The Y2K of digital accessibility: Navigating the DOJ rule hangover

For two years, higher ed braced for April 2026 as the "Y2K of Accessibility." We feared the deadline, ran massive automated audits, formed emergency committees and raced to meet WCAG 2.1 AA technical standards. Then, the date passed. The clock struck midnight. But the work isn't done, and now our campus communities are exhausted. This session explores the "compliance hangover," the critical post-deadline period where institutional urgency fades, funding dries up but the maintenance phase begins. In our rush to check the legal boxes for the DOJ mandate, did we accidentally create rigid, unwelcoming digital spaces? Did we sacrifice usability for compliance? Did departments delete years of historical content because they lacked the resources to remediate it? Through a mix of storytelling, interactive discussion and scenario workshops, we will introduce the "Two Faces of Inclusion" framework. This framework helps teams distinguish between "Technical Inclusion" (the non-negotiable civil rights law and digital ramps we must build) and "Cultural Inclusion" (the spirit of the law and how students actually feel engaging with our content). This interactive session is designed to be a highly engaging group therapy session mixed with strategic planning. We will utilize:

• Live polls: To gauge the room's current "hangover" symptoms and establish a shared reality.
• Turn & talk segments: To allow you to share real-world frustrations and post-deadline challenges with peers.
• Scenario workshop: We will apply the "Two Faces" framework to common post-deadline scenarios (e.g., faculty pushback on new syllabus requirements, bypassing IT for inaccessible procurement).

We will wrap up by sharing three sustainable strategies to shift campuses from "crisis mode" to "standard operating procedure," moving away from funding remediation and toward funding "born accessible" design.