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ADA Title II 2026: State and Local Government Website Requirements

The DOJ's Final Rule

On April 24, 2024, the Department of Justice published a final rule under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The rule explicitly requires state and local government entities to ensure their web content and mobile apps conform to WCAG 2.1 Level AA.

This is a landmark development. Before this rule, government websites were required to be accessible under ADA but no specific technical standard was named. Courts used WCAG as guidance, but there was ambiguity. The final rule eliminates that ambiguity.

Compliance Deadlines

Who Is Covered

The rule covers all entities covered by ADA Title II:

• All state agencies (departments, offices, boards)
• Cities and municipalities
• Counties
• Special districts (transit, water, fire, library, school)
• Public universities and colleges
• Public schools (K-12)
• Courts
• Public hospitals and health departments
• Public parks and recreation departments

What Must Comply

The rule covers:

• All web content published or updated by the covered entity
• Mobile applications
• Documents posted on the website (PDFs, Word documents)
• Third-party web content when the entity has control over it (e.g., a third-party registration system embedded in your site)

What's Exempt

• Archived content (pre-existing, not updated, not actively used — stored separately and clearly labeled)
• Pre-existing content on intranets not updated since the effective date
• Third-party content the entity doesn't control and didn't procure (e.g., a contractor's own website)
• Individually customized documents sent to specific individuals only
• Content posted by third parties (e.g., public comments, social media)

What WCAG 2.1 AA Compliance Requires

At minimum, your website must:

1. Provide text alternatives for all non-text content (alt text for images)
2. Provide captions for video and audio content
3. Ensure all content can be accessed by keyboard alone
4. Meet color contrast requirements (4.5:1 for normal text)
5. Provide visible focus indicators for keyboard users
6. Associate form labels with their inputs
7. Use proper heading structure
8. Mark up the document language
9. Ensure content works at different zoom levels and viewport sizes
10. Ensure status messages are programmatically determinable

What Happens If You Don't Comply

Under ADA Title II, individuals can file complaints with the DOJ Civil Rights Division or directly sue in federal court. The DOJ also actively investigates and has entered into settlement agreements with state and local governments requiring:

• Comprehensive accessibility audits
• Remediation timelines
• Staff training
• Appointment of an accessibility coordinator
• Ongoing monitoring and reporting
• Civil monetary penalties in some cases

Getting to Compliance: Practical Steps

1. Audit: Run automated scans on all web properties (start with Accessalyze)
2. Prioritize: Fix highest-traffic pages and critical services first
3. Fix documents: Tag PDFs, replace scanned documents with accessible versions
4. Caption videos: Add accurate captions to all video content
5. Publish accessibility statement: Include conformance level, contact info, and feedback mechanism
6. Train staff: Content editors, web developers, and procurement officers all need training
7. Include in procurement: Future contracts for web services must include accessibility requirements (VPAT)
8. Ongoing monitoring: Establish a process for catching regressions

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