On April 24, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice published a new rule on digital accessibility under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act. This rule requires all content hosted on the web, including content secured with a password, to be accessible to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 AA standards by April 24, 2026.
As a result of this new rule, Georgia Gwinnett College (GGC) has updated Administrative Policy Manual 11.60 Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility to include content secured by a login, which means that content hosted in MyCourses must be accessible.
What does this mean for faculty?
Course content in MyCourses must be accessible regardless of whether you have a student in your course that requires accommodation. All content — including but not limited to PDF files, Word documents, PowerPoint presentations, Excel spreadsheets, images, videos, etc. — must be accessible. If you use content from third-party publishers or vendors, their content, resources and activities must also be accessible. The GGC deadline for ensuring digital content accessibility is April 6, 2026.
What can you do now?
To prepare for April 2026, Academic Affairs and Information Technology recommend that you take the following actions:
- Review your spring 2026 and future courses. Remove any content (e.g., files, videos, announcements, etc.) from your MyCourses course that is no longer needed.
- Evaluate the Panorama Course Report available in your MyCourses courses to identify problematic content.
- Fix issues identified in your Panorama Course Report.
- Ensure videos are captioned.
- Plan to attend accessibility focused workshops.
- Engage with publishers and vendors to ensure the content, resources and activities provided are accessible.
What workshops are available?
MyCourses: Improving Accessibility
- January 27, 2 p.m.
- Join via Zoom.
Designing for Learning: Clarity, Access and Student Success
- January 28, 1 p.m.
- Register to attend - Jan. 28
Accessibility Tips: Microsoft PowerPoint
- February 10, 2 p.m.
- Join via Zoom.
Designing for Learning: Clarity, Access and Student Success
- February 18, 10 a.m.
- Register to attend - Feb. 18
Accessibility Tips: Microsoft Office
- February 24, 2 p.m.
- Join via Zoom.
Designing for Learning: Clarity, Access and Student Success
- March18, 2 p.m.
- Register to Attend - March 18
Accessibility Tips: PDF Files
- March 24, 2 p.m.
- Join via Zoom.
Accessibility Tips: Videos
- March 26, 2 p.m.
- Join via Zoom.
MyCourses: Improving Accessibility
- April 21, 2 p.m.
- Join via Zoom.
Designing for Learning: Clarity, Access and Student Success
- April 23, 2 p.m.
- Register to attend - April 23
Accessibility Matters
- May 19, 10 a.m.
- Join via Zoom.
Check the events calendar for additional workshops.
You may also schedule a 1:1 consultation to discuss digital content accessibility.
If you have any questions, please contact the Help Desk at:
Email: helpdesk [at] ggc.edu (helpdesk[at]ggc[dot]edu)
Phone: 678.407.5611