance with accessibility standards. By making learning materials more inclusive, we help institutions avoid legal pitfalls and, more importantly, foster equal opportunities for all students.

Colleges and universities are under ever-increasing pressure to demonstrate the value and outcomes of the education they provide. Balancing tight budgets with high expectations for quality, accessibility, and innovation can be challenging. AristAI addresses these needs head-on by:

• Enhancing Student Engagement With instant, personalized feedback and support, AI Teaching Assistants keep learners motivated and on track—improving retention and success rates.
• Ensuring Compliance and Inclusivity Our AI Accessibility Detector & Remediator ensures your institution’s materials meet ADA and other regulatory standards, protecting you from costly compliance issues and fostering a culture of inclusion.
• Streamlining Faculty Workloads By taking on repetitive tasks, AI tools free up valuable time for educators, allowing them to focus on what they do best: teaching, mentoring, and innovating.

This marks the end of our 1st blog in our series on the AristAI Accessibility Suite, and we’re eager to hear your thoughts.

Ready to experience the future of higher education?

Contact us at support@aristai.io to set up your customized AristAI Tutor and discover how it can revolutionize your educational experience.

If the world of AI excites you as much as it does us, join us on this journey—we’re just getting started, and your input is invaluable!

Author: Anushree Raipat

I'm a Product Analyst at AristAI, merging analytical expertise with a passion for education to build transformative solutions that bridge traditional teaching and modern technology.