ADA Title II
The ADA web accessibility rule: what your village needs to know
A plain-English guide to the Department of Justice’s web accessibility rule for state and local governments: what it requires, when, and how to get ready.
Updated September 2026. This guide is general information, not legal advice. Talk with your village attorney about your obligations.
What the rule requires
In April 2024 the U.S. Department of Justice issued a rule under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act. It requires the web content and mobile apps of state and local governments, including villages, towns, townships and special districts, to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, WCAG 2.1 Level AA (28 CFR part 35, subpart H).
In practice that means people who are blind, have low vision, are deaf or hard of hearing, or can’t use a mouse can use your website: pages work with a keyboard and screen reader, text has enough contrast, images have descriptions, videos have captions and forms explain what went wrong.
The deadlines
An interim final rule published April 20, 2026 moved both compliance dates back one year (Federal Register). The requirements themselves did not change.
| Your government | Must comply by |
|---|---|
| Population of 50,000 or more | April 26, 2027 |
| Population under 50,000, and special district governments | April 26, 2028 |
Two things could still change. A lawsuit filed in May 2026, National Federation of the Blind v. Department of Justice, asks the court to restore the original dates, and the Department has said it may propose other changes to the rule. We’ll update this page as things develop.
Don’t wait for the deadline. The ADA’s general duty to communicate effectively with people with disabilities applies today, and complaints and lawsuits over inaccessible government websites don’t wait for compliance dates.
What’s covered
- Your website and every page on it
- Documents you post: PDFs, Word files and spreadsheets
- Online forms, payment pages and other services residents use
- Videos and audio you post (captions and transcripts)
- Mobile apps you offer
- Websites and apps vendors run for you under contract, such as payment or permit portals
What’s exempt
The rule lists a few exceptions (28 CFR 35.201). Each is narrow, so read the conditions carefully.
| Exception | When it applies | In practice |
|---|---|---|
| Archived web content | Created before the compliance date, kept only for reference or recordkeeping, stored in a clearly marked archive area and not changed since. | GovSites keeps archived documents in a labeled archive, apart from current records. |
| Preexisting documents | PDFs, word-processing files, presentations and spreadsheets posted before the compliance date, unless residents still need them to apply for or use a service. | Every document in GovSites carries an accessibility status, so the ones residents still use can be fixed first. |
| Content posted by third parties | Content a member of the public posts, for example. Vendors working for you under contract are still covered. | Ask each vendor for its accessibility conformance report. |
| Individualized, password-protected documents | Documents about a specific person, property or account behind a login, like a utility bill. | Keep these in your billing or permit system, not on your public site. |
| Older social media posts | Social media posts made before the compliance date. | Post anything important on your website as well. |
What GovSites does for you
- Every template, section and form is built to WCAG 2.1 AA and tested with automated accessibility checks on every release
- Color palettes are locked to combinations that meet contrast requirements
- Keyboard access, skip links, visible focus and a clear heading structure on every page
- An accessibility statement and ADA coordinator contact on every site
- No accessibility overlay widgets, which don’t make a site compliant
Coming soon Site-wide accessibility scans, automatic PDF checks at upload and a published third-party audit.
What your staff still needs to do
A platform can make every page accessible, but the content your staff adds matters too. The most common problems on village websites are content problems:
- Add a short description (alt text) to every meaningful image
- Post accessible PDFs, or publish the content as a web page instead
- Caption videos and provide transcripts for audio
- Write link text that makes sense on its own (“Read the 2026 budget”, not “click here”)
- Use headings and lists instead of bold text and line breaks for structure
We can help. PDF remediation costs $10 a simple page and $24 a complex one, and training sessions for your staff are available on any plan. See pricing.
Sources
Get ahead of the deadline
GovSites handles the platform side of accessibility for you. See your village’s site on it free for 30 days, or get a priced proposal for your board.