With more than one in four adults in the United States living with some type of disability, digital accessibility should always be a top priority.
It’s clear the United States government agrees, as the Federal Register published the Department of Justice’s final rule updating its regulations for Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in April of 2024. The final rule has specific requirements to ensure that web content and mobile applications (apps) are accessible to individuals with disabilities.
The updated regulations apply to all state and local governments (which includes any agencies, departments of state and local governments) as well as special purpose districts.
Given the complexity surrounding Title II of the ADA, we highly encourage DMOs to meet with legal counsel to determine if these requirements apply to their organization.
The Requirements
The technical standard that parties must follow to meet their obligations under Title II of the ADA for web and mobile app accessibility is the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Version 2.1, Level AA.
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines are internationally recognized technical standards published by The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), which are designed to provide guidance on how to make web content more accessible to individuals with disabilities.
Since the introduction of WCAG 1.0 in 1999, W3C has consistently published new versions of WCAG to reflect the ever-changing nature of the internet. Ultimately, they’re the “Gold Standard” of digital accessibility.
Each version of WCAG outlines specific success criteria to ensure digital content is accessible to those with disabilities and optimized for assistive technologies (such as screen readers).
Additionally, each version of WCAG outlines three separate conformance levels:
- Level A is the minimum level of conformance and addresses the most basic accessibility requirements, such as providing alternative (alt) text for images.
- Level AA includes all Level A and AA requirements and is by far the most widely used conformance level. Level AA conformance allows organizations to cover the basics while taking a step further toward more accessible web content.
- Level AAA includes all Level A, AA and AAA requirements and is the highest possible conformance level. The level AAA success criteria are incredibly robust and do not apply to every digital experience. With that being said, it’s important to note that W3C does NOT recommend that Level AAA conformance be required as a general policy, as it is not possible to satisfy all Level AAA Success Criteria for some content.
Compliance Date
The date by which parties must make sure that their web content and mobile apps meet WCAG 2.1, Level AA depends on their population.
- For special district governments, the compliance date is April 26, 2027.
- For state and local governments with a population size under 50,000, the compliance date is April 26, 2027.
- For state and local governments with a population size over 50,000, the compliance date is April 24, 2026.
After this time, parties must continue to make sure their web content and mobile apps meet WCAG 2.1, Level AA.
How We Can Help
Here at Miles Partnership, we fully recognize that digital accessibility is a process and not a project.
Given the dynamic nature of modern websites and the ever-changing landscape of digital accessibility guidelines and best practices, digital accessibility should always be viewed as an ongoing initiative.
Our digital accessibility team focuses on providing the best user experience possible for those with disabilities by conducting continuous analysis of our client’s websites for WCAG 2.2 AA conformance.
WCAG 2.2 is the latest version of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and was formally introduced in October 2023.
Each version of WCAG is ultimately built on top of previous versions, meaning by testing against the WCAG 2.2 AA success criteria, we’re one step ahead of the Title II of the ADA requirements.
Let’s Work Together
Want to have a better understanding of potential accessibility issues on your organization’s website? Please reach out to our team to discuss the steps to take to ensure your website is progressing toward satisfying the requirements outlined in Title II of the ADA.