Your residents can't take their business to another city hall.
Paying a water bill, reading tonight's council agenda, applying for a permit, registering for a summer program. When the website is the only way to do it, the website has to work for everyone. The Justice Department's Title II rule now says so in writing, with dates.
The rule reaches further than your home page
The Justice Department's Title II rule sets WCAG 2.1 Level AA as the technical standard for the web content and mobile apps that state and local governments provide. That includes content provided directly and content provided through contracts, licenses, or other arrangements. So the payment portal your utility uses, the agenda system the clerk's office runs, and the permitting software your planning department licenses are all part of the picture, even when a vendor hosts them.
The compliance dates moved this year. An interim final rule published April 20, 2026 extended them by one year. Public entities with a total population of 50,000 or more now have until April 26, 2027. Smaller public entities and all special district governments have until April 26, 2028. The standard itself did not change.
Four facts from the Federal Register
is the technical standard in the Justice Department's ADA Title II web and mobile app rule, published April 24, 2024
U.S. Department of Justice, Final Rule, 89 FR 31320 (FR Doc. 2024-07758)is when the Justice Department published an interim final rule extending the ADA Title II web and mobile app compliance dates by one year
U.S. Department of Justice, Interim Final Rule, 91 FR 20902 (FR Doc. 2026-07663)is the ADA Title II web and mobile app compliance date for state and local governments with a total population of 50,000 or more
U.S. Department of Justice, Interim Final Rule, 91 FR 20902 (FR Doc. 2026-07663)is the ADA Title II web and mobile app compliance date for public entities with a total population under 50,000 and for special district governments
U.S. Department of Justice, Interim Final Rule, 91 FR 20902 (FR Doc. 2026-07663)Systems we test first
We start with the transactions residents can't complete any other way, then the documents that explain them.
| System | Who usually builds it | What we check |
|---|---|---|
| Utility and tax payment portals | A payment vendor, on its own domain or one of your subdomains | Account lookup by keyboard, labeled amount fields, errors tied to fields, timeouts that warn first, and a confirmation a screen reader announces |
| Agendas, minutes, and meeting video | An agenda-management vendor and a streaming service | Tagged or HTML agendas, captions on live and recorded meetings, and player controls that work by keyboard |
| Permits, licenses, and inspections | A licensed permitting system, often heavily configured | Multi-step forms, file uploads with clear instructions, and a text alternative to map-based address pickers |
| Notices, ordinances, and budgets | Your own staff, usually as PDFs | Which documents are in scope, which may fall under an exception, and which to convert to HTML |
| Maps and GIS viewers | A mapping platform embedded in your site | A text equivalent for what residents need from the map, such as a list of polling places or road closures |
| Mobile apps | A vendor, often as a white-labeled app | VoiceOver and TalkBack testing of report-a-problem, payment, and alert flows |
| Emergency alerts and closures | Your communications team and an alerting service | Alert banners that are announced, not just shown, and alert graphics with text alternatives |
The exceptions are narrower than they sound
The rule contains limited exceptions, for example for certain archived web content and certain preexisting documents. Each one comes with conditions, and some stop applying when a document is still used to apply for, access, or take part in a service. Review them with your counsel before relying on any of them. The Justice Department's fact sheet on the web rule is a good place to start.
If you sell software to governments, this rule is in your contracts now
Because the rule reaches content provided through contracts and licenses, public entities are writing accessibility into procurement: requests for an Accessibility Conformance Report, clauses that name WCAG 2.1 Level AA, and remediation timelines with consequences. Payment processors, agenda-management platforms, permitting systems, and website platforms built for municipalities are all being asked the same questions.
We work on both sides of that conversation. For a vendor, we audit the product, fix or guide fixes in shared components, and write an Accessibility Conformance Report that holds up when a customer tests it. For a public entity, we review the ACRs your vendors send, test the parts residents actually use, and help you write the follow-up questions. Our SaaS page covers the vendor side in more depth.
Kentucky cities, counties, and school districts
Every one of Kentucky's 120 counties, and every city, school district, and special district with a website or an app, is covered by the rule. Louisville Metro, Lexington-Fayette, and other jurisdictions of 50,000 or more fall under the April 26, 2027 date. Most Kentucky cities, and every special district government, fall under April 26, 2028. The rule defines how to count total population, and it points independent school districts to a different Census estimate than cities and counties use, so confirm your date before planning around it.
For a small city with a part-time web editor, the work is manageable if it starts early: inventory what you publish, fix the payment and form journeys first, decide what to do with old PDFs, and train the people who post agendas and notices. We are based in Bowling Green and can bring a plain-English briefing to your council, fiscal court, or board. More on our work in Kentucky.
Questions from clerks, IT directors, and vendors
Does the rule apply to our mobile app?
Yes. The rule covers mobile apps a state or local government provides or makes available, including apps provided through a vendor, and applies the same WCAG 2.1 Level AA standard. We test apps on iOS with VoiceOver and on Android with TalkBack through our Mobile App Accessibility service.
Do we have to fix every old PDF on our site?
Not necessarily. The rule includes limited exceptions for certain archived content and certain preexisting documents, each with conditions. A Digital Estate Audit inventories everything you publish so you and your counsel can decide what to fix, what to convert, and what to archive properly.
The rule says WCAG 2.1. Should we aim for 2.2?
Report against what the rule requires, WCAG 2.1 Level AA, and build toward WCAG 2.2 AA where it costs little extra. We report the two separately, so you can show conformance with 2.1 on the date while fixing the newer 2.2 criteria, such as target size and accessible sign-in, on your own schedule.
Is there a discount for public entities?
Yes. Public entities and nonprofits receive a discount on fixed-fee projects, and we accept purchase orders. The details are on our pricing page.
Keep reading
Tell us what your website needs to do.
Send a link and a sentence about your deadline. You will hear back from a person within one business day, usually with a short list of questions and a proposed scope.