Supporting Digital Accessibility at JMU: What Faculty and Instructors Need to Know

Posted May 7, 2025 in Featured News, JMU Libraries News

As the Provost shared on May 6, updates to Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act mean that most online resources from JMU will need to meet basic digital accessibility standards by April 24, 2026. This federal mandate now includes course materials — and not just those for which students have requested accommodations.  

We recognize this will be a big lift, with varying impacts across JMU. Your friends in the Libraries are working hard with campus partners to help! 

What does digital accessibility mean? 

JMU’s approach — outlined in a new Digital Accessibility website — treats our Title II support as an ongoing collaboration aimed at expanding access to information and education.  

As a continuous process of removing barriers that hinder engagement and learning, digital accessibility can never be considered “perfect” or “fully done.” However, by striving to improve the accessibility of course content, we can better support JMU students with disabilities and improve the educational experience for all JMU students.  

What will Title II compliance look like for JMU courses? 

Course content that should meet the new standards will generally include files you create or provide via Canvas, or materials you may link to externally for online reading or viewing. In the Libraries, we are also working hard with publishers and vendors to meet accessibility requirements for the content we license and purchase for your use.

Three key examples of digital accessibility in course materials include providing basic structure for documents like syllabi, captions for videos, and alt text for images.  

What can faculty do now?  

As you plan your work leading up to late Spring 2026, we encourage you to explore the resources JMU is providing. Here are a few steps to take over the next year: 

• Visit the Digital Accessibility site to learn more about JMU’s campus approach to compliance.

• Review the Getting Started Guide for JMU Instructors.

• Join our new self-paced Canvas course on Digital Accessibility Awareness to learn simple strategies and better understand the new standards and requirements.

Are more Title II resources on the way? 

Yes! JMU plans to offer additional resources over the next year, working through our campus Accessibility Committee. These include: 

• Ongoing updates to the campus compliance plan, at JMU’s Digital Accessibility site. 

• New Canvas tools coming soon: A more robust accessibility checker tool is coming to Canvas this summer. It will help you flag and prioritize content needing adjustment and understand how to make it more accessible. The Libraries’ existing SensusAccess tool will soon be integrated into Canvas as well. 

• New workshops and resources: We are working with campus partners to provide additional training opportunities and support for instructors and AUHs, which will be available in the fall. 

• Support for JMU staff and other content creators and stewards. 

• More fine-tuned approaches to college-level and disciplinary needs. 

And more support to come, based on your feedback. 

As always, your colleagues at JMU Libraries are here to help you teach with Canvas, provide course materials to your students, and much more. Please reach out to us or share your feedback and questions with the campus Accessibility Committee directly.