Accessibility at SMC

Santa Monica College
Accessibility at SMC

Welcome to the SMC’s hub for information on accessible technology and Title II requirements, which refers to online electronic documents, websites, software, hardware, video, audio, and other technologies designed for all users including people with disabilities. The purpose of this site is to provide our campus community all the resources needed to create, purchase, and adopt online accessible technology.

Accessibility Statement

Beyond compliance with legal requirements, the SMC website embraces the concepts of universal design and user-friendliness.

Creating Accessible Resources

Make your documents and web pages accessible.

Center for Students with Disabilities

Also known is "DSPS" – Resources for students with disabilities.

Why does SMC need to use create, purchase, and adopt accessible technology?

It’s the law.
Accessible design benefits many people.
It is the right thing to do.
Disability is a context-dependent concept.

It's the law (opens in new window) .
Multiple laws as well as SMC Board Policy and Administrative Regulations require accessible technology.

ADA Title II is the primary federal law that ensures individuals with disabilities have equal access to the programs, services, and activities of public entities, including public colleges and universities. Enacted as part of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, Title II prohibits disability-based discrimination and requires institutions to provide equal opportunity to participate in and benefit from all offerings, whether delivered in person or through digital platforms. Recent updates to Title II regulations also establish specific technical requirements for digital accessibility, aligning with WCAG 2.1 Level AA standards.

Scope: Title II applies broadly to all college operations, including academic programs, student services, websites, mobile applications, instructional materials, events, communications, and physical facilities. Digital content and services are expected to conform to WCAG 2.1 Level AA as of April 26, 2027, to ensure accessibility.
Responsibility: Compliance with ADA Title II is a campus-wide responsibility, requiring coordination across departments to ensure accessibility is consistently implemented and maintained.
Proactive Approach: Institutions are expected to proactively design programs, services, and digital content with accessibility in mind and in alignment with WCAG 2.1 Level AA standards. Failure to do so may result in complaints or investigations by the Office for Civil Rights (OCR), which can lead to extensive institutional review, corrective actions, and significant time and resource commitments.
Accommodations: When full accessibility is not readily achievable, institutions must provide reasonable modifications and effective accommodations. These are determined through an interactive process involving the individual with a disability and relevant campus offices, ensuring equal access and participation.

Section 508 deserves a special mention because it is the law most associated with accessible technology. Section 508 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act as amended in 1998 (and soon to be amended again) requires the Federal government and those receiving federal funds (e.g. SMC) to develop, procure, use, and maintain accessible electronic and information technology.

Scope: There are section 508 design standards for web pages, software, multimedia, computers, telecommunications products, and self-contained, closed products (e.g., kiosks, printers, copy machines).
Responsibility: Implementation of Section 508 is a campus-wide responsibility.
Proactive Approach: We are required to create, adopt and purchase accessible technology to the greatest extent possible. The Office of Civil Rights (OCR) gets very concerned about problems created by not considering accessibility in the first place (e.g. uncaptioned multimedia, student portals not accessible to blind students using screen reading software). OCR complaints may result in an extensive investigation of all the college's digital and physical accessibility in addition to the initial complaint. Such investigations are extremely time-consuming and expensive.
Accommodations: Sometimes accessibility is not achievable (e.g., access to molecular modeling software with screen reading software used by people who are blind). In this case, we are expected to develop proactive back up plans with potential accommodations in mind. Ultimately, accommodations for specific individuals are developed in an interactive process involving the individual with a disability, Disabled Student Services and other members of our campus community, as appropriate.
Laws Suits and OCR Complaints: Over the last few years, many colleges and universities have been the recipients of lawsuits and/or Office of Civil Right complaints as the result of inaccessible technology. The most common sources of inaccessible instructional technology are digital resources from publishers.
Additional Resources on Accessibility and the Law
Legal Obligations for Accessibility
Resolution Agreements and Lawsuits from the University of Washington

Accessible design benefits many people.
Accessible design is a product development process in which the needs of people with disabilities are specifically considered. This is related to universal design, a broader concept defined by The Center for Universal Design (opens in new window) at North Carolina State University as "the design of products and environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design." Examples of universal design include curb cuts, captions, and wheeled luggage.

It is the right thing to do.
Complying with accessible design standards provides equal access and opportunity.

Disability is a relative concept.
For example, if a web page is designed so someone blind who is listening to the page has full access to the content as well as ease of navigation, this person is not disabled when listening to the page.