UNM academic departments work to support compliance with new Title II ADA rule

Throughout 2025, various academic departments and other units at The University of New Mexico have been collaborating and strategizing on how to ensure UNM's compliance with the U.S. Department of Justice's digital accessibility regulations, which revise the Americans with Disabilities Act, and are known as the Title II Regulation Final Rule. The rule, which takes effect on April 24, 2026, applies to digital materials used in public institutions, such as universities.

Work is already underway and has included policy development, instructional training tools, and consultant services. In the weeks, months, and years to come, the campus community will see improvements to website templates, guidance and resources for developing accessible digital materials, training, procurement updates, and implementation of support structures to sustain digital accessibility. These compliance efforts will continue past the April 24, 2026 deadline.

To assist teaching faculty and instructors, UNM's Center for Teaching & Learning (CTL) has a suite of resources available for developing course content that meets digital accessibility standards and incorporates best practices to complement their pedagogy. CTL's Accessibility page outlines the following:

• Digital accessibility standards under the revised Final Rule
• Best practices for creating accessible content
• Video overview of 5 Things to Know About Accessible Course Materials made through a partnership with ADVANCE

In addition, CTL has developed a three-week, self-paced course to provide support for UNM community members who are creating digital instructional materials and need assistance in ensuring their accessibility. The course will be offered at various times during the spring semester and into the summer. Registration is open now: Register for Charting a Path to Accessible Digital Content.

UNM is also contracting with Deque University to ensure the entire campus community has access to training and know-how for creating accessible digital content. Deque's resources include on-demand training in a wide variety of digital accessibility topics and at varying levels of knowledge. This resource will help UNM ensure that everyone at UNM - faculty, students, and staff - have the tools they need to create and share accessible digital material, and will lead to established learning paths for different roles at UNM.

For the broader UNM community, a digital accessibility policy is in process and is expected to be released for public comment in March 2026.

More information about accessibility at UNM - including updates - is under construction at https://accessibility.unm.edu/.