What Is ADA Title II?
Cities, counties, school districts and other public entities now have a dated, technical web accessibility standard. ADA Title II is the part of the law it comes from. This is general information, not legal advice.
Quick Answer
ADA Title II is the part of the Americans with Disabilities Act that requires state and local governments to make their services, programs and activities accessible. A 2024 Department of Justice rule applies it to web content and mobile apps and sets WCAG 2.1 Level AA as the technical standard. After an interim final rule published April 20, 2026, the compliance dates are April 26, 2027 for entities with a population of 50,000 or more, and April 26, 2028 for smaller entities and special district governments.
What the 2024 web rule requires
The rule was published April 24, 2024 and is codified at 28 CFR part 35, subpart H. According to the DOJ fact sheet, “WCAG Version 2.1, Level AA is the technical standard” for state and local governments' web content and mobile apps, including content provided through contractors.
The rule lists five exceptions, each with conditions: archived web content, preexisting conventional electronic documents, content posted by members of the public, individualized password-protected documents, and preexisting social media posts. A document still used to apply for or access a service loses its exception. Our Title II web rule guide covers each exception and the equivalent facilitation provision.
Title II is not Title III
The deadlines moved in April 2026
The original dates were April 24, 2026 for entities of 50,000 or more and April 26, 2027 for smaller ones. An interim final rule published in the Federal Register on April 20, 2026 extended them to April 26, 2027 and April 26, 2028. The technical standard did not change. More in the deadline moved to 2027; what did not change.
How much work remains is measurable. In our study of 95 California government homepages, 63 had at least one automatically detected WCAG 2.1 A or AA failure.
Frequently Asked Questions
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