OFFICE OF THE CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER

OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE VICE CHANCELLOR

February 25, 2026
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ALL ACADEMICS AND STAFF AT UC SAN DIEGO

Digital Content Accessibility Compliance

Dear Colleagues,

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has issued changes to the Americans with Disabilities Act that include new requirements for websites and other online content, including web-based applications and systems. UC San Diego is committed to fulfilling these requirements. We want to share these new rules with you and provide you with resources and information so we can collaborate to ensure that our campus’ digital environment is inclusive and compliant.

What is happening?

The DOJ has issued new rules for Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). These rules require compliance of all digital content by April 24, 2026. UC San Diego, as a public university committed to the citizens of California and beyond, will abide by the new rules set forth in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA standards. 

What does this mean? 

All new and existing UC San Diego digital content must meet the WCAG 2.1 AA standards. Content includes all digital resources, including but not limited to:

  • Websites and web applications (public and internal)
  • Learning Management System (Canvas) and all course content (e.g., syllabi, readings, presentations)
  • Videos and audio content 
  • Digital documents (PDFs, Word documents, Google documents, presentations)
  • HTML email communications, such as newsletters and branded emails
  • Social media content
  • Online forms and mobile applications

How to Prepare and Find Help

UC San Diego is committed to providing resources and assistance to help anyone responsible for digital content achieve compliance. Please note that using Canvas for your course websites and using the Campus CMS or Simple Sites for your professional websites immediately brings you closer to full compliance. Here are some additional tools and support services available to help with bringing content into compliance:

  1. University Support
    1. IT Services offers consultations, remediation guidance, and compliant website solutions (Campus CMS, Simple Sites). To inquire about website support, please contact IT Services by emailing wts@ucsd.edu.
    2. Resources to support faculty in creating accessible syllabi, captioning lecture videos, and ensuring LMS content is compliant can be found on the UC San Diego accessibility resources page.
  2. Recommended Training - Digital accessibility training is strongly recommended for all individuals responsible for creating or managing digital content. You can access training resources on the UC San Diego accessibility training page. Siteimprove on-demand courses are available via your UC single-sign-on and offer tracks for:
    1. Writers & Content Creators
    2. Web/Email Designers & Developers
    3. Faculty and Educators (covers course content, video captioning, and accessible documents)
    4. Email Marketers
  3. Checklists and Guidance - Checklists and other resources can be found online on the UC San Diego accessibility checklist page. Use accessibility online checklists to ensure your content is compliant, including:
    1. Accessibility Checklists: For documents, presentations, social media, and email. These are essential for creating accessible course materials.
    2. Website Accessibility Checklist: For layout, color contrast, keyboard focus, and more.
  4. Testing Tools
    1. Siteimprove Accessibility Testing: Free for UC employees, this tool provides automatic issue reports and guidance. Siteimprove information can be found on the Siteimprove webpage on Blink.
    2. UC San Diego Brand Colour Contrast Checker: Verifies text/background colors meet WCAG ratios. Accessible brand color combinations and the checking tool can be found on the Web and Digital page of the UC San Diego brand site. 
    3. Screen Readers: Test with free tools like NVDA (Windows) and VoiceOver (Mac).

Compliance and Timeline 

All new and updated digital content must be compliant upon release. IT Services will use scanning tools to monitor for non-compliance. Owners of websites found to be non-compliant will be notified as part of a formal remediation process outlined in the UC San Diego Digital Accessibility Standards. 

Exceptions 

The DOJ allows for specific exceptions to the new rules. For more information on the areas of exception, please see page 10 of the new draft policy for more information on exceptions. 

Ensuring our digital campus is accessible to everyone is a core part of our public mission. We appreciate your partnership in this critical initiative. For complete details, please visit the UC San Diego Accessibility website.

Sincerely,

Kevin Chou
Interim Chief Information Officer

Elizabeth H. Simmons
Executive Vice Chancellor

University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA, 92093