Ohio ADA Website Compliance Guide

🏭 OHIO: K-12 CRISIS + LANDMARK SETTLEMENTS

3,084 Government Entities face April 2026 deadline. Ohio's 608 school districts face particular urgency — nationally, only 14% of K-12 districts report being ready for compliance. Ohio's IT-09 digital accessibility policy (January 2025) now requires WCAG 2.1 AA for all state agencies.

🎓 LANDMARK: Miami University $260,000+ Settlement:
• Aleeha Dudley (blind student) sued over inaccessible website and LMS
• DOJ intervened in the case
• $108k education compensation + $50k loans + $102k damages
• $25k pool for other affected students
• Ohio's largest digital accessibility settlement

🏫 K-12 Education Crisis:
• 608 Ohio school districts must comply — Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Toledo, Akron, Dayton metro districts face the April 2026 deadline
• Only 14% of districts nationally report being ready (K-12 Dive 2026)
• 97% cite staff awareness as a barrier; 95% cite lack of expertise
• Michigan-model OCR complaint campaigns are spreading — Ohio advocacy groups planning coordinated filings
• PDFs, LMS platforms, and third-party tools are all in scope

🎯 Major Metro Settlements:
• Cuyahoga County (Cleveland): $74,000
• Columbus City Schools: $63,000
• City of Toledo: Previous DOJ settlement agreement
• Toledo Metro Credit Union: Lawsuit filed (dismissed on standing)

📋 State Policy IT-09 (January 2025): Ohio Digital Accessibility policy requires ALL state agencies to achieve WCAG 2.1 Level A and AA compliance. Accessibility statements required on all homepages. Third-party vendors must also comply. Ohio State University and Ohio University have published dedicated guidance for institutions.

⚖️ Sixth Circuit Nexus Rule: For private businesses, the Sixth Circuit requires a 'nexus' between website and physical location. But government entities have NO nexus defense—the April 2026 deadline applies regardless.

📖 Full Guides: Read the Ohio ADA compliance guide and the Ohio K-12 school accessibility guide.