The U.S. Department of Justice has formally extended the compliance date for the 2024 final rule under ADA Title II by one year, shifting the University of Iowa’s deadline to April 26, 2027. While the timeline has changed, the university’s commitment to digital accessibility—and the work underway across campus—remains unchanged.
University leaders and campus partners are being notified of the extension and asked to update references to the compliance date on websites and materials as needed. At the same time, units are encouraged to maintain momentum toward accessibility goals and continue integrating accessibility into everyday workflows.
Continued progress toward an accessible digital environment
Over the past year, campus-wide collaboration through the Accessibility Task Force has significantly strengthened the university’s digital accessibility foundation. This work has improved the institution’s digital accessibility by outlining a clearer, data-informed understanding of scope, risk, and ownership.
Key outcomes of this effort include establishing clear ownership for digital access and creating a centralized inventory of digital content; developing a shared dashboard that brings together accessibility data from multiple systems; and creating an Accessibility Liaisons network to support distributed, unit-level action. Accessibility expectations also have been embedded into procurement and contract language, and awareness has grown through expanded training opportunities and a dedicated accessibility website with resources and guidance.
Tools, data, and measurable improvements
The university also has invested in tools to help identify and address accessibility issues at scale. Platforms such as Anthology Ally and TidyUP help instructors and staff improve content within ICON courses, while Siteimprove helps identify and remediate accessibility issues on university websites.
These efforts are already showing results. During fall 2025, instructors used the Ally instructor feedback tool more than 45,000 times, making changes to over 28,000 items and improving file accessibility by an average of 50 percent. The university has also made progress remediating and automating accessibility monitoring for heavily used systems such as MyUI, MAUI, FM@YourService, and BuildUI, while preparing for broader PDF remediation efforts that will continue beyond the conclusion of the task force.
What happens next
The Accessibility Task Force will conclude its work at the end of April as planned. Accessibility operations will continue under the leadership of the A-Team, comprising members of the Office of Civil Rights Compliance, the Information Security and Policy Office, the Office of General Counsel, and other campus stakeholders.The structures, tools, and partnerships developed over the past year are designed to support sustained progress through the new compliance date and beyond.
Units are encouraged to continue prioritizing high-impact remediation, improving content structure, and building accessibility into routine digital processes to ensure digital resources are usable and inclusive for everyone.
Questions about digital accessibility or next steps can be directed to the university’s Digital Accessibility Coordinator T.M. Weissenberger.