For public colleges
Is your college chatbot accessible?
If your college is public, its chatbot is web content covered by the ADA Title II web rule and must meet WCAG 2.1 AA. Most public colleges have until April 26, 2027.
The self-serve scan runs automated checks on the page that hosts your chatbot, with no reviewer. Automated checks plus a named reviewer. Automated checks cannot find every issue.
Check the AI your students talk to
Students ask chatbots about the things that decide whether they enroll and stay enrolled:
- financial aid and deadlines
- enrollment and registration
- tuition and payment
- office hours and contacts
Which date applies to your college
Most public colleges: April 26, 2027. Some community college districts organized as special districts: April 26, 2028. Check with your counsel.
General information, not legal advice. Source: ADA.gov fact sheet on the web rule (opens in a new tab). More dates and videos on the deadline resources page.
Wrong answers and blocked users
On March 7, 2026, The Markup reported that California colleges are spending millions on AI chatbots, and that one college's bot named a former president as current and gave wrong financial aid office hours. Read the investigation (opens in a new tab)
If the chat window cannot be used with a keyboard, or a screen reader does not announce the reply, some students cannot ask at all.
How a reviewed check works
- 1
You tell us where your chatbot lives and who should get the report.
- 2
We run automated checks on the page that hosts your chatbot. A named reviewer tests inside the chat window by keyboard and screen reader, and checks answers against your official sources.
- 3
A person on your team approves each finding. You get a short, dated, private report you can keep on file.
What the reviewer tests by hand
Automated checks cover the page that hosts your chatbot. Inside the chat window, a named reviewer tests by hand:
- Keyboard only: opening the chat, typing, reading replies and closing it without a mouse
- Screen reader: whether new replies are announced and controls have names
- Timeouts: whether the chat warns before a session ends
- Other ways to ask: a text option when the chat offers voice input
- Answer accuracy: a set of questions checked against your official sources
What you get
- Accessibility issues on the page that hosts your chatbot, grouped by severity
- Findings from the reviewer's keyboard and screen reader pass inside the chat window
- Answer accuracy findings checked against your official sources
- Missing governance pieces: vendor VPAT, accessibility statement, policy, or a named owner
- Vendor-neutral fixes, and the reviewer's name and date on every finding
We do not change your chatbot, we do not need login access, and results stay private to your organization.
Free reviewed check: Georgia technical colleges
Request your free check.
The first three Georgia technical colleges get the full reviewed check and report at no cost. Not in Georgia, or want results today? Run the self-serve scan: automated checks on the page that hosts your chatbot, with no reviewer.
Run the free automated scanCommon questions
General information, not legal advice.
Does ADA Title II apply to our chatbot?
If you are a state or local government entity, such as a public college, school district, city or county, very likely yes. The Title II web rule covers the web content and mobile apps you provide or make available, including through contracts with vendors. A chatbot on your website is part of that web content.
Source: ADA.gov fact sheet on the web rule (opens in a new tab)
Which deadline applies to my college, school district, or city?
It depends on population. Entities serving 50,000 or more people: April 26, 2027. Entities under 50,000 and special district governments: April 26, 2028. A city school district uses the city's population, a county school district uses the county's, and an independent school district uses its Census SAIPE estimate. Most public colleges: April 26, 2027; some community college districts organized as special districts: April 26, 2028. Check with your counsel.
Source: ADA.gov fact sheet and the April 2026 extension (opens in a new tab)
Is WCAG 2.1 or 2.2 required?
WCAG 2.1 Level AA is the technical standard in the Title II rule. WCAG 2.2 is a voluntary best practice unless a contract requires it. Meeting 2.2 is a good goal, but 2.1 AA is the legal baseline.
Source: ADA.gov fact sheet on the web rule (opens in a new tab)
Can our accessibility scanner test a chatbot?
Partly. An automated scanner checks the page that hosts the chatbot, and only what has loaded when it runs. Many chat windows open only after a click, and no tool can judge whether an answer is right. The W3C notes that tools cannot check everything and human judgment is required.
Source: W3C: Selecting web accessibility evaluation tools (opens in a new tab)
Is a vendor VPAT enough?
A VPAT is the vendor's own description of how its product conforms. It is useful input, but it is not a test of the chatbot as configured on your site. The rule covers content you provide through vendors too, so test the chatbot where your users meet it and keep a dated record.
Source: ADA.gov fact sheet on the web rule (opens in a new tab)
What does a human reviewer do?
In a reviewed check, a named reviewer uses the chat window by keyboard only and with a screen reader, and checks a set of answers against your official sources. Each finding is written up, and a person on your team approves it before it goes in the dated record. The self-serve scan is automated only, covers the hosting page only, and has no reviewer.
Source: How the review works
Does student data leave our network?
A reviewed check uses your public chatbot and public pages, so we do not need logins or student records. With On-Site, the agent runs from a tar file on your own hardware with outbound network access blocked, which the free Proof Kit lets you verify, so the data you check stays inside your walls.
Source: Vault Proof Kit