This is the third piece in a series focused on the final rule issued in 2024 for Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act. As described in the first piece in our Title II final rule series, the final rule established a technical standard for web content and mobile apps—conformance with Level A and AA success criteria included in version 2.1 of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). In the second piece in our Title II final rule series, we focused on select Level A and AA success criteria that tend to have an outsized impact on online course development and delivery. In this third piece, we will address an additional subset of Level A and AA success criteria. While these success criteria may feature in online courses somewhat less often than those covered in the second piece, the Title II final rule mandates conformance with all 50 Level A and Level AA success criteria included in WCAG 2.1. Accordingly, understanding the success criteria presented here is essential for successful compliance efforts.
Level A and Level AA Success Criteria in Online Course Development and Delivery
1.2.3 Audio Description or Media Alternative (Prerecorded) (Level A)
This success criterion seeks to ensure that information conveyed visually in videos is presented either in audio description or media alternative format. An audio description is an additional “layer” of narration that provides descriptions of visual information that isn’t already addressed in the spoken video content. In other words, it serves to augment existing audio content in a video to ensure all information presented is accessible to individuals with visual impairments. A media alternative serves the same purpose, but it consists of text content.
In the context of online course development and delivery, it is often feasible and advisable to ensure all information conveyed visually in a video is also described fully in the spoken video content. In a lecture or tutorial video, for example, spoken content should fully cover all visual information presented. However, for some types of course content, such as animation sequences, ensuring complete coverage of visual information in the spoken video content (if any spoken content is included) may not be possible. In such cases, an audio description or media alternative needs to be integrated in order to attain conformance with this success criterion. In the context of the ADA Title II final rule, however, an audio description specifically should be integrated. This is because there is a separate Level AA success criterion, described in the following section, which requires the integration of audio descriptions.
1.2.5 Audio Description (Prerecorded) (Level AA)
This success criterion is closely related to the success criterion described in the prior section, 1.2.3 Audio Description or Media Alternative (Prerecorded), and targets the same element of video content—information that is conveyed visually and not fully captured in spoken video content. In order to attain conformance with this criterion, an audio description must be added to applicable videos. As described above, we recommend developing video content with complete spoken content that fully addresses all visual information presented.
The overlap between Success Criterion 1.2.3 and Success Criterion 1.2.5 highlights an important consideration regarding the structure of WCAG. In the context of the ADA Title II final rule, the technical standard set is conformance with all Level A and AA success criteria included in WCAG 2.1. For entities that aren’t subject to the final rule or to equivalent mandates, conformance levels may not be preestablished. As such, applicable entities may opt to conform with 1.2.3 by using media alternatives. For further information about this success criterion and its relationship to other success criteria, review WCAG’s Understanding Success Criterion 1.2.5 documentation.
1.4.2 Audio Control (Level A)
This success criterion has a narrower focus than its title implies. It specifically targets audio that automatically plays on webpages for more than 3 seconds. On webpages that include such content, options for pausing, stopping, or adjusting the volume of the audio must be available.
Often, multimedia integrated into online courses does not play automatically. Some interactive course activities or similar forms of content, however, may include audio elements that are triggered automatically. In such cases, care should be taken to ensure that appropriate audio control mechanisms are in place.
2.2.1 Timing Adjustable (Level A)
This success criterion seeks to ensure that users have adequate time to complete tasks. Specifically, it stipulates that users must be able to disable, modify, or extend time limits imposed, except in certain cases. Two of the exceptions for this criterion—the essential exception and the 20-hour exception—are routinely applicable to online course assessments. Under the essential exception, time limits can be imposed when removing them would result in fundamental changes to the applicable tasks or activities. Many standardized exams, for example, have associated time limits that are integral to their delivery and scoring. The 20-hour exception covers extended time limits of 20 or more hours. In selecting settings for online course assessments, course developers should carefully consider this success criterion and relevant exceptions.
2.2.2 Pause, Stop, Hide (Level A)
This success criterion targets content that moves, blinks, scrolls, or automatically updates, with some additional contingencies related to duration and presentation. In order to conform to this success criterion, such content needs to be designed with mechanisms for pausing, stopping, or hiding it. In pursuing review and remediation efforts, a close reading of WCAG’s Understanding Success Criterion 2.2.2 documentation is often a necessary first step for determining whether dynamically presented content included in a course is subject to this success criterion.
2.3.1 Three Flashes or Below Threshold (Level A)
This success criterion targets content that flashes more than three times per second. In many cases, online course content can—and should—be designed without flashing. However, the existence of flashing content may not be immediately obvious. For example, many online courses include curated third-party resources, like YouTube videos or GIF animations. Such materials may feature “hidden” flashing content (e.g., flashing that appears in the middle of a video) and thus should be reviewed carefully. For any existing course content with flashes that exceed the thresholds established in WCAG’s Understanding Success Criterion 2.3.1 documentation, removal, replacement, or redesign should be pursued.
2.4.5 Multiple Ways (Level AA)
This success criterion targets website navigation. Essentially, it stipulates that users need to have more than one means of navigating to each webpage within a site. In the context of online learning programs, this means students need to have more than one option for reaching individual pages within a course. Learning management systems are frequently designed to support multiple navigational pathways, such as through the inclusion of module and/or page indices, course home page menus, and navigational buttons and links included within individual pages. In developing and delivering an online course, care should be taken to ensure that navigational options remain available to students, with augmentation and expansion as appropriate.
3.1.2 Language of Parts (Level AA)
In the second piece in this series, we discussed Success Criterion 3.1.1 Language of Page (Level A). Language of Page stipulates that the primary language of webpages and PDFs needs to be identified to ensure that assistive technologies can interpret and present content correctly. In contrast, Language of Parts targets specific elements of text content that are written in a language other than the primary language of a page, with some exceptions. For segments of foreign language text other than “proper names, technical terms, words of indeterminate language, and words or phrases that have become part of the vernacular of the immediately surrounding text,” proper HTML markup using the lang attribute is needed to ensure that the text is appropriately differentiated. While this success criterion can have outsized impacts for foreign language courses, many other types of courses may feature segments of content presented in various languages as well. For further guidance, see WCAG’s Understanding Success Criterion 3.1.2 documentation.
3.2.3 Consistent Navigation (Level AA)
This success criterion targets mechanisms available to users for website navigation. Across webpages, repeated mechanisms for navigating through content should be ordered consistently. Learning management systems frequently support this success criterion through the application of consistent navigation menus across pages. In some cases, online courses may not have additional navigational mechanisms beyond those included by default in the learning management system. When integrating third-party tools or technologies (e.g., textbook publisher content or discipline-specific software), however, course developers should ensure that consistent navigation is maintained. For both learning management systems and third-party tools and technologies alike, Voluntary Product Accessibility Templates (VPATs) play a key role in review and remediation efforts, as they provide detailed information about conformance with accessibility standards.
3.2.4 Consistent Identification (Level AA)
This success criterion is similar to 3.2.3 Consistent Navigation in that it too targets consistency across webpages. While 3.2.3 Consistent Navigation specifically targets navigational mechanisms, 3.2.4 Consistent Identification targets the functionality of interactive elements included in webpages, which often consist of buttons and user interface icons presenting functional options (e.g., a check mark symbol users might select to indicate they have finished an activity). As many functional components in online courses are often predetermined by the applicable learning management system, conformance for at least some courses is predominantly dependent on learning management system conformance. However, third-party tools or integrated technologies often introduce additional functionality subject to this criterion. As such, careful appraisals of VPATs for learning management systems, as well as third-party tools and integrated technologies, are essential to review and remediation efforts.
Conclusion
This is the third and final piece in our ADA Title II final rule series. Collectively, the pieces in this series provide a foundational overview of the Title II final rule, overarching compliance considerations for online learning programs, and more detailed examinations of select WCAG success criteria. While the final rule mandates conformance with all 50 Level A and AA success criteria included in WCAG 2.1, those reviewed in this series are particularly likely to have large impacts on review and remediation efforts for online learning programs.