Client & Context
An EdTech accessibility audit carries higher stakes than most: universities are public-sector buyers, ADA Title II deadlines now reference WCAG directly, and students who rely on assistive technology cannot simply choose a different tool their school has licensed. Interstride — the career and immigration platform for international students — engaged HalfAccessible for exactly this reason, first in November 2025 and again in February 2026.
The Challenge
Interstride’s platform is feature-dense: dashboards, search and filtering, messaging, document workflows, and data visualisations. The audits had to cover real student journeys end to end, produce findings the in-house team could fix independently, and then hold up across a second release cycle months later.
Inside the EdTech Accessibility Audit
Each round combined automated scanning with deep manual testing: NVDA, JAWS, and VoiceOver passes over core flows, full keyboard-only navigation, focus-management review on dynamic views, and colour/contrast checks across the design system. Findings were mapped to WCAG success criteria, ranked by user impact, and paired with code-level fix guidance.
The second engagement re-tested previously reported issues alongside newly shipped features — turning a one-off audit into an accessibility regression baseline the team can keep building on.
The Results
- Two full audit rounds across six months, covering the complete student-facing platform
- Severity-ranked findings with developer-ready remediation guidance
- Re-test round confirming fixes and catching regressions before release
- Both engagements rated 5.0 out of 5.0 on Upwork
EdTech vendors that audit before procurement asks are the ones that keep university contracts when accessibility clauses tighten.
Why EdTech Cannot Wait on Accessibility
The regulatory clock is explicit now. The US Department of Justice ADA Title II rule requires public universities to meet WCAG 2.1 AA on web content and mobile apps — including the third-party tools they license — with compliance deadlines in 2026 and 2027 depending on institution size. Procurement teams are responding by pushing accessibility clauses and VPAT requests onto every EdTech vendor in their stack. Vendors with current audit evidence keep contracts; vendors without it become renewal risks.
There is also the population reality: roughly one in five university students reports a disability, and international students — Interstride’s exact audience — often combine assistive technology use with second-language reading, which makes plain structure and predictable interaction patterns even more valuable.
What We Test on Student-Facing Platforms
- Dashboards and data visualisations: text alternatives and keyboard access to every insight
- Search and filtering: announced result counts, operable facets, and preserved focus
- Messaging: live region behaviour so new messages reach screen reader users
- Document workflows: accessible upload, status feedback, and error recovery
- Session timeouts: warnings and extensions that meet WCAG 2.2.1 Timing Adjustable
Re-testing six months apart is the part most vendors skip. Features ship, regressions creep, and last year’s audit becomes this year’s false confidence. Interstride’s second round converted the audit from a snapshot into a baseline — which is what universities actually want to see.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does an EdTech accessibility audit cover mobile apps? It can — the ADA Title II rule explicitly includes mobile applications, so student-facing iOS and Android apps belong in scope alongside the web platform.
How often should an EdTech platform re-audit? Annually at minimum, or per major release. University procurement increasingly asks for audit evidence less than twelve months old.
What standard do US universities require? WCAG 2.1 AA is the regulatory floor under the Title II rule; auditing against WCAG 2.2 AA, as Interstride did, keeps you ahead of the curve.
Selling Into Education?
If universities are asking about your accessibility posture, start with our accessibility audit services, pair findings with remediation, or request a free assessment of your platform.
