University Procurement Formalizes Accessibility Checks
Higher education institutions are embedding accessibility requirements directly into their ICT procurement processes. Universities are increasingly writing accessibility scoring into all procurement rubrics and requiring vendors to provide compliance guarantees. Due diligence now extends beyond VPATs, with institutions demanding demonstrated real-world usability and citing standards like the Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines (ATAG) as a benchmark.
- A new Department of Justice (DOJ) rule for Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a primary driver for these changes. It mandates that public colleges and universities make their web content and mobile apps conform to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA. Institutions serving 50,000 or more people must comply by April 24, 2026. - Digital accessibility lawsuits are a significant financial and reputational risk, with a projected 20% increase in cases in 2025 compared to 2024. Recent settlements have involved substantial costs, such as the Los Angeles Community College District paying $240,000 in damages for issues including the procurement of inaccessible course materials and software. - The new DOJ rule explicitly states that universities are legally responsible for the accessibility of third-party vendor products, a departure from previous "accommodation on request" standards. This has pushed institutions to demand more than a vendor's Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT), requiring demonstrable compliance. - To standardize vendor assessment, many institutions are adopting the Higher Education Community Vendor Assessment Toolkit (HECVAT), which now includes a dedicated IT Accessibility tab to streamline the review of a product's compliance. - This trend extends beyond the US; in Ontario, Canada, the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) mandates that accessibility criteria be incorporated into university procurement practices, influencing purchasing decisions for goods, services, and facilities. - The adoption of a wider range of assistive technologies by students, including screen readers, text-to-speech software, and AI-driven tools, is expanding the scope of what institutions must consider for digital inclusion. - These procurement requirements are built on a long-standing legal framework; Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 has long required that any information and communication technology (ICT) used by federal agencies—and by extension, universities receiving federal funding—be accessible. - While the current legal standard is WCAG 2.1, procurement discussions are increasingly referencing WCAG 2.2 as a best practice to "future-proof" technology acquisitions against evolving regulations and standards.
