Venn diagram showing the accessibility icon at the nexus of eye, ear, and hand

All blog posts ……..Start each work week with the latest issue. Scroll down to subscribe!

ID-facing tips for simplifying ADA compliance

As of the time of this writing, the online content produced by most federal agencies and contractors must comply with version 2.0 of the WCAG.  State and local agencies (including hospitals and public schools) have until spring of 2027 or 2028, depending on the size of their community or constituency, to comply with WCAG 2.1 level AA.

Note: If you’re unfamiliar with the term WCAG, you might find the explanation in this blog post, “ADA Compliance for IDs, authors, and web designers,” useful.

Even if we don’t work for a government or government-adjacent organization, though, ensuring our online course materials are WCAG-compliant is a good idea.  That’s because WCAG compliance:

  1. Enables more visitors to access our content
  2. Provides a better experience for all our visitors, not just those with temporary or permanent impairments
  3. Improves learning outcomes by allowing learners to focus on content instead of navigation and usability
  4. Communicates professionalism

Although making online materials WCAG-compliant can be challenging when we’re new to ADA principles, one or more of the approaches listed below can help make it easier.

1. Lean on text.

When we’re designing instructional materials, choosing text as much as possible (vs. interactivities and decorative illustrations) can save us time and, in the process, potentially improve our design. 

  1. Text saves us time. Text is the easiest content format to make WCAG-compliant: virtually all we need to do is stick with black text on a white background, avoid presenting text in table form, and apply heading styles (e.g., Microsoft Word Home tab > Styles) to titles, subtitles, section headings, and body text styles.
  2. Text can improve our design. Depending on our instructional content, sometimes images, videos, and interactives are a more effective choice than text when it comes to driving learning outcomes. But sometimes, text is actually the best approach. And in those cases, foregoing the unnecessary extras (decorative images, interactives that don’t actually drive mastery, and so on) not only get us to the compliance finish line quicker; they also deliver a superior instructional experience.

2. Involve your organization’s experts.

If you work in education, your institution may have a Student Accessibility Services (or similar) department. If you’re in industry, your organization may have a 508 Compliance department. If you’re lucky enough to have this kind of expert support, take advantage!

3. Use development tools for a first pass.

Choose development tools that support accessibility (e.g., MS Word/PowerPoint, Articulate 360 Storyline/Rise) and get in the habit of using the built-in checkers these tools offer as one step of your development process.  These checkers may not catch every single issue, but they’re a great place to start.  Examples:

  1. MS Word/PowerPoint:  Review > Check Accessibility  
  2. Articulate 360 Storyline: View > Accessibility Checker

4. Take advantage of WebAIM.

Take advantage of WebAIM’s WCAG checklist, a resource that has been around for quite a few internet years and which some find easier to understand and navigate than the official WCAG specifications. (Note that WebAIM’s checklist does provide links back to the WCAG, which makes double-checking official WCAG details easy.)

5. Use a third-party accessibility checker.

Third-party accessibility checkers are web sites into which you:

  1. Type the URL of your instructional materials.
  2. Receive a report explaining the specific elements, if any, that still need to be addressed to achieve WCAG compliance.

Some checkers are free, and some cost. The World Wide Web consortium hosts a list of third-party accessibility checkers you may find useful.

6. Hire a WCAG accessibility service.

Google “WCAG accessibility service” to see some options. This is likely the most expensive approach.

Given the recent pushback of the compliance deadline, if your team has any bandwidth at all, it might be more cost-effective for you to take advantage of some combination of tips 1-5 above instead and build skills as you go (perhaps jump-starting the process by springing for professional accessibility training) vs. jumping immediately to a professional service. (As long as you start right away! Don’t wait until the last minute to begin aligning your materials with the WCAG.)

But if you’re pressed for time, lack accessibility skills on your team, and have the budget, relying on expert accessibility services might be the way to go.

The bottom line (TLDR)

Ensuring our online instructional materials meet ADA (WCAG) standards is mandated for some organizations—but good business for all.

Using the strategies outlined in this article can help you make your instructional materials align with the WCAG as quickly and easily as possible.

Over time, if you and your team make the effort to create accessible development templates and guidelines—and bake accessibility into your process by adding “accessibility review’ to business and tech reviews— incorporating WCAG requirements will eventually become (better!) business as usual.

What’s YOUR take?

Do you have a different point of view? Something to add? A request for an article on a different topic? Please considering sharing your thoughts, questions, or suggestions for future blog articles in the comment box below.

Leave a comment