ADA and website accessibility in the US
Updated
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a US civil rights law. Two parts of it matter for websites: Title III for businesses open to the public, and Title II for state and local governments. The rules for each are different.
Title III: businesses
Title III covers “public accommodations”: businesses open to the public, such as shops, hotels, banks and restaurants. The Department of Justice (DOJ) says the ADA applies to all the goods and services these businesses offer, including those offered on the web (ADA.gov web guidance).
There is no Title III regulation with a technical standard for websites. The DOJ’s guidance says businesses have flexibility in how they make their sites accessible, and points to existing standards such as WCAG as helpful guidance.
In practice, many businesses work toward WCAG 2.1 Level AA. DOJ settlements with businesses have used it, for example the settlement with Kroger about its vaccine registration pages, which applies WCAG 2.1 AA “for the limited purpose of this Agreement”. It is also the standard of the Title II rule below. Without a regulation, what a business is expected to do is shaped by guidance, settlements and court decisions.
Title II: state and local governments
In April 2024, the DOJ published a final rule for state and local governments. It sets WCAG 2.1 Level AA as the technical standard for their web content and mobile apps. It covers agencies and departments, public schools and universities, courts, libraries, public hospitals, transit agencies and special districts. It also applies to services that a government provides through contractors.
On April 20, 2026, the DOJ published an interim final rule that moves the compliance dates by one year. It took effect the same day. The standard, WCAG 2.1 Level AA, did not change.
| Public entity | Original date (2024 rule) | Current date (2026 interim final rule) |
|---|---|---|
| Total population of 50,000 or more | April 24, 2026 | April 26, 2027 |
| Total population under 50,000, and special district governments | April 26, 2027 | April 26, 2028 |
For most governments, population is taken from 2020 US Census data. A department, such as a city library, uses the population of the government it belongs to. These dates may change again: check the ADA.gov fact sheet for the latest.
Exceptions in the Title II rule
The rule lists five exceptions, each with conditions:
- Archived web content
- Preexisting conventional electronic documents, such as older PDFs
- Content posted by a third party that is not posting for the government
- Individualized documents that are password-protected
- Preexisting social media posts
How Perceivly helps
- Monitoring checks your whole site on a schedule against WCAG 2.0, 2.1 and 2.2, Level A and AA, and tracks each issue until it is fixed.
- The ADA report checks against WCAG 2.1 Level AA, lists WCAG 2.2 additions separately, and records recent fixes and checks as evidence of ongoing work.
- The accessibility statement page tells visitors what you know isn’t working yet and how to report a barrier.
Automated tests find only part of accessibility issues. A person still needs to check keyboard and screen reader use, alt text, captions and forms. Perceivly helps you find and track issues. It can’t tell you whether a website meets the ADA, and it isn’t a certification.
Sources
- Guidance on Web Accessibility and the ADA (ADA.gov)
- Fact sheet: the Title II web and mobile app rule (ADA.gov)
- Final rule, April 24, 2024 (Federal Register)
- Interim final rule extending the compliance dates, April 20, 2026 (Federal Register)
- Settlement agreement between the United States and The Kroger Co. (ADA.gov archive, PDF)
This page is general information, not legal advice. For your own case, ask a US lawyer.