Big changes are coming for digital content accessibility.

The Department of Justice now requires all public university digital content — websites, apps, and course materials — to be accessible by April 24, 2026, under a new rule in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Why it matters: This is about more than compliance — it’s about doing what’s right for all Hawkeyes. Students, faculty, and staff with disabilities are leaving our institution at significantly higher rates due to the inaccessibility of their content. We must remove barriers and ensure everyone can succeed.

What we’re doing: The university's Accessibility Task Force has launched Accessible Iowa: Countdown to Digital Accessibility, a university-wide initiative to:

  • Get us to compliance by April 2026
  • Build sustainable tools and processes
  • Provide training and support for faculty, staff, and students

What can you do today to be ready?

While the task force is in the process of developing tools, assembling our inventory, developing support and resources that will be put toward this new rule, there are initial steps we encourage you and your unit to take as you prepare.

1. Build your understanding of creating accessible content:

Build your understanding of creating accessible content through new training opportunities, as well as in-depth information about specific topics such as documents, social media and websites.

2. Review and inventory digital content for which you are responsible:

This may include your documents, webpages if manage them, videos, social media, training content and more. This will help you know what kind of resources, support and training to seek to help you improve the accessibility of your content. Think of it this way:
Credit: Big Ten Academic Alliance Accessibility Group 

REMOVE

Remove content you do not need to share right now and delete content you no longer need.

REVISE

Revise any digital content you need to share.

RIGHT FIRST

Create new content with digital accessibility in mind.