🏛️ Government Accessibility

The DOJ Mandate Is
Already Active

In April 2024, the Department of Justice issued final rules under Title II of the ADA mandating WCAG 2.1 AA compliance for all state and local government web content. Deadlines are staggered by population size — and the first ones have already passed.

Regulatory Data

Government Compliance Requirements — By the Numbers

Data from DOJ final rulemaking, Section 508 standards, and enforcement records.

April 2024
DOJ final rule published under Title II ADA — first federal mandate specifying WCAG for government websites
28 CFR Part 35
April 2026
compliance deadline for state/local government entities serving populations of 50,000+
28 CFR § 35.200
April 2027
compliance deadline for smaller entities serving populations under 50,000
28 CFR § 35.200
Section 508
separate federal mandate applies to all federal agencies and their contractors — WCAG 2.0 AA minimum standard
29 U.S.C. § 794d
VPAT Required
government procurement increasingly requires Voluntary Product Accessibility Templates from all technology vendors
Federal procurement policy
All Content
the DOJ rule covers web content, mobile apps, documents, videos, and all digital services offered to the public
DOJ final rule scope
Common Violations

What Government Sites Get Wrong

📄

PDF Documents

Meeting minutes, ordinances, permits, applications, budgets, and public records published as scanned image PDFs. The #1 government accessibility violation. Every document must be tagged.

📝

Online Forms

Permit applications, license renewals, public comment forms, and payment portals must have proper labels, error messages, and keyboard accessibility.

🗺

GIS & Maps

Zoning maps, property lookups, and interactive GIS tools must provide text alternatives. Map-only information with no accessible fallback is a direct violation.

🎥

Public Meeting Video

Recorded city council meetings, planning hearings, and public comment sessions must be captioned. Live streams need real-time captioning under the DOJ rule.

💻

Citizen Portals

Utility payment, court records, voter registration, and public records request portals must be fully accessible. These are essential government services under the ADA.

⚠️

Emergency Alerts

Emergency notification systems, weather alerts, and public safety information must be accessible to people using screen readers and other assistive technology.

What We Do

Government Accessibility Services

🔍

Full WCAG 2.2 Audit

Every public-facing page, portal, and document. Report references both the DOJ Title II rule (WCAG 2.1 AA) and Section 508 standards. Suitable for compliance reporting.

🔧

Source Remediation

WordPress and Drupal are the dominant government CMS platforms. We remediate themes, modules, and content at the source. CivicPlus, Granicus, and custom platforms via audit + guide.

📄

Bulk Document Remediation

Government sites often have hundreds of PDFs. We provide bulk remediation for meeting minutes, ordinances, forms, budgets, and public records.

📋

VPAT / ACR Generation

Required for federal procurement and increasingly required by state and local purchasing departments. Documents conformance level for each WCAG criterion.

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The Deadline Is Not Negotiable

The DOJ mandate is published, the deadlines are set, and enforcement will follow. Start with a comprehensive audit to understand your current compliance status.