Beyond the Dashboard: What Automated Accessibility Misses in Higher Education

As institutions navigate the ADA Title II transition window, many have invested in automated scanning platforms, AI remediation tools, and accessibility overlays to accelerate compliance. Yet accessibility dashboards often tell only part of the story.

This session examines what automated tools can detect, what they partially assess, and what they routinely miss in higher education environments. Drawing on WCAG standards, audit findings, and research on testing limitations, the presentation explores how overreliance on scan results can create blind spots across digital ecosystems.

Participants will review common institutional patterns:

• High automated “compliance scores” alongside persistent usability barriers
• Scan reports treated as complete evaluations
• Gaps in keyboard navigation, contextual clarity, meaningful alternative text, and error prevention
• Overlays implemented without workflow integration
• Disconnects between governance decisions and digital team execution

The session introduces a systems-based perspective, emphasizing that dashboards measure code patterns—not lived user experience. Sustainable accessibility requires alignment across CMS workflows, design systems, manual testing practices, training structures, and leadership accountability.

Rather than dismissing automation, this session clarifies where automated tools add value and where institutional capability must provide depth. Attendees will leave with a practical framework for interpreting scan results responsibly, identifying residual risk, and strengthening collaboration across web, UX, development, marketing, and IT teams.

Accessibility is not defined by a score. It is defined by sustainable digital practice and user experience.