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# Web Accessibility

What Higher Ed Needs to Know About ADA Compliance for Documents

Higher ed institutions manage thousands of documents that must meet ADA requirements. Learn what upcoming deadlines mean and how institutions are approaching document accessibility at scale, including a real-world example from a 34-campus implementation.

Original Air Date: Tuesday, April 21st, 2026

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As ADA compliance expectations become more clearly defined, higher education institutions are taking a closer look at document accessibility.

From syllabi and course materials to research publications and administrative files, institutions manage a large volume of documents that were never designed with accessibility in mind.

With upcoming compliance deadlines, understanding how ADA requirements apply to documents and what that means in practice is becoming increasingly important for higher ed teams.

In this session, we’ll also hear directly from a higher education leader who helped implement a system-wide document accessibility initiative across 34 college campuses, serving more than 300,000 students. She’ll share insights from the evaluation process, what led to adoption at scale, and what’s changed since rollout.

In this webinar, we’ll cover:

  • What ADA compliance means for higher ed documents
  • How upcoming deadlines impact colleges and universities
  • Where institutions are most at risk today
  • Why traditional remediation approaches are difficult to sustain
  • How higher ed teams are beginning to approach document accessibility at scale

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Meet Your Speakers

Monica Olsson Headshot

Monica Olsson

Policy Associate – Accessible IT Coordinator

Monica Olsson serves as Policy Associate for IT Accessibility with Washington’s State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC), bringing more than a decade of experience in disability and accessibility policy. In this role, she provides interpretation and guidance on digital and web accessibility policy for 34 colleges across the state and collaborates with key stakeholders to advance the adoption of accessible technology solutions.

Monica is recognized for her strategic insight and her ability to build effective relationships that drive change and innovation. Her contributions to the 1EdTech Consortium’s Accessibility Workgroup were honored with a Leadership Award, reflecting her impact and leadership in the field of accessible educational technology.

She holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Washington, with an academic focus on Disability and Feminist Studies. Monica resides in Olympia, Washington, with her partner and their two young children.

Mac Clemmens Headshot

Mac Clemmens

Senior Vice President of Product Strategy and Innovation at CivicPlus

CivicPlus® Senior Vice President of Product Strategy and Innovation Mac Clemmens is the Co-Founder of DocAccess and Streamline. Mac is a proud advocate of website accessibility and local government, having presented on the subject at conferences nationwide. He received the prestigious “Vision Award” from Disability Rights California—the nation’s largest disability rights advocacy organization—in recognition of his commitment to creating accessible website experiences for all users. Mac is passionate about helping local governments tell their stories and engage with their communities, ensuring that the fear of ADA noncompliance doesn’t stand in the way.

Driven by the real challenges local governments face around PDF accessibility, Mac created DocAccess, a tool designed to make compliance achievable while significantly improving the user experience for people with disabilities and the public at large. To date, more than 10 million document pages have been made WCAG 2.1 AA compliant through DocAccess.