Consortial Collaboration for ADA Title II Compliance: Texas Digital Library’s Accessibility Working Groups

Abstract

In April 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a new rule under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requiring all state and local government web content and mobile applications to meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Levels A and AA by April 2026.^[1] The Texas Digital Library (TDL)—a member-governed consortium supporting a shared digital infrastructure for scholarly communication across 28 higher-education institutions—mobilized its community to respond collaboratively to these accessibility mandates. Through its user‑driven working groups, TDL launched coordinated accessibility initiatives across key platforms, including Open Journal Systems (OJS), Vireo (electronic theses and dissertations), and institutional repositories. This article traces the development of those efforts, highlighting the creation of toolkits, training materials, and shared policy guidance that reduce duplication of labor and empower member libraries to meet legal requirements and ethical commitments to digital inclusion. The TDL model illustrates how consortial collaboration strengthens institutional capacity and fosters a culture of accessibility across diverse scholarly publishing environments.

[1] As of April, 2026, the Department of Justice issued an Interim Final Rule tentatively extending the compliance deadline by one year (Department of Justice, 2026).