Policies, standards and guidelines related to web accessibility can be found below.
MSU Policy
OP 01.13: WORLD WIDE WEB PAGES AND OTHER ELECTRONIC PUBLICATIONS
The university strives to ensure that web content is accessible to all members of the university community and, where appropriate, to the public generally. This includes individuals with disabilities. The following policy establishes minimum standards of accessibility for web pages and other online content.
W3C WCAG 2.1 AA
The W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) is and has been the lead on emerging internet recommendations and guidelines. The W3C works closely with organizations such as the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), but it does not publish Standards, nor do their recommendations and guidelines read as standards.
In the field of Web accessibility, the W3C's Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) has been active since the late 1990’s. WAI, in coordination with organizations around the world, pursues accessibility of the Web through five primary areas: technology, guidelines, tools, education and outreach, and research and development. In June of 2018, the WAI published an update to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (or WCAG 2.1) which provides a detailed suite of documents that cover Principles, Requirements & Guidelines and Techniques. WCAG 2.1 expands accessibility guidelines of mobile, low vision, and cognitive and learning provisions.
Mississippi State University's goal is to meet AA Conformance to WCAG 2.1.
Americans with Disabilities Act - Title II
In April 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a final rule under ADA Title II that establishes explicit digital-accessibility requirements for state and local government entities, including public colleges and universities. Under this rule:
- All web content, mobile apps, and digital documents provided by those institutions must conform to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA standard.
- The rule covers not just external websites but also course-materials, learning-management systems, student-services portals, third-party vendor tools and other digital services used by the institution.
These developments update the earlier accessibility framework under Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, which applies to federal agencies and was last refreshed in 2017.