Policies Analyzed by USU's National Center on Accessible Digital Educational Materials & Instruction

State educational agencies and school districts have long been responsible for ensuring that students with disabilities can access instructional materials.

In 2024, a new Americans with Disabilities Act Title II final rule moved expectations into the digital age by requiring all state and local governments’ web content and mobile apps to meet a specific accessibility standard. This goes into effect by April 26, 2027, for entities that serve a population of 50,000 or more. Agencies serving populations of less than 50,000 have an additional year to comply with the rule — April 26, 2028.

The National Center on Accessible Digital Educational Materials & Instruction (NCADEMI, pronounced n-CAD-emy) at Utah State is asking if state K-12 educational agencies have policies in place to address the new standard. NCADEMI is also seeking to know if digital accessibility policies provide the guidance needed to produce high-quality systems that can deliver accessible digital educational materials.

A recent policy scan by NCADEMI reviewed the digital accessibility policies of all 50 states, plus U.S. territories and Washington, D.C. The scan found that only 12 states have policies that address the accessibility of digital educational materials used in K–12 schools: Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, and Texas.

NCADEMI’s scan also determined that having a policy does not necessarily mean having comprehensive guidance for implementation. Although technical accessibility specifications were consistently addressed among the policies analyzed, guidance related to leadership, defined responsibilities, feedback loops, and sustained implementation was considerably less common.

Additionally, NCADEMI found that many states already have a foundation to build on. Although most states do not have policies specific to the accessibility of digital educational materials used by schools, many have accessibility policies that apply to state government websites and other digital assets.

NCADEMI is part of the Institute for Disability Research, Policy & Practice within the Emma Eccles Jones College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences. Its mission is to ensure that students with disabilities nationwide can access and engage with technology at the same time, and with the same ease and independence, as students without disabilities.

NCADEMI, funded by the Office of Special Education Programs within the U.S. Department of Education, supports state and local educational agencies in delivering timely, accessible digital materials — removing barriers to learning for students with disabilities from preschool through graduation.

“While our findings indicate that few states have policies specifically addressing the accessibility of digital educational materials in K–12 schools, the report provides a valuable picture of the emerging policy landscape under ADA Title II,” said Cynthia Curry, director of NCADEMI. “State education leaders and policymakers can use these findings, along with NCADEMI’s free technical assistance, as a springboard for strengthening policies and guidance that help school districts make digital accessibility a routine practice.”

In addition, the policy scan highlights the need for policies that not only establish standards but help school districts carry them out and deliver high-quality results.

Unless they are intentionally designed to do so, most digital materials, such as screen readers, text-to-speech, voice recognition, or switch access, don’t work well with assistive technology. Without a specific standard that expressly required digital accessibility, many schools used individualized assistance — often provided by school personnel — to address the barriers that prevented students with disabilities from using digital educational materials.

The new standard expects school districts to provide digital materials that preK-12 students with disabilities can use independently. For example, the new rule requires PowerPoint presentations, digital textbooks, PDFs, and any other digital materials commonly hosted on the web for student use, to be usable with AT.

Learn more about the ADA Title II rule.