If you work in higher education IT, you've heard about the April 26, 2026 WCAG 2.2 deadline. But what does WCAG 2.2 AA actually mean for universities?
Here's everything you need to know.
What is WCAG?
WCAG stands for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines—international standards published by the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium).
For universities, WCAG 2.2 Level AA is the legal standard under:
US: ADA Title II (public universities), Section 504 (federal funding)
Australia: Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1992, Disability Standards for Education (DSE) 2005
Think of WCAG as the "building code" for digital accessibility. Just like physical buildings need wheelchair ramps, digital content must be accessible to students with disabilities.
The Three Conformance Levels
WCAG has three levels:
Level A: Minimum (bare bones)
Level AA: Standard (legally recognized, industry standard)
Level AAA: Maximum (very strict, often impractical)
Level AA is what universities must meet. It's what courts expect, what the DOJ recommends, and what compliance officers audit against.
The Four WCAG Principles (POUR)
All WCAG guidelines follow four core principles:
1. Perceivable
Students must be able to perceive course content.
Examples:
Alt text for images and diagrams
Captions for lecture videos
Color contrast of 4.5:1 minimum (readable text)
Accessible math equations (LaTeX → MathML conversion)
2. Operable
Students must be able to operate course materials.
Examples:
Keyboard navigation (no mouse required)
Focus indicators (students can see where they are)
Sufficient time to complete timed quizzes
No flashing content (prevents seizures)
3. Understandable
Students must be able to understand content.
Examples:
Form labels (clear input field descriptions)
Error messages (explain what went wrong)
Consistent navigation (predictable course structure)
Readable text (12th grade reading level or lower)
4. Robust
Content must work with current and future assistive technologies.
Examples:
Semantic HTML (proper heading structure)
ARIA attributes (accessibility metadata)
Valid code (no broken HTML)
Screen reader compatibility (JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver)
Top 10 Violations in Higher Education
Based on 2024 audits of university course materials:
1. Inaccessible PDFs (85% of documents)
2. Missing alt text on images/diagrams (72%)
3. Low color contrast on PowerPoints (68%)
4. LaTeX equations with no alternatives (100% of STEM courses)
5. Missing form labels on quizzes (55%)
6. Inaccurate auto-captions on videos (90%)
7. Non-descriptive link text ("click here") (48%)
8. Missing document language (42%)
9. Empty headings in course outlines (38%)
10. Complex tables with no structure (65%)
These 10 issues account for 95% of accessibility complaints from students.
The Higher Ed Challenges
Universities face unique challenges:
1. Faculty-Created Content
Professors create content without accessibility training
Publisher materials (textbooks, slides) are often inaccessible
No time to manually fix thousands of files
2. Legacy Content
Decades of scanned PDFs (no OCR, no structure tags)
Old PowerPoints with terrible contrast
VHS tapes converted to video (no captions)
3. STEM Content
95-99% of math/science faculty use LaTeX
LaTeX produces inaccessible PDFs (screen readers can't read equations)
No good solutions exist (YuJa, Ally don't support LaTeX)
4. Scale
40,000 US departments × 100-1,000 files each
Millions of documents to remediate
Manual work would take years
The Traditional Approach (Why It Fails)
Option 1: Manual Remediation
Cost: $50-$200 per document
Time: 6-12 months for one department
Total cost: $500K-$5M per university
Reality: Faculty don't have time
Option 2: Third-Party Tools (YuJa, Ally)
Cost: $10K-$50K per year
Problem: Only identifies issues, doesn't fix them
LaTeX support: None
Faculty feedback: "Doesn't actually fix the problem"
Option 3: Do Nothing
Cost: $0 (until you're sued)
Risk: Student complaints, OCR investigations, lawsuits
Reality: Not an option after April 2026
The Aelira Approach (AI-Powered Bulk Remediation)
Aelira is built specifically for higher education:
✅ PDF OCR + Remediation
Input: Scanned PDFs (no text, no structure)
Output: Accessible HTML with semantic markup
Speed: 1,000 PDFs in minutes (not weeks)
Accuracy: 97% compliance score
✅ PowerPoint Bulk Scanner
Detects: Contrast violations, missing alt text
Fixes: Auto-adjusts contrast, generates AI alt text
Speed: 100 presentations in minutes
Result: WCAG 2.2 AA compliant slides
✅ LaTeX/MathML Conversion - **UNIQUE TO AELIRA**
Input: LaTeX equations (LaTeX fractions)
Output: Accessible MathML + natural language descriptions
Speed: 1,000 equations in minutes
Result: Screen readers can read math aloud
✅ Video Transcript Enhancement
Input: Auto-generated captions (90% inaccurate)
Output: AI-cleaned captions with proper timing
Speed: 100 videos in minutes
Result: Accurate, WCAG 2.2 AA compliant captions
Real Example: State University
Institution: State university, 30,000 students, 10 departments
Challenge:
15,000 PDFs (80% inaccessible)
3,000 PowerPoints (90% inaccessible)
2,000 LaTeX documents (100% inaccessible)
April 2026 deadline: 5 months away
Solution (Aelira):
Week 1: Scanned all content, identified issues
Weeks 2-4: Bulk remediated PDFs, PowerPoints, LaTeX
Weeks 5-8: Faculty training, LMS integration
Result: 95% compliant, 3 months ahead of deadline
Cost Comparison:
Manual remediation: $2.5M (estimated)
Aelira: $12,990/year per department = $129,900 total
Savings: $2.37M (95% cost reduction)
Pricing
Pilot Pricing (50% off for first 3 months):
US: $649/month per department (normally $1,299)
Australia: $999 AUD/month per department (normally $1,999)
Annual Pricing (save 17%):
US: $12,990/year per department
Australia: $19,990 AUD/year per department
Includes:
Unlimited users (all department staff)
10,000 files/month
All remediation tools (PDF, PowerPoint, LaTeX, video)
Priority support
LMS integration (Canvas, Blackboard)
Compliance dashboard
Next Steps
The April 2026 deadline is 5 months away. Here's what to do:
1. Week 1: Schedule a demo with Aelira
2. Week 2: Pilot with one department (50% off)
3. Week 3-4: Roll out to all departments
4. Week 5+: Ongoing monitoring + faculty training
Don't wait for enforcement. Get ahead of the deadline.
Contact us for a demo or learn more about our Higher Ed solution.