The DOJ moved the ADA Title II web and app accessibility deadlines to April 26, 2027 and April 26, 2028. Who is covered, which date is yours, what WCAG 2.1 AA requires, the five exceptions, and a month-by-month plan.
State and local governments in the US now have until April 26, 2027 (if they serve 50,000 people or more) or April 26, 2028 (if they serve fewer, or are a special district) to make their websites and mobile apps meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA. Those dates come from an interim final rule the Department of Justice published on April 20, 2026, which pushed back the deadlines in its 2024 rule by a year. This page explains which date applies to you, what the rule covers and leaves out, and how to use the extra year well. It is general information, not legal advice.
| Your organisation | Original 2024 date | Date now (2026 interim final rule) |
|---|---|---|
| State or local government entity with a total population of 50,000 or more | April 24, 2026 | April 26, 2027 |
| Entity with a total population under 50,000 | April 26, 2027 | April 26, 2028 |
| Special district government (any size) | April 26, 2027 | April 26, 2028 |
The 2026 rule changed the dates only. Its text says the amendments "do not alter any other provisions of the 2024 final rule", so the technical standard, the exceptions and who is covered are the same as before.
One point the DOJ repeats: the deadlines are for the technical standard. The underlying Title II duty to make programs, services and activities accessible, including online ones, already applies and did not move.
Title II covers public entities. In practice that means:
The rule covers both web content and mobile apps that the entity provides or makes available. Private businesses are not covered by this rule; they fall under Title III, which we cover in ADA website compliance for small businesses.
For most governments it is the population of the jurisdiction, as defined in the rule (see the definition of "total population" in 28 CFR 35.104). A public school district uses the population of the city or county it belongs to, or, for an independent district, the Census Bureau's Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates. If your figure is close to 50,000, take the earlier date. Missing the later one by a year is a bigger problem than finishing early.
WCAG 2.1 is a W3C Recommendation published in June 2018. Level AA means meeting every Level A and Level AA success criterion. For a typical government site, the work clusters into a few areas:
For a full working list, use our website accessibility checklist and the longer WCAG guide. WCAG 2.2 is now the current W3C version and is backward compatible, so content that meets 2.2 AA also meets 2.1 AA.
The rule lists five kinds of content that do not have to meet WCAG 2.1 AA. Each one has conditions, and the ADA.gov fact sheet notes that even excepted content still falls under the general duties to communicate effectively and make reasonable modifications.
The rule also allows limited relief where conforming would cause a fundamental alteration or undue burden (decided case by case, and you must still provide access another way), and treats some noncompliance with minimal impact on access as not a violation. Neither is a plan. Plan to conform.
Counting from late October 2026, a large entity has about 18 months and a small one about 30. This sequence works for either; stretch the middle for the later date.
| When | What to do | What you have at the end |
|---|---|---|
| Month 1 | Name one accountable owner. List every public site, subdomain, app, portal and embedded vendor tool (payments, permits, agendas, maps, job applications, library catalogue). | An inventory with an owner per item |
| Months 2 to 3 | Test a sample of each template and each vendor tool with an automated scanner plus a manual keyboard and screen-reader pass. Ask every vendor for their accessibility conformance documentation and a remediation date. | A defect list ranked by how many people a page serves |
| Months 3 to 4 | Decide what to retire, archive, fix or rebuild. Move true archives into a labelled archive area. Delete pages nobody needs. | A smaller site and a written decision per section |
| Months 4 to 9 | Fix shared templates first (header, navigation, forms, footer), because one fix covers thousands of pages. Replace the most-used PDF forms with HTML forms. | Accessible templates and top services |
| Months 6 to 12 | Train every person who publishes. Add an accessibility check to your publishing approval step. Caption meeting video going forward. | New content that stops adding defects |
| Months 10 to 15 | Work through the remaining defect list. Put accessibility requirements and testing rights into every vendor renewal. | Contracts that keep you compliant |
| Before the date | Retest, publish an accessibility statement with a working feedback route, and set a recurring audit. | Evidence you can show |
If you are replacing your website platform as part of this, our government website RFP template and procurement checklist put accessibility testing into the contract rather than the brochure. If you are unsure which accessibility law applies to which part of your organisation, see Section 508 vs ADA Title II vs WCAG.
We.Inc runs a white-label website platform that departments can use under one government brand, with owner, admin and member roles, approval before a site is published, an audit log of organisation actions, and full code download. Sites are built with AI, so the output is a starting point: your team must test every site against WCAG 2.1 AA before publishing, and we do not claim that any site built on the platform conforms. If you want to see how departments would work in it, book a demo. More on the setup is on our website platform for government agencies page.
Last checked 2026-10-25.
This guide is general information, not legal advice. Rules and dates can change; check the Federal Register and ADA.gov, and speak to your own counsel about your situation.
Under the DOJ interim final rule published April 20, 2026, state and local government entities with a total population of 50,000 or more must comply by April 26, 2027. Entities under 50,000 and special district governments must comply by April 26, 2028.
The 2024 final rule set April 24, 2026 for entities with 50,000 or more people and April 26, 2027 for smaller entities and special districts. The 2026 interim final rule moved each date back by about a year.
No. The interim final rule changed only the compliance dates. The standard is still WCAG 2.1 Level AA, and the exceptions are unchanged.
It applies to web content and mobile apps a public entity provides or makes available, including through contracts, licences or other arrangements. Content a vendor runs on your behalf counts as yours.
PDFs and similar documents posted before your compliance date are excepted, unless people still use them to apply for, access or take part in a service. Documents posted after the date must meet WCAG 2.1 AA.
We.Inc is an AI-powered website builder you can resell under your own brand. Launch a branded client dashboard, bill on Stripe Connect, and deliver AI-generated websites in minutes. White-label pricing is tailored to your volume and setup: book a 30-minute demo for a quote.