Title II accessibility starts in the course design.
The ADA Title II rule covers your online course content, including what sits behind the LMS login. Most accessibility gaps begin in the design document or storyboard, long before anyone builds the course. Pedagrade catches them there, while your designers write.
What the rule says
- ✓WCAG 2.1 Level AA is the standard for the web content and mobile apps of state and local governments, which includes public colleges and universities. The Department of Justice set it in 2024.
- ✓The deadlines moved one year in April 2026. Public entities serving 50,000 or more people now have until April 26, 2027. Smaller public entities and special districts have until April 26, 2028.
- ✓The standard itself didn’t change. The extension gives more time, not fewer requirements.
- ✓Course content counts. The final rule doesn’t exempt course materials just because they sit behind a login. Ask your accessibility office or counsel how the exceptions apply to your institution.
Where Pedagrade fits
Pedagrade reads each section of the design document or storyboard while the designer writes, in Word and Google Docs. When the plan leaves an accessibility gap, it says so, names the WCAG rule, and gives the fix:
- ✓Narration and video with no captions or transcript planned (WCAG 1.2.2)
- ✓Drag and drop with no keyboard way to do it (2.1.1)
- ✓Time limits learners can’t pause or extend (2.2.1), and flashing content (2.3.1)
- ✓Meaning shown by color alone, like “required fields are in red” (1.4.1)
- ✓Instructions that rely on shape, position, or sound, like “click the round button on the right” (1.3.3)
- ✓“Click here” links (2.4.4) and alt text that’s just a file name (1.1.1)
A fix in the design document is a sentence. The same fix in a built course is a rebuild. Catching it early keeps the deadline from turning into a remediation project.
What it isn’t
- ✕Not a compliance certificate. Pedagrade helps designers get accessibility right at the design stage. It doesn’t certify that a course meets Title II.
- ✕Not a full test of the built course. The finished-course check reads the published files for missing or useless alt text, videos without captions, and interactions the authoring tool can’t make keyboard accessible. Color contrast, focus order, and how a screen reader moves through the pages still need hands-on testing.
What it adds is the step most teams skip: a second pair of eyes on the plan, so the build starts accessible instead of getting fixed later.
Safe for course material
Pedagrade runs on its own private AI. Pedagrade never sends your course to any outside AI company and never uses it to train anything. Each designer’s work stays in their own account, where they can delete it. More on the security page.
Sources
Start with a pilot
Pick three to five designers and have them write their real design documents with Pedagrade checking. You’ll see what it catches before you commit. Departments and universities get an annual contract.
Set up a pilotOr try it yourself: every account starts with a free week of the Individual plan. No card needed.