Chapter 1: Accessibility considerations

Why is accessibility important?

“Today’s classrooms house an increasingly diverse student population, including not only students with widely different social, economic, cultural, and language backgrounds; but also students with a wide range of physical, cognitive, and sensory disabilities.”[1]

The numbers:

  • 1 in 4 adults reported having a disability in 2022.[2]
  • 21% of undergraduate students reported identifying as disabled in the 2019-2020 academic year.[3]

Hard copies of textbooks have always presented a barrier to individuals with a print disability. Students with a disability related to reading (low vision, blind, dyslexia, to name a few) have had to go through a sometimes-lengthy process to get access to their course materials in a format they can read.

When creating your OER textbook, it is vital to include accessibility features. Integrating accessibility into your book is going to provide three main benefits:

  • Meets the new Title II legal requirements
  • Ensures equal participation among students with disabilities
  • Boosts usability for all students

Title II regulations

In 2024, the Department of Justice released new guidance for the Title II regulations within the Americans with Disabilities Act.

By April 26, 2027, the University of Arizona must be moving toward/in compliance with these new guidelines. The original compliance date was April 24, 2026, but it was extended by one year. Among other updates, these regulations call upon public entities (that’s us) to ensure that both their web content and mobile apps are accessible. This encompasses all course materials – including your OER textbook!

Introducing WCAG 2.1 AA

In the updated regulations, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are called out as the technical standards for determining accessibility. Specifically, public entities need to use version 2.1 and work toward AA level conformance (a step above basic requirements). Underlying the WCAG standards are four principles, known as the acronym POUR.

  • Perceivable. Information needs to be presented to users in ways they can perceive.
    • Example: Captioning on videos.
  • Operable. The user needs to be able to navigate all components of the website, app, or document with or without a keyboard
    • Example: Headers to organize your content.
  • Understandable. Information presented must be understandable.
    • Example: Using clear or plain language.
  • Robust. Content needs to be able to be accessed by a wide variety of technologies, including assistive technology like different types of screen readers.

Learn more about WCAG 2.1.

  1. Stahl, S. (2009, October 30). The promise of accessible textbooks: Increased achievement for all students. AEM Center. https://aem.cast.org/binaries/content/assets/common/publications/aem/ncac-accessible-textbooks-2009-10.docx ↵
  2. Media Relations. (2024, July 16). CDC data shows over 70 million U.S. adults reported having a disability. CDC Newsroom. https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2024/s0716-Adult-disability.html ↵
  3. National Center for Education Statistics. (2025). Students with disabilities. Fast Facts; National Center for Education Statistics. https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=60 ↵

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Accessibility Guide for U of A Pressbooks Authors Copyright © 2025 by Arizona Board of Regents is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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