Smaller public entities (i.e., population <50,000) and special district governments (e.g., utility district, transit authority or water and sewer board) have just over an additional year to comply: April 26, 2027.

Noncompliance exposes governmental entities to significant legal risks, including investigations initiated by the DOJ and potential private litigation.

Background on website accessibility requirements and guidance

Under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), state and local governments and their agencies are prohibited from discriminating against individuals based on a disability. This includes access to digital information or services from state, county and municipalities, public schools and universities, public transportation agencies and courts. Title II nondiscrimination requirements apply to websites, online forms, internal portals, mobile applications and other digital services.

Although the DOJ has long recognized that Title II of the ADA applies to websites and digital services provided by public entities, it did not finalize the criteria for accessibility standards until June 24, 2024, when it issued a final rule on Accessibility of Web Information and Services of State and Local Government Entities, which amended the regulations implementing Title II of the ADA.

The final rule includes defined standards to give greater clarity in exactly how state and local governments can meet their ADA obligations and ensure equal access to government services for individuals with disabilities. It mandates that both public-facing and internal digital assets of state and local governments meet accessibility standards.

This mandate extends to internal tools used by government employees as well as to online services provided to the public, including via text, images, audio, video, interactive elements, animations and electronic documents, on websites or mobile apps.

The DOJ’s final rule on public entity web content accessibility

The DOJ’s final rule adopts the 2018 Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1, developed by the World Wide Web Consortium Web Accessibility Initiative, as its technical standard, although WCAG 2.1 was superseded by WCAG 2.2 in 2023. WCAG 2.1 includes detailed technical specifications and is intended for use by web content developers, web authoring tool developers and web accessibility evaluation tool developers.

There are three WCAG conformance levels: A (lowest), AA (middle) and AAA (greatest). The DOL’s final rule requires that all web-based information aims to meet AA level as the official technical standard under Title II. Conformance with Level AA requires satisfying Level A success criteria as well.

Similar to security standards under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), the WCAG framework establishes principles that must be met for digital content but it does not prescribe specific technical standards. The general principles include guidelines, each of which includes specific success criteria.

The final rule also offers flexibility in situations in which compliance is not practicable or in which noncompliance has minimal impact on accessibility.

Exceptions to the rule

The final rule exempts these five categories of web and electronic content from the technical accessibility standards:

1. Archived web content
2. Preexisting conventional electronic documents that are not actively used for application, access or participation in the public entity’s services
3. Third-party posted content, except where the posting occurs via contractual or licensing arrangements with the public entity
4. Password-protected or otherwise secured conventional electronic documents relating to a specific individual, their property or account
5. Preexisting social media posts

However, upon an individual's request, a public entity must provide otherwise exempted content in an accessible format, consistent with applicable effective communication requirements under the ADA regulations. The method of accommodation depends on the specific circumstances and the individual's access needs.

Implications of the DOJ’s web content accessibility requirements for public entities

State and local governments are leaders in promoting accessibility. Many have already adopted the WCAG 2.1 standards.

Public entities should review the standards and the DOJ’s final rule with their legal counsel and address any compliance issues identified before the relevant deadline.

To mitigate risk and fulfill statutory obligations, state and local governments should adopt a comprehensive and compliance framework that encompasses developing internal policies, training staff, creating an inventory of all digital assets, embedding accessibility requirements in procurement processes and performing accessibility audits.

To anticipate future accessibility needs, public entities may want to consider adopting WCAG 2.2 instead of WCAG 2.1.