Last updated July 25, 2025
Five steps you can take toward meeting the ADA rule requirements, and information on exceptions to the rule.
5 steps for preparing digital content
Follow these five steps to prepare your digital content to meet the ADA rule requirements. Information for individuals who procure or manage vended digital tools is available in the Purchasing accessible technology guide.
This is an accordion element with a series of buttons that open and close related content panels.
Step 1: Determine if your content must be accessible
The ADA provides five exceptions that explain when content does not need to meet the technical standard for accessibility.
Generally, content does not need to be made accessible if it will not be used to participate in, apply to, or benefit from a program, service, or activity on April 24, 2026 or during the spring 2026 academic term.
For resources that do not meet these exceptions, learn how to make them accessible or choose a more accessible format.
Step 2: Become familiar with creating accessible content
If you’re not sure where to start with learning about digital accessibility, read the Center for User Experience’s Make It Accessible guides. These guides cover basic practices for supporting digital accessibility when creating content.
The following trainings from LinkedIn Learning go more in-depth on how to apply accessibility best practices in specific content formats.
Trainings for all faculty, staff, and students
- Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel accessibility
- PDF accessibility
Trainings for IT staff and web developers/designers
- Accessibility for web content creators
- Accessibility for developers
Step 3: Remove old, unused content
Review and remove unused, unnecessary, or outdated content. Follow records retention requirements.
- Inventory your content.
- Determine what content is needed for individuals to participate in, apply to, or benefit from a program, service, or activity on April 24, 2026 or during the spring 2026 academic term.
- Remove content that will not be used again.
- Unpublish or remove file sharing access.
Step 4: Remediate inaccessible content
Consider your options
To make inaccessible content accessible, you have several options:
- Replace: find an accessible version of the content and replace it, such as from a publisher or another institution.
- Change the file format: replace a file with an accessible format, such as converting an inaccessible PDF to an HTML webpage or a Microsoft Word document.
- Fix identified errors: if replacing or changing the format is not possible, review identified errors and remediate them.
Prioritize
When deciding what content to remediate first, prioritize by:
- Time: content that needs to be used now, such as academic, website, and other digital content available for students, employees, or university community members.
- Impact: frequently used content and those essential for success.
- Known barriers: issues identified by accessibility checkers.
Step 5: Do it "Right from the start"
“Right from the start” is a culture shift where all newly created content is designed to be accessible for seamless access. Creating accessible content is everyone’s shared responsibility.
Accessible design:
- Meets the university’s mission.
- Benefits everyone, not just disabled individuals.
- Is the right thing to do.
- Reduces the need for reasonable accommodations.
- Saves time and resources.
- Minimizes institutional risk.
Steps for everyone to follow:
- Become familiar with digital accessibility principles.
- Read the Center for User Experience’s Make It Accessible guides.
- Use accessibility checkers while creating content:
- Microsoft Office 365 accessibility checker
- Grackle Workspace for Google Docs, Slides, and Sheets
- Adobe Acrobat’s PDF accessibility checker
- UDOIT in Canvas
- Webpage scanners such as the WAVE tool and Google Lighthouse
- Contact the Center for User Experience for an accessibility consultation or evaluation help.
ADA rule exceptions
If digital content meets one of the following exceptions, it is not required to be accessible under the ADA rule.
This is an accordion element with a series of buttons that open and close related content panels.
1: Archived or legacy digital content
Older content is not required to be accessible if it meets all of the following:
- Created before April 24, 2026.
- Not needed for an individual to participate in, apply to, or benefit from a program, service, or activity on April 24, 2026 or after.
- Kept only for reference, research, or recordkeeping purposes.
- Not edited on or after April 24, 2026 to add, update, or rearrange information.
Examples
The following examples of archived content would qualify as exceptions:
- Scholarly articles from 2023 and earlier kept for reference purposes.
- List of recorded data kept for research purposes.
- Legacy meeting notes from 1945 that are kept only for recordkeeping purposes.
The following examples of archived content would not qualify as exceptions and must be made accessible:
- Meeting notes from 2022 are updated with additional information in August 2026. The meeting notes must be made accessible even if they will continue to be kept for recordkeeping and maintained as legacy content.
- A 1999 scholarly article is included in a course. Despite the article being a reference item and produced before April 2026, it must be made accessible because it is included in a program occurring during the spring 2026 academic term.
- A list of recorded temperatures from 1987-1995 is used in a department’s contest where participants forecast the high temperature. Even though the list is a research item, it must be made accessible because it is used to participate in a current program.
Tips
- For all archived content, you must:
- Include a clear label that identifies the content as archived.
- Include an accessibility tagline statement for accommodations to be requested.
- Move legacy digital content to one location designated with an accessible archive label instead of labeling each item.
- Review and remove outdated or unnecessary file sharing permissions so legacy content is not readily available.
2: Preexisting conventional electronic documents
Older documents are not required to be accessible if they meet all of the following:
- Created before April 24, 2026.
- Not needed for an individual to participate in, apply to, or benefit from a program, service, or activity on April 24, 2026 or after.
- It is a PDF, word processing, spreadsheet, or presentation file.
- Not edited on or after April 24, 2026 to add, update, or rearrange information.
Examples
The following examples of preexisting documents would qualify as exceptions:
- A website has a preexisting spreadsheet of daily temperature highs from the past 20 years. This document is not needed to participate in a program. It does not need to be accessible.
- Preexisting documents are moved to another webpage but not altered. They do not need to be made accessible.
- There is a library catalog of scholarly articles in PDF format created before April 2026. These documents do not need to be accessible unless used in an active course or university program.
The following examples of preexisting documents would not qualify as exceptions and must be made accessible:
- A department has a preexisting spreadsheet of award winners and their qualifications from the past 20 years on its website. Participants must review this spreadsheet to complete an award nomination that is due after April 24, 2026. This document must be made accessible because participants need to access it and it is used in a program.
- A 2021 scholarly article is included in an active course. Even though the PDF was created before April 2026, it must be made accessible because it is used in a spring 2026 academic term course.
Tips
- Remove preexisting documents not needed for an individual to apply to, participate in, or benefit from a program.
3: Third-party posts
Content posted by someone outside the university is not required to be accessible if the person is not posting under a contractual, licensing, or other agreement with the university.
Visit Third-party hosted content for information about digital content hosted outside the university.
Examples
The following examples of third-party posts would qualify as exceptions:
- A community member with no university affiliation posts a message with images and no alt text to a web forum. The post does not need to be accessible.
- A student on their personal account replies to a university social media post with a video. The student’s video does not include captions or audio descriptions. The student’s reply does not need to be accessible.
The following examples of third-party posts would not qualify as exceptions and must be made accessible:
- A vendor operates a department’s social media. All posts, including responses made by the vendor, must be accessible because the vendor is under contract with the university.
- A student uploads a video to a social media channel due to a course requirement and the post is used by other students in the class. The post must be accessible.
- A student-employee manages a department’s wiki page. Their posts on the wiki must be accessible.
Tips
- Encourage third parties with no university affiliation to post accessible content so it is available to everyone.
4: Individualized, password-protected content
Content is not required to be accessible if it meets all of the following:
- It is a PDF, word processing, spreadsheet, or presentation file.
- About a specific individual, their property, or their account.
- Password-protected or otherwise secure — a password is required to retrieve the document or access the system that contains the document.
Examples
The following examples of individualized, password-protected content would qualify as exceptions:
- Student’s academic transcript.
- Student’s assignment submitted via Canvas.
- Employee’s benefit statement.
- Applicant’s acceptance letter.
- Faculty appointment letter.
- A PDF about an employee’s leave balance is generated and emailed directly to the employee. It does not need to be made accessible unless the employee requests it.
The following examples of individualized, password-protected content would not qualify as exceptions and must be made accessible:
- A PDF about an employee’s leave balance is generated and emailed to other colleagues to review. The PDF sent between colleagues must be made accessible.
- A professor uploads her pay statement PDF to a Canvas course page to teach about tax deductions. The PDF must be made accessible because it is used in a course.
Tips
- Include an accessibility tagline statement for accommodations to be requested.
- Make individualized content accessible to promote seamless access so disabled individuals do not need to request an accommodation.
5: Preexisting social media posts
Social media posts created before April 24, 2026 do not need to be accessible.
Examples
The following example of a preexisting social media post would qualify as an exception:
- In January 2026, a department posts on social media about its June 2026 open house event. The announcement contains images and a downloadable PDF that are not accessible. This social media post does not need to be accessible because it was posted before April 24, 2026.
The following example of a preexisting social media post would not qualify as an exception:
- In May 2026, the department reposts about its June 2026 open house event. The post and accompanying downloadable PDF must be accessible because the repost was made after April 24, 2026.
Tips
- Remove old social media posts.
- Do not repost old social media posts if you do not know whether they are accessible.
More help
- Learn more about accessibility best practices from the Center for User Experience’s Make It Accessible guides. For additional questions or help with evaluating products for accessibility, contact the Center for User Experience.
- For compliance or policy questions, contact the Deputy ADA Coordinator.
- Connect with your Digital Accessibility Liaison about accessibility efforts in your unit.