Government Website WCAG Compliance Checklist: What to Fix Before April 2027

By Accessalyze | April 30, 2026 | ADA Title II compliance for state and local government

Whether you're a state webmaster, IT director, or accessibility coordinator at a county or city government, you now have until April 2027 to bring your website into compliance with WCAG 2.1 AA under the DOJ's ADA Title II rule. That's 12 months — but based on our scan data, many government sites need significant work.

This checklist covers the violations we find most often in government websites, ranked by severity. It's based on our scan of 38 federal and state sites using axe-core, the same detection engine used by Chrome DevTools, Microsoft Accessibility Insights, and Deque's enterprise tools.

Where Government Websites Stand Right Now

We scanned 38 federal and state government websites for WCAG 2.1 AA compliance in April 2026. Here's the breakdown:

Even sites with scores in the 70s–80s likely have WCAG violations that automated scanning can't catch — keyboard navigation issues, missing captions on video, cognitive accessibility gaps. A score of 76/100 means there are known, detectable violations still present.

The WCAG 2.1 AA Government Compliance Checklist

This checklist is organized by the WCAG 2.1 AA principles: Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, Robust. Work through each section with your development team. Most items can be addressed by a developer in hours — not weeks.

1. Perceivable: Content Must Be Available to All Senses

1.1 — Text Alternatives (WCAG 1.1.1)

• All meaningful images have descriptive alt text that conveys the image's purpose
• Decorative images use alt="" (empty alt) so screen readers skip them
• Images of text (logos, banners) are replaced with actual CSS-styled text, or have full alt text
• Icon fonts (Font Awesome, etc.) have aria-label or aria-hidden="true" with visible text alternatives
• Complex charts and infographics have descriptive text alternatives or data tables

1.2 — Time-Based Media (WCAG 1.2)

• All pre-recorded videos have synchronized captions
• All pre-recorded videos with meaningful audio have transcripts
• Live video streams (council meetings, press conferences) have live captions
• Videos that convey information through visuals have audio descriptions

1.3 — Adaptable Content (WCAG 1.3)

• Page uses semantic HTML: <main>, <nav>, <header>, <footer>, <aside> landmarks
• Headings follow logical order: one <h1>, <h2> for sections, <h3> for subsections
• Form inputs have associated <label> elements (not just placeholder text)
• Tables use <th> for header cells with appropriate scope attributes
• Content doesn't rely solely on color, shape, or position to convey information

1.4 — Distinguishable Content (WCAG 1.4)

• All body text meets 4.5:1 contrast ratio against background (WCAG 1.4.3)
• Large text (18pt+ or 14pt+ bold) meets 3:1 contrast ratio
• UI components (form fields, buttons, focus indicators) meet 3:1 contrast ratio (WCAG 1.4.11)
• Text can be resized up to 200% without loss of content or functionality
• Viewport meta tag does NOT use user-scalable=no or maximum-scale=1 (WCAG 1.4.4)
• Content reflows at 320px width without horizontal scrolling (WCAG 1.4.10)
• No content flashes more than 3 times per second

2. Operable: Users Must Be Able to Navigate

2.1 — Keyboard Accessible (WCAG 2.1)

• All interactive elements (links, buttons, forms, modals, dropdowns) are reachable via Tab key
• No keyboard traps — Tab always moves forward, Shift+Tab always moves backward
• Menus, dropdowns, and accordions are keyboard-operable (Enter to activate, Escape to close)
• Modal dialogs trap focus while open and return focus to trigger on close
• Custom date pickers, sliders, and controls have keyboard alternatives

2.2 — Enough Time (WCAG 2.2)

• Session timeouts give at least 20 hours warning, or users can extend the session
• Any auto-updating content (carousels, alerts) can be paused or stopped
• Moving content that starts automatically can be stopped by the user

2.4 — Navigable (WCAG 2.4)

• Page has a descriptive, unique <title> element
• Skip navigation link ("Skip to main content") is the first focusable element
• All links have descriptive text — no "click here," "read more," or icon-only links without aria-label
• Keyboard focus indicator is visible (not suppressed by outline: none in CSS)
• When a page has multiple navigation sections, each has a unique aria-label
• Breadcrumbs and site structure allow users to understand where they are

3. Understandable: Content and Operation Must Be Clear

3.1 — Readable (WCAG 3.1)

• The <html> element has a lang attribute matching the page's primary language (lang="en")
• Pages in other languages use the correct BCP 47 language code
• Abbreviations are expanded on first use or have a <abbr> element with title

3.2 — Predictable (WCAG 3.2)

• Navigation menus are consistent across all pages (same links, same order)
• Components that appear on multiple pages (search, breadcrumbs) are consistently identified
• Changing a form control doesn't cause automatic navigation or major page changes

3.3 — Input Assistance (WCAG 3.3)

• Required form fields are clearly identified (not just by color or asterisk alone)
• Error messages identify the specific field that has an error and describe how to fix it
• Error messages are programmatically associated with the field (via aria-describedby)
• Forms involving legal, financial, or data submission have confirmation or error correction steps

4. Robust: Content Must Work with Assistive Technologies

4.1 — Compatible (WCAG 4.1)

• All interactive elements have a valid ARIA role or are native HTML elements (<button>, <input>)
• ARIA roles match their required parent/child structure (e.g., role="option" inside role="listbox")
• Custom widgets have accessible names (aria-label or aria-labelledby)
• Status messages (form errors, alerts, confirmations) use aria-live regions so screen readers announce them
• No duplicate IDs on the same page
• HTML validates without critical errors

The Most Common Violations Found in .Gov Sites

Based on our April 2026 scan of 38 government websites, these are the violations that appear most frequently — ranked by how often we encounter them:

How to Prioritize Your Remediation

With 12 months to the April 2027 deadline, the right approach is:

1. Scan first — run an automated scan to understand your current score and violation list (accessalyze.com or axe browser extension)
2. Fix critical violations in sprint 1 — missing alt text, missing lang attribute, viewport scaling, broken ARIA roles. These take hours, not weeks.
3. Address color contrast in sprint 2 — requires design review but has high impact
4. Keyboard and focus audit in sprint 3 — manual testing; can't be fully automated
5. User testing with assistive technology — screen reader testing is required for full WCAG compliance
6. Document your compliance — maintain an Accessibility Statement and remediation log

What the April 2027 Deadline Actually Requires

The DOJ's ADA Title II web accessibility rule (extended via IFR 2026-07663) requires WCAG 2.1 Level AA compliance for:

• All public-facing web content (pages, forms, PDFs linked from the site)
• Mobile applications
• Archived content that is still accessible (not clearly labeled as archived)
• Password-protected content used by beneficiaries of the government entity

There are limited exceptions for archived web content, third-party content, content that is not under your control, and preexisting conventional electronic documents (pre-rule PDFs) if there's a hardship exemption. Your legal team should assess which exceptions apply to your specific situation.

Preparing Your Compliance Documentation

Government entities should maintain:

• Accessibility Statement — A public page on your website that states your commitment to WCAG 2.1 AA, your current compliance status, and how users can request accessible formats
• Remediation log — A record of violations found and fixed, with dates, for each scan cycle
• Testing methodology documentation — What tools you used (automated + manual), when tests were run, and who conducted them
• Accommodation process — How individuals with disabilities can request alternative accessible formats

Our $19 accessibility report generates a compliance summary document that includes your site's violation list, severity ratings, fix recommendations, and methodology documentation — suitable for your compliance file or for sharing with your IT oversight team.

Resources

• Full breakdown of the DOJ deadline extension (IFR 2026-07663)
• Our 2026 Government Website Accessibility Report (38 sites scanned)
• DOJ ADA Title II web rule — original 2024 final rule
• IFR 2026-07663 — the deadline extension