If you work for a city, county, school district, or any other local government, here’s the short version: there is now a federal rule that says your website and the documents on it, must work for people with disabilities. It has real deadlines. And the clock is already running.
That rule is the ADA Title II web accessibility rule. Let’s walk through what it actually says, without the legal jargon.
Start Here: Three Things to Do This Month
Before we get into the background, here’s what actually moves you forward. You can do all three this month, and none of them cost anything:
- Find your deadline. Serve 50,000 or more people? You have until April 26, 2027. Under 50,000, or a special district? April 26, 2028. School districts go by the population of their city or county.
- Get a baseline. Run your homepage and your two or three most-used pages through a checker. You can test a page free in our web accessibility workspace; it takes about two minutes and you’ll see roughly where you stand.
- Count your documents. Open your website and count the PDFs the public actually uses, forms, applications, agendas. Write the number down. Most people are surprised. (Yes, PDFs are covered too. More on that below.)
Do those three things, and you’ll know more about your compliance position than most governments do right now.
What Is the Title II Web Rule?
The Americans with Disabilities Act has required governments to make their services accessible since 1990. That was always understood to include websites, sort of, but nobody could point to a rule that said exactly what an “accessible website” was.
In April 2024, the Department of Justice fixed that. They published a rule that names a specific technical standard, WCAG 2.1, Level AA, and set firm dates for meeting it. No more guessing.
Think of it like a building code. For decades, the law said public buildings must be accessible, and the building code spelled out how wide a door must be and how steep a ramp can get. This rule is the building code for your website.
Who Has to Comply?
Every state and local government entity. That’s a longer list than most people expect:
- Cities, towns, and counties
- Public schools, school districts, community colleges, and public universities
- Police and fire departments, courts, and elections offices
- Public libraries, parks departments, and transit agencies
- Special districts, water districts, port authorities, and similar
One detail that catches people off guard: if a private company runs your website, builds your online payment system, or posts content for you, that content still has to comply. You can hire out the work, but not the responsibility.
What Does WCAG 2.1 AA Actually Mean?
WCAG sounds intimidating. The idea behind it isn’t. It boils down to this: everyone should be able to use your website, whether or not they can see the screen, hear the audio, or use a mouse.
In everyday terms, that means things like:
- Photos and graphics have short written descriptions, so someone using a screen reader knows what’s there
- Everything works with just a keyboard, for people who can’t use a mouse
- Text has enough contrast against its background to be readable
- Videos have captions
- Forms clearly say what goes in each box, and what went wrong when there’s an error
None of these are exotic. Most are things a good website should do anyway. The catch is that a site has to get them right consistently, and most sites weren’t built with that in mind.
The Deadlines
Two dates matter:
- April 26, 2027 for governments serving 50,000 or more people
- April 26, 2028 for governments under 50,000, and special districts
A year or two sounds like plenty of time. Here’s why it isn’t: fixing a website usually means auditing it, prioritizing the problems, fixing them in code, testing with real assistive technology, and re-checking the work. For a typical government site plus its documents, that’s a many-month project. And every provider’s calendar fills up as these dates get closer. The governments that start now get to do this calmly. The ones that start in late 2027 won’t.
Yes, Your PDFs Count Too
The rule covers “web content,” and the DOJ’s definition includes documents, PDFs, Word files, spreadsheets, presentations. If the public uses a document to apply for something, register for something, or learn about your services, it needs to be accessible just like a web page.
There are some sensible exceptions for old, archived, and truly unused documents. We wrote a whole plain-English guide to Title II PDF requirements, including what’s exempt and what isn’t.
What Happens If You Miss the Deadline?
After your date passes, a resident who can’t use your website or read your documents can file an ADA complaint with the Department of Justice, or sue. What used to be a gray area (“was that site accessible enough?”) becomes a simple question: does it meet WCAG 2.1 AA or not? That’s a much harder position to defend, and investigations, mandated fixes on someone else’s timeline, and legal costs are all on the table.
The better way to think about it, though: roughly one in four adults has a disability. This rule is the floor, not the ceiling. Meeting it means your residents can actually pay their water bill, register for programs, and read the council agenda, which is the whole point of having a website.
Your Path From Here
- Baseline first. A quick scan tells you if you have a small problem or a big one; start with our free workspace.
- Then a real audit. Automated tools only catch a fraction of issues; a manual audit with assistive technology testing finds the rest and puts them in priority order. Here’s what an audit costs and why.
- Fix, verify, document. Whether your team fixes issues from the audit roadmap or a specialist remediates them for you, keep records. If a complaint ever comes, documentation of tested, verified work is your best friend.
- Don’t forget the documents. Budget for PDF remediation alongside the website work, it’s often the bigger pile.
Common Questions
We’re a tiny town with a five-page website. Does this really apply to us?
Yes, but your project is small too, and you have until April 2028. A five-page site can usually be brought into shape quickly. Start with the free scan and you may find it’s very manageable.
Can we just put an accessibility widget on the site?
No. Overlay widgets don’t fix the underlying code, and they don’t make a site meet WCAG 2.1 AA. The DOJ named a technical standard precisely so there’d be no shortcut around actually fixing things.
Our website vendor says they’ll handle it. Are we covered?
Maybe, but ask them two questions: “Will the site meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA?” and “How will you test it, automated only, or with screen readers and manual review?” If they can’t answer both clearly, get an independent audit. Remember, the legal responsibility stays with you.
Not Sure Where You Stand? Find Out Free
Test a page in our web accessibility workspace, or request a free accessibility review, and we’ll look at your site, tell you honestly how big the job is, and map out the path to your deadline. Government accessibility is what we do all day, and we’re happy to explain everything in plain English.
