USD Launches State’s First Hub for Digital Accessibility

Northeast Radio SD News - Vermillion, SD - As organizations across South Dakota prepare for sweeping new federal digital accessibility standards, the University of South Dakota (USD) has launched a pioneering center to lead the state’s efforts in removing online barriers for individuals with disabilities.

The Center for Digital Accessibility (CDA), which debuted in late 2025, serves as the first in-state resource helping schools and state agencies ensure their websites, documents, and digital services are usable for everyone. The center’s arrival is timely, as institutions nationwide must comply with updated Title II regulations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) starting this April.

The CDA is led by Angela Jackson, Ed.D., director of the USD Office of Accessibility and South Dakota’s only certified digital accessibility professional. For Jackson, the mission is deeply personal. Her career in accessibility was inspired by her journey of overcoming a traumatic brain injury and subsequent learning challenges.

“My goal is to see students able to interact with content in ways that will help them improve their learning and comprehension,” Jackson said. “And, in the end, hopefully, we see those students reach their educational goals and graduate.”

The center provides a suite of affordable services, including accessibility audits, website reviews, software evaluations, and document remediation—the process of making files, such as PDFs and Word documents, readable for screen reader users.

Unlike many automated solutions, the CDA team conducts real-world testing that emulates how individuals who are blind, deaf, or have other accessibility needs interact with digital content. This “human discernment” allows the team to identify nuanced barriers that software often misses, ultimately improving both legal compliance and user engagement.

Beyond the USD campus, the CDA is positioning itself as a regional leader by providing strategic planning and support for other South Dakota Board of Regents institutions and state agencies. By offering these expert services in-state, USD significantly reduces the costs typically associated with hiring out-of-state accessibility consultants.

“The CDA positions South Dakota as a national leader in accessibility and a model for other states to follow,” said Claire Hawkins, spokesperson for the center.

The new federal standards, which take effect on April 24, 2026, mandate that all web content and mobile applications provided by state and local government entities meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA.