Frequently Asked Questions

This collection of frequently asked questions is intended to support faculty and staff in efforts to improve the accessibility of digital materials. It provides responses to common questions, clarifies how Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, ADA Title II and UCOP Policy Draft IM-1300 applies in practice, and offers guidance on accessibility-related scenarios, with links to relevant resources for additional support.

This is a living document. Please check back as additional FAQs may be added in the future.

Questions

ADA Title II & Section 504

Canvas/LMS

Websites

PDFs

Video & Audio

Digital Communications

Software Procurement

Answers

ADA Title II & General Accessibility

  • Is UC Davis responsible for ADA Title II or Section 504 dealines?
    Both. As of April 20, 2027 UC Davis is responsible for meeting the Section 504 New Rule deadline on May 11, 2027. We are also responsible for meeting the ADA Title II deadline on April 24, 2027. If any rules or interpretation of those rules change we will update that information here. 
  • What kind of materials need to be made accessible?
    ADA Title II is pretty wide sweeping, and states web content and mobile apps usually need to be accessible. It is broad, and open-ended by design. The use of the term usually refers to the five exceptions, which should be applied in very limited scopes. For details please read the ADA Title II Info Page.
  • Is there an easy guide to WCAG 2.1 AA compliance?
    Not really. WCAG 2.1 is defined as the technical standard for ADA Title II; the very specific and technical partner to the intentionally broad rule. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) breaks WCAG up into four principles. Content must be perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust. The resources below are intended to break those down into slightly more digestible chunks:
  • What is actually required by April 24, 2027?
    Technically, to the letter of ADA, web content and mobile apps should be fully compliant by April 24. Functionally, we know virtually no public office will meet this goal. Our goal is to have responsive and defensible workflows in place. That means staff and faculty are trained on how and why content needs to be accessible, and all users have avenues for reporting inaccessible content, and a realistic expectation that issues will be addressed. Some things you can do right now:
  • Where should I start?
    Faculty can make meaningful progress now, using existing tools and resources, addressing the highest-impact barriers first, such as document structure, image descriptions, and captions, and refining materials over time.
  • Who is liable for accessibility issues?
    Legal liability for inaccessible content rests with UC Davis rather than with individual faculty members, though the university depends on all of us to meet that shared obligation. However, we cannot guarantee how an external enforcement body would view individual conduct if the university's compliance were ever examined, and as such, this is one more reason that ongoing good-faith effort and progress remain the most protective posture for both individual faculty and the institution.
  • Does the Federal ADA extension apply to UC Davis? Why or why not?
    Yes, and no. 
    The ADA Title II Extension published on April 20 does apply to UC Davis. However, a virtually identical new rule under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act goes into effect May 11, 2027. According to UCOP's interpretation, we are still responsible for compliance by this date.
    Additionally, UCOP Policy IMT-1300 still identifies April 24, 2027 as the effective date of implementation and have not signaled any intent to delay. So, if not for Title II, UC Davis remains focused on Spring 2027 Accessibility efforts.

Canvas/LMS

  • Is there an accessibility checklist for online course materials?
    Because accessibility is an ongoing process, we prefer to think of them as workflows, rather than checklists. That is to say, accessibility is not a box we check once, then move on. The following resources are intended to provide an ongoing workflow for online course materials:
  • What Canvas tools are available to help?
    • Ally in Canvas:
      Beginning September 2, 2026 Ally will be live on all Canvas courses. Ally provides accessibility scores, issue identification, and guidance to remediate.
    • Canvas Accessibility Checker:
      Canvas recently updated its accessibility checker to give you a course-level view, and remediation walk-through of issues and potential issues. This checker is enabled by default. Information on the update can be found here: Canvas Accessibility Checker
    • SensusAccess:
      Allows faculty or students to automatically produce alternate accessible formats of uploaded course content. The princple of "garbage in, garbage out" applies though, so you will still need to ensure content (especially PDFs) are machine readable before uploading. Learn to use SensusAccess in the Knowledge Base: Converting Course Materials to More Accessible Formats using SensusAccess (opens in new window)
  • Are there automated tools for LMS content on platforms other than Canvas?
    Not currently. We do know that most industry standard applications, including the Articulate suite are WCAG 2.1 compliant and allow for the creation of accessible coursework. The vendor resources below can get you started.
  • Can I still use handwritten content or PDFs in my coursework?
    You should use the best tools available for your pedagogy, regardless of format. We do not currently have a sitewide license available for remediating handwritten PDFs, however faculty and Academic Tech staff have found a few options to be helpful:
    • Adobe Acrobat provides capability and guidance on converting handwriting to text using Optical Character Recognition (OCR). Acrobat Pro is available for UC Davis employees at a discount via the IET Service Hub. 
    • Check in with the Aggie A.I. Tools Comparison Chart for which generative A.I. applications include this capability and could be helpful in your workflow. 
    • Applications like Mathpix and HandwritingOCR, among others, are designed to scan your handwriting and reformat it into editable text and/or math languages. These platforms are specific in scope and should be reviewed for the specific need and use case for your program, department, or class for purchase. 
    • Utilizing Lecture Capture and uploading captured videos to Canvas instead of PDFs provides a compliant path for students to gain access to the content without needing the PDF itself. As long as the handwriting content is both visible on screen and narrated by the lecturer, captioning should provide adequate student access.

Website & Software Development

  • How do I test my website's accessibility?
    UCOP provides a Siteimprove license for all UC campuses. This platform will run regular automated accessibility scans of your website, and provide a score that you can work toward improving over time. To get your site registered on Siteimprove, send an email to [email protected].
  • Can I get my website on Siteimprove even if it's not on Sitefarm?
    Yes. Siteimprove is not limited to Sitefarm or Wordpress, however there are limitations. Send an email to [email protected] to see if you can use Siteimprove on your website.
  • What if I can't use Siteimprove?
    If your website cannot be registered with Siteimprove, you can still use the Siteimprove browser extension (opens in new window) to scan page-by-page for accessibility. It does not provide the same trackability throughout your site, but your data stays local to your browser, so it can even be used for sensitive data.
  • How can I check accessibility on software I've developed?
    Siteimprove is also capable of scanning applications, provided they live in a web browser. Email [email protected] to see if you can have your web application added to Siteimprove. You can also install the Siteimprove browser extension for one-off scanning.
  • Should I test my website or software manually?
    We recommend only doing light manual web and software testing for accessibility, by verifying things like color contrast, link descriptions, and heading hierarchy while you edit pages. You can also use your tab key while viewing your site to check the rough reading order of your links. Just hit tab and make sure that the links highlight in an order that makes sense.
    We do not recommend manually testing with a screen reader unless you are already trained or practiced in using screen readers on a regular basis. Different screen readers work slightly differently, and sighted people can have a visual bias that will skirt around potential issues, providing a false sense of completion. 
    We are working on developing an A11y Helpdesk that will provide some amount of manual accessibility testing by native screen reader users. Stay tuned for more information. 

PDFs

  • Am I still allowed to have PDFs on my website or Canvas course?
    Yes, as long as it is accessible. We recommend moving away from PDFs whenever possible, as they tend to be the hardest file format to make accessible, and even harder to remediate if they already exist. Using original source files, like a Word Doc or website the PDF originated from, are almost always easier to maintain WCAG compliance. 
    Please review our recommended PDF workflow for removing, archiving, and replacing PDFs before manual remediation.
  • Can A.I. fix my PDF?
    Not on its own. We have experimented with Copilot, ChatGPT, NotebookLM, and other AI tools and found that none of them are effective at remediating PDFs on their own.
    A new tool called Readable is currently in testing at UC Davis. Readable combines GPT logic with Adobe PDF tools, and provides a more thorough automated approach that cuts out 75-90% of PDF remediation work. This promising new application will be communicated campus-wide and worked into our recommended PDF workflow.
  • Are PDFs more secure than Word Docs?
    No. A read-only Word document is just as secure as a PDF. Also, a downloaded PDF can just as easily be edited as a Word document. 

Video & Audio

  • Which videos need to be captioned?
    We recommend a risk-based approach to prioritizing video captions. This means working in order of the number of viewers. Start with videos that are public-facing, embedded in Canvas for a large class, or one or more students using disability accommodations. Then move on to internal videos and smaller course materials.
  • Are automated captions sufficient?
    Our guidance from UCOP general council is to use automated captions, but provide an avenue for viewers to request human-made captions. For details you can review our training session on video captions in AggieVideo and YouTube here: Digital Accessibility Training.
  • How do I request human-made captions?
    AggieVideo allows you to request more accurate captions by request, and at a cost to your department. Please review the Knowledge Base article on requesting captions in AggieVideo (opens in new window). 

  • What about Audio Description?
    We don't currently have a good tool for automated audio descriptions. Our best tool currently is to practice good presentation skills:

    • Make sure any information that appears visually is also stated out loud. This doesn't mean reading slides verbatim, but making sure non-sighted viewers don't miss important information or context.
    • Identify speakers whenever possible. If you are lecturing, be sure to introduce yourself, and call on any other speakers out loud. 

    UCOP does provide some guidance on audio descriptions: Providing Audio Descriptions for Videos.

  • Does YouTube qualify for the social media exception?
    We don't know yet. It may be that past videos that live on YouTube qualify; we are waiting on further guidance from UCOP general council. Even if it does however, videos embedded in your website or Canvas course will almost certainly not qualify for the exception. For details you can review our training session on video captions in AggieVideo and YouTube here: Digital Accessibility Training.

Digital Communications

Software Procurement

  • When do I need to review software for accessibility?
    We recommend reviewing software accessibility for any product that's being used outside of a very small group (50 or fewer users), assuming none of those users are known users of disability accommodations. Guidance on vendor and product review can be found on our Accessible Software Procurement Guide.
  • How do I find out if an application is accessible?
    Software accessibility is generally documented on Accessibility Conformance Reports (ACR), which usually take one of two forms: Voluntary Product Accessibility Templates (VPAT) or Higher Education Community Vendor Assessment Toolkits (HECVAT). VPATs are by far the most common, however they are voluntary, so many vendors do not have them readily available. We have an ACR library (opens in new window) you can check first, to see if the vendor already has documentation.
    If the vendor in question does not have a publicly available ACR, you can send the UC Procurement Accessibility Questionnaire (opens in new window) to a vendor contact for some documentation. If you receive a completed questionnaire, please upload it to the ACR Library Submission form.
  • How do I read a VPAT?
    This is a tricky one, and not something I recommend spending too much time learning to do. Here are a couple of options:
    1. Section 508: Understanding Vendor Claims in ACRs
    2. Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM), a supported product at UC Davis, can be very effective at analyzing individual ACRs for conformance. If you receive a VPAT or Accessibility questionnaire, consider uploading it to 
      NotebookLM and enter the following prompt:
      "Act as an accessibility procurement specialist. Review this conformance report and provide me with a list of WCAG indicators listed as Does Not Support, Mostly Supports, or Partially Supports. Please also provide a brief narrative to the general accessibility of this product, and any functional barriers it may pose to users with disabilities."
      Note: Quality control is always necessary when using AI, and you may need to check responses for accuracy.
  • What if the product I need doesn't have an ACR?
    If the vendor in question does not have a publicly available ACR, you can send the UC Procurement Accessibility Questionnaire (opens in new window) to a vendor contact for some documentation. 
    Vendors who cannot, or will not provide ACRs or complete a questionnaire should be assumed to be fully inaccessible. If you do receive a completed questionnaire, please upload it to the ACR Library Submission form. 
    Note: We do not advise manually testing third party products for accessibility. Unless you are a native screen reader user, it will likely be inaccurate, and not a recommended use of UC Davis staff time.
  • When can I get an exception?
    Exceptions will be granted under very rare conditions, usually concerning software that meets one or more of the following criteria:
    • The product is mandated for use, but UC Davis has no control over it.
    • The product is being removed or replaced by a more accessible alternative in the near future.
    • The product is being used as an accommodation for an individual or small group with specific needs, and the use case does not pose any active barriers or risks. More thorough guidance is forthcoming.
  • Should I sign an NDA for an ACR?
    No. Accessibility documentation is not proprietary content. if a vendor requires an NDA signature for a VPAT, we recommend pushing back on the request, or treating the product as fully inaccessible.