Summary

The Department of Justice’s (DOJ) final rule on the accessibility of web content and mobile apps under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) goes into effect June 24, 2024. With limited exceptions, the rule requires that state and local governments’ digital content conform to standardized Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA for ensuring that web content and mobile apps are accessible to people with disabilities.

The Upshot

• The final rule, published on April 24, 2024, applies to state and local services, programs, and activities governed by Title II of the ADA, and lays out accessibility requirements for website and mobile app content.
• The rule is designed to help ensure that people with disabilities have online access to state and local governments’ services, programs, and activities.
• Entities subject to Title II will be required to conform their digital content to the WCAG 2.1 Level AA, a set of guidelines and criteria for making web content more accessible to a wider range of people with disabilities.
• The rule also provides valuable guidance for private businesses subject to Title III, as they may well have to comply with similar regulation in the future.

The Bottom Line

While the DOJ’s final rule applies only to state and local government entities governed by Title II of the ADA, private businesses subject to Title III of the ADA also should work to make their websites and mobile apps compliant with WCAG 2.1 Level AA, if not the newer WCAG 2.2.

The DOJ released its final rule (subsequently published in the Federal Register on April 24, 2024), revising its regulations under Title II of the ADA. The rule, effective June 24, 2024, lays out specific requirements for ensuring that the web content and mobile apps of Title II entities are accessible to people with disabilities. Although Title II applies to state and local governments—including their services, programs, and activities—the rule is also significant to private businesses subject to Title III of the ADA, as the regulations provide guidance on the accessibility of digital content.

The rule requires that state and local entities’ websites and mobile apps comply with the WCAG 2.1 Level AA. The World Wide Web Consortium publishes the WCAG standards. These standards include requirements to ensure digital content is accessible, such as text alternatives for non-text content and color contrast for vision-impaired users. The DOJ has identified WCAG 2.1 Level AA as the current technical standard for state and local governments’ web content and mobile apps. However, the World Wide Web Consortium has already published WCAG 2.2, and is currently drafting WCAG 3.0.

The final rule provides for certain exceptions to its WCAG-compliance requirements, such as where compliance would result in a fundamental alteration of the website’s content or impose an undue financial and administrative burden. The rule also exempts archived web content, preexisting conventional electronic documents (such as PDFs), individualized password-protected documents, uncontracted third-party content, and preexisting social media posts.

The rule is designed to help ensure that people with disabilities have access to state and local governments’ services, programs, and activities on websites and mobile apps. This, in turn, will help ensure that individuals with disabilities can access government services and are able to participate in civic and community events.

As the rule may foreshadow future Title III regulations, private businesses should take note of the DOJ’s position on accessibility.

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