Miranda Lacy and Harold Rogers met as undergraduates at West Virginia State University and later enrolled in West Virginia University’s online Master’s in Social Work. Both are blind and say much of the program’s digital coursework — from PDFs to course modules and charts — has been inaccessible to screen readers, the software that converts visual content into speech.
“I thought, ‘[WVU] is going to be even more accommodating because they’re a bigger school with more money,’” Lacy says. Instead, she and Rogers say they repeatedly encountered documents where screen readers announced things like “unlabeled image” or stumbled over formatting errors, making it hard or impossible to follow lessons. Rogers demonstrates how a PDF’s stray gap in a title or an unlabeled chart can turn a single document into a frustrating, time-consuming obstacle. Both say they spent more time troubleshooting access than learning.
Lacy, 43, lost her remaining vision after surgery three years ago and taught herself screen readers and other assistive technology to continue her education. Rogers, 34, who has limited vision in one eye, helped Lacy adapt to nonvisual learning tools. Despite their efforts and prior academic success — both graduated with honors in their bachelor’s programs — they say WVU failed to provide usable digital materials in graduate school.
After nearly two years of asking for accommodations and trying to work with the university, the pair, with the National Federation of the Blind, filed a lawsuit alleging WVU systematically denies blind students equal access to education. Rogers says he faced disciplinary action after requesting accommodations — a claim WVU declined to comment on, citing pending litigation.
Their experience highlights a broader problem: many colleges, public libraries and government websites remain difficult or impossible to use for people with disabilities. Although the Americans with Disabilities Act has long required accessibility, it lacked specific technical standards for digital content. That gap contributed to widespread inaccessibility for blind, deaf and other disabled students.
A new update to Title II of the ADA, set to take effect late April, establishes clear technical requirements. The rule requires public entities, including state colleges and universities, to follow a recent version of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1). Examples include better color contrast for low-vision users, captions for videos, properly labeled images and documents, and interfaces that can be navigated without a mouse. Advocates and former Justice Department officials say these changes will force institutions to design materials that are “born accessible” rather than relying on individual accommodations made after the fact.
Jennifer Mathis, who worked at the Department of Justice and helped craft the rule, says digital accessibility had become “a crisis” and a top priority for the disability community. Judith Risch, who worked at the Department of Education and also contributed to the rulemaking, notes that many accessibility improvements benefit all users, not just those with disabilities.
The rule sets compliance deadlines: publicly funded entities that serve 50,000 or more people must meet the standards by April 24; smaller institutions have until April 26, 2027. Still, implementing the rule poses challenges. Many universities are large and complex, and accessibility work can require years, new workflows, training and sustained funding. Accessibility teams often lack budgets, authority and staff to address systemic issues, says Corbb O’Connor of Level Access, a digital accessibility firm.
The rule also redistributes responsibility. Instead of falling primarily to disability services, faculty, website administrators and procurement offices must take ownership of accessibility. But accountability remains a concern. There is no routine federal inspection program to ensure compliance; enforcement may still depend on complaints and litigation. As Ella Callow, an ADA compliance officer at UC Berkeley, puts it, institutions are “big ships to turn,” and disabled people often bear the burden of seeking redress.
That’s the position Lacy and Rogers find themselves in. They say they tried to negotiate and wanted to improve online learning standards at WVU, not to be litigious. Now the new ADA rule could strengthen their case and push institutions nationwide to adopt accessible practices proactively.
As they await the outcome of their lawsuit, Lacy and Rogers continue to press forward. They’re planning to graduate this summer and hope their fight leads to broader changes so future students won’t face the same barriers. “If it’s not us to fight, then who’s gonna do it?” Rogers says.