CollegeSource’s commitment to WCAG 2.2 and ADA Title II accessibility requirements
CollegeSource is committed to ensuring our products and websites are accessible to all users, and we continually work to improve and comply with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 Level AA. With the upcoming April 24, 2026, deadline for public universities to meet the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Title II requirements for web content and mobile applications (apps), CollegeSource has made significant strides towards increasing accessibility.
What is the ADA Title II requirement?
In April 2024, the Federal Register published the Department of Justice’s set of requirements for ensuring that web content and mobile applications are accessible to people with disabilities.
This rule applies to all state and local governments, including any agencies or departments within those governments. Public community colleges and universities are included in this as well.
The technical standard for state and local governments’ web content and mobile apps is WCAG Version 2.1, Level AA.
What is WCAG?
The Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) develops the WCAG with a goal of providing a single shared standard for web accessibility content.
While the technical standard set forth by ADA Title II is Version 2.1, Level AA, CollegeSource is focused on meeting and exceeding the standards set by Version 2.2, Level AA.
What are the criteria for WCAG Version 2.2?
WCAG Version 2.2 has 13 guidelines. For each guideline, there are success criteria at three separate levels – A, AA, and AAA. To meet WCAG, the content must meet the success criteria.
WCAG 2.2 was published in October 2023, with an update in December 2024. Each version is designed to be ward-compatible, meaning that if an organization meets 2.2, it also meets 2.1 and 2.0.
The criteria for WCAG 2.2 contains text alternatives, time-based media (such as videos), meaningful sequencing, use of color, keyboard accessible, providing enough time, physical reactions, navigations, input modalities, language use, predictability, and input assistance.
How is CollegeSource incorporating accessibility?
As a third-party vendor for higher education institutions, we take our commitment to providing accessible products seriously. With each product version release, we improve our products by incorporating accessibility at each stage – user experience, product development, and quality assurance testing.
Recent examples
For uAchieve®, we have changed the default color from coral to tea green, which meets WCAG 2.2 AA, and the high contrast color to dark grey, which meets WCAG 2.2 AAA. We’ve also ensured with our latest release of uAchieve 5.2.3 that content and functionality are maintained when text is resized up to 200% zoom at a 1280-pixel viewpoint, meeting WCAG 2.2 AA.
On the Transferology® signup page, missing fields are indicated by the word “Error” preceding the error message, rather than only displaying the error message in red. Additionally, on the login page, we have enhanced the Show/Hide toggle next to the password field to read as activated when using a screen reader, such as NVDA.
Recent updates to TES® include adding different font effects within the Course Change Explorer page. When a course has had language removed from its description during catalog comparison, the text is now utilizing strike-through in addition to a pink highlight. Added text is bold and highlighted in blue. Additionally, the Institution List data table in the Public View was updated to ensure screen readers could accurately read its column headers.
Accessibility documentation
To support compliance, CollegeSource provides comprehensive accessibility documentation for all products.
CollegeSource provides an Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR), which is a completed Voluntary Product Accessibility Templates (VPAT), for each product – CollegeSource® Online, Policy Central, TES, Transferology, Transferology Lab®, and uAchieve. We also provide Accessibility Roadmaps for each of the products mentioned above.
Additionally, our Accessibility Development Strategy document outlines the design, development, and testing methods we use to ensure accessibility.
These documents can be accessed on the Accessibility page of our CollegeSource Support site.
Additional resources
More information on the upcoming Title II requirements can be found by visiting the ADA website’s fact sheet. The WCAG 2 Overview website details the guidelines set for WCAG 2.2.
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