College Board Accessibility Consulting Services: A Strategic Partner in Your Digital Accessibility Journey

Can students using assistive technologies access your course content easily, participate fully, and feel genuinely included? In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, ensuring accessibility for all learners isn’t just good practice; it’s the law. In March 2024, Department of Justice (DOJ) Title II regulations established mandatory compliance with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA. That means higher education institutions face significant pressure to ensure their digital content and platforms are accessible to students with disabilities. 

Digital content all users can access, including those who use assistive technologies, empowers students by providing equitable opportunities for learning and engagement, aligning perfectly with higher education’s core mission of inclusivity and academic excellence. Compliance also protects institutions from considerable legal and financial risks.

College Board’s proven history of pioneering accessibility, beginning in 1939—decades before the Americans with Disabilities Act—demonstrates our deep-rooted commitment to equitable education. Our Accessibility Compliance Office (ACO) has become a leader in digital accessibility compliance, ensuring that our own platforms, such as SAT® and AP® programs, fully comply with the most current WCAG standards. 

College Board is excited to share our accessibility compliance expertise with member institutions through ACO’s new consulting services. Through recent pilot programs with universities, including MIT, University of Texas at Dallas, Essex County College, Rutgers University, and Washington University, we’ve consistently observed a high demand for and appreciation of expert guidance and actionable strategies in digital accessibility compliance. The College Board accessibility team works proactively with higher education institutions, offering initial complimentary accessibility assessments that can reveal critical compliance gaps and highlight immediate needs for strategic intervention. This preliminary engagement helps institutions determine specific risks and effectively prioritize actions.

Our consulting services offer a variety of supports:

• Comprehensive Digital Audits: Using manual and automated assessments, our team evaluates your websites, mobile apps, learning management systems, and critical documents. Audits include detailed reports identifying issues, impacts, and targeted remediation strategies.
• Remediation Roadmaps: We offer clear, prioritized action plans, helping your institution effectively implement accessibility improvements.
• Faculty and Staff Training: Customized workshops empower your team with the knowledge and skills to produce accessible content and to foster inclusive educational practices.
• Policy and Procurement Guidance: We supply expert support to ensure your internal policies and vendor agreements align with accessibility standards and legal requirements.
• Continuous Monitoring and Reporting: Our ongoing support includes regular accessibility audits and progress tracking to maintain long-term compliance and proactive management of accessibility issues.

Pilot universities say accessibility consulting helped them create solutions that made sense for their institutions. 

“Noting the severity of each issue is helpful, both in terms of helping prioritize issues during the fix process and in helping me as accessibility tester understand how my interpretations compare with others,” said a user at the University of Texas at Dallas. 

Others who participated in College Board’s digital accessibility awareness training said, “I liked all of it—from the speed of speaking, the personal touch and anecdotes, to the clear sections of information, videos, and practical examples. I could do a week of this.” and “Walking the participants through how to make an inaccessible document accessible was so valuable.” 

Learn more about our Accessibility Consulting services or contact [email protected].