207DAYS TO APRIL 26, 2027
Public universities have a hard date for accessible course media.
The Department of Justice's ADA Title II rule requires public colleges and universities to make web content and digital course materials meet WCAG 2.1 AA. For prerecorded video that means captions and audio description. If the state or local government a college belongs to serves 50,000 people or more, the date is April 26, 2027. Most state universities are on that date. Smaller entities and special districts have until April 26, 2028.
Source: DOJ interim final rule, 91 FR 20902, April 20, 2026. Context, not legal advice; your accessibility office makes the call. Read our full guide to ADA Title II and course video.
The problem isn't the content. It's the format.
Most online course video was shot for another decade. A 4:3 frame, one camera, slides nobody can read on a phone, and auto-captions nobody checked. The teaching still holds up. The packaging doesn't, and by April 2027 it also has to meet WCAG 2.1 AA. When the University of Washington counted 12,534 public videos across 95 of its YouTube channels, only 33.2% were captioned.
University of Washington, Academic Course Content Action Team, video and audio report, count as of January 1, 2025.
What a remastered lesson looks like.
Original spec productions by Donarus. Want learners to do more than watch? Try the live interactives, from Level 1 knowledge checks to full simulations.
Every remaster includes
- Same course, new frame16:9, clean audio, graphics you can read on a phone. Same length unless you ask for shorter.
- Captions and transcriptsAccurate, timed and edited by a person, delivered as caption files and text.
- Audio description, built inVisual content carried in the narration where possible, or a described version, as WCAG 2.1 AA 1.2.5 requires.
- Faculty-approved scriptsYour subject experts sign off on every word before production starts.
- Your faculty, or our presentersKeep your instructors on camera, or use consistent studio presenters.
- Files ready for your LMSStandard video and caption formats that drop into Canvas, Brightspace, Blackboard or Moodle.
- Chapters, if you want themLong lectures can be split into chapters or shorter segments. Your faculty's call, never the default.
- Marketing cuts includedShort vertical and 16:9 cuts from each course for enrollment marketing and social.
Description that's built in, not bolted on.
Per-minute audio description runs $9 to $35 a finished minute at 3Play Media's published list rates. W3C is clear that no separate description is needed when the main audio already carries the visual information. A remaster writes that information into the narration and rebuilds the graphics around it, so many lessons need little or no separate track. It also sidesteps a practical problem: the University of Washington reports that the Canvas, Zoom, YouTube and Vimeo players don't support a description track, which usually means posting two versions of every video.
Already have video that works? We add audio description on its own: scripted, voiced and delivered as a described version or a separate track, checked against WCAG 2.1 AA 1.2.5. $8 a minute standard, $12 extended, $250 minimum, and your faculty approve the script.
Sources: 3Play Media pricing; W3C, Understanding 1.2.5; UW video and audio report. Checked October 3, 2026.
Start small. Prove it on one course.
Free sample remaster
Free
- One minute of your course, remastered in the new frame
- Captions and audio description on the sample
- A short read on what the rest of the course needs
- No obligation, no procurement step
Pilot module
$2,500
One module, remastered with captions and audio description, so faculty and students can judge the result before you commit to a course. Typically about 10 business days after faculty approve the script.
Full course
$125 a minute
Captions and audio description included. A three-hour course is $22,500. Fixed scope, fixed fee, no hourly billing, with the schedule set in the statement of work.
Building a new course? We build it from your text.
New bachelor's programs and workforce pathways need courses that don't exist yet. Your faculty pick the textbook or open text and write the outline. We produce the course: module structure, video lessons, captions and audio description, ready for your LMS. It's accessible from the first day it runs, so it never lands on a remediation list.
$12,500 per course.
A 3-unit course: module outline from the adopted text, up to 60 finished minutes of video, captions, audio description and LMS-ready module pages. Extra video is $125 a finished minute.
Your faculty teach it.
Faculty write and approve every script and own the course. Curriculum decisions stay with your faculty and curriculum committee. We produce.
Built on OER where you can.
We build on open textbooks first. With a commercial textbook we teach from it, never copy pages or figures from it, and you confirm the rights to anything you send.
California community colleges: see our guide to building courses for the new bachelor's programs, with the programs launching now and how Zero Textbook Cost funding fits.
Who makes it
Donarus is founded and led by Jeff Schenck, with 130+ projects delivered across ten industries. Every lesson is directed and edited by people, on an AI-assisted pipeline, which is why the prices above are a fraction of a traditional studio's. See the sample lessons, or the full portfolio at jeffschenck.com.
Built for the teams that own online learning
Questions from faculty and procurement
Does this replace our faculty?
No. Faculty own the content and approve every script. Many institutions keep their instructors on camera and use us for the frame, the visuals and accessibility. Studio presenters are an option, never a requirement.
Will you shorten our lectures?
Only if you ask. The default is the same course at the same length: a 30-minute lecture stays 30 minutes, a 90-minute one stays 90. Chapters or shorter segments are an option your faculty can choose.
How is AI used?
AI tooling handles visuals, b-roll and production speed, which is why the price is a fraction of a traditional studio. Every lesson is directed, edited and checked by people, and nothing ships without faculty sign-off.
Will this make us compliant?
We build every lesson to WCAG 2.1 AA, the standard in the DOJ's ADA Title II rule, and document how each video requirement is met. Your accessibility office makes the compliance call. We give them what they need to make it.
Is password-protected course content in the LMS exempt?
No. DOJ's 2023 proposal had two exceptions for password-protected course content, and the final rule dropped both. Video inside Canvas, Brightspace, Blackboard or Moodle is in scope.
Are old courses exempt as archived content?
Only if all four conditions hold: made before the compliance date, kept only for reference or recordkeeping, stored in a separate archive area, and unchanged since. Reuse a course next term and its video is back in scope.
Does ADA Title II apply to private colleges?
Title II covers public entities. Private colleges fall under Title III, which has no technical standard yet, and Section 504 if they take federal funds. HHS has set WCAG 2.1 AA for its funding recipients, with dates in 2027 and 2028.
Why not just buy captions and audio description per minute?
If the video itself still works, do that, and we can do it for you: audio description on its own, written and voiced for the video you already have, with captions if you need them. A remaster goes further. It fixes the frame, the graphics and the audio, and can carry the visual information in the narration, so many lessons need little or no separate description track.
How do we buy it?
Fixed fees with a defined scope. The sample is free, and the pilot is a single fixed-fee invoice at a level many departments can approve without a formal bid. We provide a W-9 and work with purchase orders.
Can you work from our existing recordings?
Yes. Existing lectures, slides and transcripts are the starting point. Send one for the free sample and you will see what can be reused and what needs rebuilding.
What does it cost?
The sample is free. A pilot module of up to 20 finished minutes is $2,500. Full courses are $125 per finished minute, or $99 over 300 minutes, with captions and audio description included. Audio description on its own is $8 a minute standard and $12 extended. A new course built from your textbook is $12,500.
How long does it take?
A pilot module typically takes about 10 business days after your faculty approve the script. Full courses and new course builds are scheduled in the statement of work, around your term dates.
More detail, with primary sources, in our guide to ADA Title II and course video.
Which of your course videos are in scope for 2027?
A one-page checklist to sort every course into remediate, remaster or retire, with the WCAG 2.1 AA video checks your accessibility office will ask about.
FREE SAMPLE REMASTER
Tell us about the course. We'll show you what it could be.
- A reply from Jeff within one business day
- A 20-minute call to pick the clip
- 60 seconds of your lecture, remastered free