Reminder: Digital accessibility deadline is April 24

UC Davis Health is committed to equal access to care and services for all our patients and community, and that commitment is underscored by compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Our health system is reminding units and teams that recent updates to the implementing regulations of Title II of the ADA take effect on April 24 – that is the federal deadline for making compliance changes.

Specifically, the new regulations require compliance with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1 Level A and AA standards) in web content and mobile applications. This means that digital products – from websites and PDFs to presentations, forms, videos, social media and some types of emails – must be usable by people of all abilities.

Digital accessibility ensures equal access to UC Davis Health’s information and services for people with visual, auditory, motor, cognitive, and neurological disabilities – and it is a federal requirement. It reflects our values of inclusion, accountability and public service, and it fulfills our obligations under the ADA and Section 508.

What this means for you

All relevant UC Davis Health teams should review their digital content for accessibility barriers and make updates as needed. Success also requires ensuring new content is accessible.

UC Davis Health is providing tools and support in coordination with the UC Davis campus and UCOP to make these changes manageable for UC Davis Health web and social media users.

Things you must do

1. Review your website content for accessibility barriers and begin to address them – identify issues like images without descriptions, documents that screen readers cannot parse, or videos without captions and audio descriptions. Delete anything that isn’t critical and begin the remediation process on anything you need to keep.
2. Review PDFs and other documents for accessibility. PDFs should be used only when necessary and must include correct tagging, reading order, and alternative text. Remove any outdated or non-essential and non-accessible documents and move documents behind a login or archive if no longer needed. Use built-in accessibility checkers such as Siteimprove.
3. For sites hosted by UC Davis Health in Teamsite, you should have an accessibility plan submitted to webcommunications@health.ucdavis.edu by April 6.
4. Ensure that any social media content you publish is accessible. The Public Affairs and Marketing social media team is hosting training for editors of health system owned social media channels. Please contact them at socialmedia@health.ucdavis.edu.
5. Prioritize high-use and high-value content. Focus on these pages, documents, and videos that are most frequently used and needed. Delete any low-value or seldomly used content.
6. Identify a local accessibility “champion” on your team who can participate in workshops and share what they learn.

The scope of work depends on your existing digital content. Some may need minimal updates, while other content may require more substantial changes. Additionally, exceptions exist, such as archived web content and preexisting social media posts, but these are limited.

Keep in mind that digital accessibility requirements do not stop after the deadline. We will need to keep our current and future digital content accessible by continually aligning with WCAG 2.1, Level A and AA guidelines. Here is a federal fact sheet that provides more detail.

UC Davis Health recognizes that these requirements arrive during an already demanding period for all aspects of our health system’s work. Our goal is to make compliance manageable, and to ensure that you have the tools and support you need – and that compliance is achieved by the April 24 deadline. These recommendations are changing often, and this site will be updated to reflect current instructions.

Please reach out to webcommunications@health.ucdavis.edu if you have questions.

Additional intranet resources for UC Davis Health content owners are below (note: the resources on these pages are being continuously updated and should be checked often for updates):

• Digital Accessibility Guidelines and Resources
• Video Guidelines
• Social Media Guidelines
• Website Accessibility for UC Davis Health sites
• Document and PDF guidelines