School District Accessibility Audit Checklist
(WCAG 2.1 & PDF/UA)
Under the 2024 DOJ final rule for ADA Title II, school districts are now legally required to ensure their digital services, programs, and activities are accessible. With deadlines as early as April 2026 for large districts and April 2027 for smaller ones, institutional auditing is no longer optional—it is a critical compliance mandate.
This framework provides a tactical roadmap for auditing digital assets to meet the WCAG 2.1 Level AA and PDF/UA-1 standards.
Audit Scope Categories
A. Public Website Audit
Core digital presence and community-facing portals.
- WCAG 2.1 AA technical criteria compliance
- Keyboard-only navigation functionality
- Color contrast ratios for text and UI elements
- Accessible forms and input validation
- Correct ARIA implementation (avoiding misuse)
B. Learning Management Systems (LMS)
Student and teacher-facing digital classrooms (Canvas, Google Classroom, Schoology).
- Accessibility of uploaded instructional PDFs
- Closed captioning for embedded media/videos
- Accessibility of interactive assignments
- Third-party LTI tool compliance verification
C. PDF Document Audit
The most common source of school district compliance failures.
- Tagged structure and reading order
- Logical heading hierarchy (H1-H6)
- Properly defined table headers and scopes
- Descriptive Alt text for informative images
- Document metadata and language declaration
Audit Process Framework
Inventory Digital Assets
Catalog all public-facing websites, LMS portals, and document repositories.
Classify by Risk Exposure
Prioritize high-traffic pages and mandatory forms (enrollment, IEP basics).
Automated Scanning
Use lighthouse or enterprise scanners to identify low-hanging fruit violations.
Manual Validation
Expert screen reader testing and keyboard navigation audits for interactive components.
Remediation Prioritization
Create a roadmap for fixing critical blockers before April 2026/2027 deadlines.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do school districts perform an ADA accessibility audit?
A comprehensive audit involves a combination of automated scanning for scale, manual testing by experts for interactive elements, and document-level remediation specifically for PDFs.
Is WCAG 2.1 required for school districts?
Yes, the DOJ's 2024 ADA Title II update specifically mandates WCAG 2.1 Level AA as the technical standard for state and local government entities, including school districts.
Are PDFs covered under ADA Title II?
Absolutely. All digital documents provided by a school district, including those in LMS platforms, must meet accessibility standards unless they fall under specific legacy exemptions.
What is included in a district accessibility audit?
The audit covers public websites, mobile apps, third-party portals, and all digital documents (PDF, Word, Excel) accessible to the public or students.