Accessibility: Teaching at its Best
From the Quick Access series
April 2026 marks the federal deadline for digital accessibility under ADA Title II. At UC Davis, our commitment to accessibility will honor both the mandate and our Principles of Community as we remove barriers for all learners. Part of a series to be published during the fall of 2025, this post explores what accessibility means in practice and ways we can all contribute. Find all the posts in this series by clicking the yellow "Quick Access" label at the end of the post.
For more on campus compliance with this law, see UC Davis Digital Accessibility Program Manager Brad Starkey-Owens’ conversation on digital accessibility with Dr. Andy Jones and check the campus Accessibility site. Also consider joining the UC Accessibility Project or registering for the Universal Design for Learning Institute this fall (held each Friday this fall at 10:30AM on Zoom) for additional accessibility support.
When we talk about accessibility, we’re really talking about belonging. For example, some students will watch your lecture video with captions, or miss the content entirely. This school year, accessibility takes center stage in higher education: by April 2026, all public universities must meet the new Title II update to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). That means digital course materials, Canvas sites, and videos need to align with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1, the gold standard for determining digital accessibility. Teaching materials that don’t meet WCAG are not accessible, legally or practically.
Rather than just avoiding lawsuits, at UC Davis, our Principles of Community call us to create classrooms where every learner feels welcome and valued. When you add alt text to images, organize content with headings, or ensure strong color contrast, you follow federal guidelines and honor our shared commitment to equity and respect. Accessibility requires creativity; it asks us to imagine our courses through our students’ eyes (and ears, and keyboards). It also requires empathy, or a signal that every student belongs here and has what they need to succeed. In short, accessibility is teaching at its best.
In our weekly series of posts, we’ll look together at accessibility principles and practices that can strengthen our teaching and our community and get us ready for April 2026.
Did you know?
The Vitruvian stick figure man has become the universal symbol of accessibility, often shortened to A11Y (because there are 11 letters between “A” and “Y”).