TL;DR: On April 24, 2026, state and local government websites serving populations of 50,000 or more must comply with WCAG 2.1 Level AA under a new DOJ rule. Smaller entities have until April 2027. This is the first time the federal government has codified a specific technical standard for web accessibility. Private businesses aren’t covered by this rule directly — but they’re already being sued at record rates under Title III. Nearly 5,000 digital accessibility lawsuits were filed in 2025, a 20% increase over 2024. The April 2026 deadline is cementing WCAG 2.1 AA as the standard that courts will reference in every Title III case going forward. If your website doesn’t meet it, you’re exposed. For the full picture — WCAG standards, remediation checklists, overlay warnings, Canadian law, and more — read our complete ADA compliance guide.
What the April 2026 Deadline Actually Says
In April 2024, the Department of Justice published a final rule under Title II of the ADA. After three decades of ambiguity about how accessibility law applies to websites, the DOJ finally specified a technical standard: WCAG 2.1 Level AA.
The rule covers all state and local government digital content — websites, mobile apps, online forms, PDFs, video, audio, and interactive tools. This includes municipal services, public school districts, state universities, public transit agencies, courts, libraries, and parks departments. If it’s government-run and has a digital presence, it must meet the standard.
The compliance dates are staggered by population size. Entities serving populations of 50,000 or more must comply by April 24, 2026 — which is now less than two months away. Smaller entities and special district governments have until April 26, 2027. There’s no size exemption. A town of 200 residents has the same obligations as a city of 2 million; the only difference is the deadline.
The rule includes limited exceptions for archived content (posted before April 2026, not actively used, stored in a designated archive), pre-existing documents that aren’t used to access services, third-party posted content, and password-protected course materials under specific conditions. Social media posts made before April 2026 are also excluded. But these exceptions are narrow and specifically defined — they’re not loopholes for avoiding compliance.
“But I’m a Private Business — This Doesn’t Apply to Me”
Technically correct. The Title II rule covers government entities. Private businesses fall under Title III. And Title III doesn’t have a published rule specifying WCAG 2.1 AA as its technical standard.
But that distinction is far less protective than it sounds.
Title III of the ADA prohibits discrimination by private entities operating “places of public accommodation” — a list of twelve categories that includes hotels, restaurants, retail stores, service establishments, healthcare providers, banks, places of entertainment, and essentially any business that serves the public. Courts across the country have been ruling for years that websites are extensions of these places of public accommodation. The Domino’s Pizza v. Robles case in the Ninth Circuit established this clearly in 2019, and the legal landscape has only moved further in that direction since.
Here’s the practical reality: even without a formal Title III technical standard, 100% of web accessibility lawsuits cite WCAG failures. Courts reference WCAG in their rulings. DOJ consent decrees specify WCAG compliance. And now that the federal government has formally adopted WCAG 2.1 AA for Title II, plaintiff attorneys have an even stronger argument that this is the standard private businesses should be held to as well.
The American Bar Association published an analysis in August 2025 noting this exact trajectory. Bipartisan legislation introduced in May 2025 — H.R. 3417, the Websites and Software Applications Accessibility Act — would establish uniform federal accessibility standards for all websites and apps, supported by both the National Federation of the Blind and disability rights organizations. The direction is clear: a formal Title III rule adopting the same WCAG 2.1 AA standard is a matter of when, not if.
The Lawsuit Numbers Are Not Slowing Down
If the regulatory trajectory doesn’t concern you, the litigation data should.
Nearly 5,000 digital accessibility lawsuits were filed in federal courts in 2025 — a 20% increase over 2024. In the first half of 2025 alone, UsableNet tracked 2,019 filings. Since 2018, more than 25,000 digital accessibility lawsuits have been filed across the country. And these numbers only cover federal filings. State court filings are increasing too, because state laws in places like New York and California allow monetary damages that the ADA itself doesn’t provide.
The geographic concentration is shifting. New York remains the highest-volume jurisdiction at roughly 32% of filings, but Illinois saw a 746% year-over-year increase as plaintiff firms move to jurisdictions with more receptive courts. Florida nearly doubled its filings. Only three states — Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota — had zero federal ADA Title III lawsuits in 2025.
E-commerce remains the most targeted sector, accounting for 69% of digital accessibility lawsuits. But healthcare, hospitality, financial services, food service, and education are all seeing significant filing volumes.
Two trends make 2026 particularly dangerous for businesses that haven’t addressed accessibility:
- 40% of federal ADA Title III filings in 2025 were pro se — plaintiffs representing themselves without an attorney. AI tools have dramatically lowered the barrier to drafting complaints and identifying WCAG violations. What used to require a $5,000 legal retainer can now be done with a browser extension and a language model.
- 1,427 of the 2025 lawsuits targeted companies that had already been sued before. A prior lawsuit doesn’t close the door — it paints a target for the next one, especially if the underlying issues weren’t fully remediated.
What WCAG 2.1 Level AA Actually Requires
If WCAG 2.1 AA is the standard courts are applying, it helps to understand what it involves. The short version: 50 success criteria across four principles — Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, and Robust.
Perceivable means every piece of information and every interface component must be presentable to users in ways they can perceive. Images need meaningful alt text. Videos need captions. Content must be distinguishable — color contrast ratios of at least 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text. Content must reflow properly at 200% zoom without horizontal scrolling.
Operable means all interface functionality must be available from a keyboard. Interactive elements need visible focus indicators. Users need enough time to read and use content. Nothing should flash more than three times per second. Navigation must be consistent and predictable.
Understandable means text content must be readable and predictable. The page language must be declared. Forms must have clear labels, and error messages must identify what went wrong and suggest how to fix it.
Robust means content must be compatible with current and future assistive technologies. This requires clean semantic HTML, proper ARIA attributes where needed, and valid code structure.
WCAG 2.1 added 12 success criteria beyond WCAG 2.0, with particular attention to mobile accessibility (touch target sizes, orientation support) and cognitive accessibility (text spacing, content on hover/focus). WCAG 2.2, published in 2023, added nine more — and while not yet legally required, it represents where the standard is heading.
Our complete ADA compliance guide includes a 15-point remediation checklist with before-and-after code examples for the most critical accessibility fixes.
The Vendor Problem
The April 2026 deadline has created a predictable vendor rush. Government entities are scrambling to comply, and the market is responding with a flood of “compliance in a box” products, automated scanning tools marketed as complete solutions, and overlay widgets that claim to handle everything with one line of JavaScript.
The limitations of overlays are well-documented at this point — the FTC’s $1 million fine against accessiBe, the 22.6% of 2025 lawsuits that targeted sites running overlay widgets, the consensus statement signed by 700+ accessibility professionals. For the full breakdown on why overlays fail, see the overlay section of our ADA compliance guide.
But even legitimate tools and vendors require careful evaluation. Automated scanning catches 25–30% of WCAG barriers. Any vendor who claims their tool provides “full compliance” through automation alone is overstating their capabilities. Look for vendors who combine automated scanning with manual expert review and assistive technology testing — and who are transparent about what their tools can and can’t detect.
For government entities evaluating procurement: the DOJ rule makes you responsible for third-party vendor accessibility too. If your online permit portal, utility billing system, or court scheduling tool runs through a third-party platform, that platform’s accessibility failures are your compliance failures. Contract language needs to specify WCAG 2.1 AA conformance requirements with audit provisions.
If You’re in Canada
The April 2026 deadline is a U.S. requirement, but Canadian businesses shouldn’t use that as a reason to relax. Canadian accessibility law is on its own trajectory.
The Accessible Canada Act applies to federally regulated organizations — banks, telecommunications, transportation, broadcasting — and references WCAG 2.1 AA through the CAN/ASC-EN 301 549 standard. Digital compliance deadlines begin June 1, 2027 for new content and June 1, 2028 for existing content. Maximum penalty: $250,000 per violation.
British Columbia’s Accessible BC Act currently covers 750+ public sector organizations, with private sector expansion planned. The standards are expected to align with WCAG 2.1 AA.
Ontario’s AODA has the most mature framework — it has required WCAG 2.0 AA compliance since 2021 for organizations with 50+ employees, with penalties up to $100,000 per day.
None of these laws provide a grace period for websites that aren’t meeting the standard today. If your business operates in a regulated sector or serves provincial or federal government clients, the compliance clock is already running. For a detailed comparison table, see the Canadian law section of our complete guide.
A Practical 60-Day Action Plan
The April 24, 2026 deadline is less than two months away. Whether you’re a government entity directly covered by the Title II rule or a private business reading the regulatory signals, here’s what to do now.
Week 1–2: Audit
Run an automated scan of your entire site using a free tool like axe DevTools, WAVE, or Google Lighthouse. This won’t catch everything — automated tools miss 70% of barriers — but it will identify the most common, pattern-matchable issues: missing alt text, insufficient contrast, unlabeled form fields, empty headings, missing language declarations. Document everything. If your site has more than 50 pages, prioritize your highest-traffic pages and most critical user flows first (homepage, service pages, contact forms, checkout).
Week 2–3: Manual Testing
Tab through your key pages with just your keyboard. Can you reach every interactive element? Can you see where focus is? Can you operate menus, forms, and modals without a mouse? Turn on VoiceOver (Mac/iOS) or NVDA (Windows, free) and attempt your most important user flows. Record what breaks.
Week 3–4: Triage and Prioritize
Categorize barriers as critical (blocks access entirely), serious (significantly impedes a task), moderate (causes difficulty), or minor (annoyance). Start with critical and serious items. Common high-impact fixes: adding alt text to images, associating labels with form inputs, fixing heading hierarchy, adding skip navigation, ensuring sufficient color contrast, making modals keyboard-accessible.
Week 4–6: Fix Source Code
Make changes in your actual templates, stylesheets, and JavaScript — not through an overlay or bolt-on script. If you’re on a CMS like WordPress, this may mean updating your theme, replacing inaccessible plugins, or adding custom code. Version-control your changes so you can track what was fixed and when — this documentation matters if you ever need to demonstrate good faith effort.
Week 6–7: Test with Assistive Technology
After fixes are in, re-test with keyboard navigation, screen readers (NVDA on Windows, VoiceOver on Mac), and magnification at 200%. Test on mobile with TalkBack (Android) or VoiceOver (iOS). If budget allows, engage a user with a disability to test critical flows.
Week 7–8: Publish and Monitor
Publish an accessibility statement that identifies your conformance target (WCAG 2.1 Level AA), describes known limitations, provides a contact method for reporting barriers, and commits to a remediation timeline. Set up automated scanning on a monthly schedule. Plan for an annual comprehensive manual audit.
The Deadline Is the Signal, Not the Starting Gun
The April 2026 date matters — but not because it creates a new obligation for most businesses. It matters because it removes the last shred of ambiguity about what the standard is. WCAG 2.1 Level AA is no longer just an industry recommendation or a standard that courts happen to reference. It’s federal law — codified, specific, and enforceable.
For private businesses, this changes the litigation landscape. Every plaintiff attorney in the country now has a federal rule they can point to and say: “This is the standard the government itself adopted. Your client’s website doesn’t meet it.” The fact that the rule technically applies to government entities won’t prevent it from being cited in Title III cases. It will be cited in every one of them.
The businesses that act now — before they receive a demand letter, before a lawsuit lands — will spend a fraction of what litigation costs and will have the documentation to prove good faith effort. The businesses that wait will pay more, under pressure, with a court-ordered timeline they didn’t choose.
Eight weeks. That’s what you have.
Get a Free Accessibility Audit
We audit websites for real WCAG 2.1 AA compliance — manual testing, screen reader evaluation, source code analysis. No overlays, no shortcuts. Whether you need a baseline audit or full remediation, we’ll tell you exactly where you stand and what it takes to fix it.
Book a Free Accessibility AuditNext Steps
- Need the full picture? Our comprehensive ADA compliance guide covers everything — what the ADA actually requires, WCAG 2.1 and 2.2 explained, a 15-point remediation checklist with code examples, the overlay evidence, lawsuit statistics, Canadian law comparison, and a complete roadmap to compliance.
- Concerned about overlays? Read why accessibility overlays don’t work — with the full FTC evidence, litigation data, and expert consensus.
- Ready to fix your site? Talk to our web development team about accessibility remediation.
Kaden Ewald — Founder & SEO Strategist
Kaden leads Grow Wild Agency with a focus on data-driven marketing strategies and web development that performs. He believes accessible websites are better websites — for users, for search engines, and for business.
Frequently Asked Questions
The April 24, 2026 deadline specifically applies to state and local government entities serving populations of 50,000 or more under Title II of the ADA. Private businesses are not directly covered by this rule. However, private businesses are already subject to Title III, which courts consistently interpret to require web accessibility — and WCAG 2.1 AA is the standard referenced in virtually every lawsuit and DOJ settlement. The Title II rule formalizes what courts have been applying to private businesses for years.
Non-compliance exposes the entity to DOJ investigations and private lawsuits. Federal civil penalties can reach $75,000 for a first violation and $150,000 for subsequent violations. In practice, the DOJ typically pursues compliance agreements with remediation timelines rather than immediate penalties — but the legal exposure begins the day the deadline passes.
No. ADA Title III contains no small business exemption for web accessibility. Plaintiff firms target businesses of all sizes, including single-location retailers and local service providers. In the first half of 2025, 64% of lawsuits targeted companies with annual revenues under $25 million. The cost of remediation is lower for small sites, and the legal exposure is the same.
Unless your contract specifically includes WCAG 2.1 AA conformance requirements with ongoing maintenance provisions, the legal liability sits with you — the website owner. Most web development contracts don’t include accessibility specifications unless explicitly requested. If your site isn’t accessible, you may have a claim against your developer for substandard work, but the plaintiff suing you won’t care who built it.
Costs vary significantly based on site complexity. A small business site (under 50 pages, standard CMS) typically runs $3,000–$10,000 for an audit and remediation. A mid-size site with custom functionality, e-commerce, or a content-heavy blog ranges from $10,000–$50,000. Complex enterprise sites with custom applications can exceed $100,000. Compare these numbers to the average lawsuit cost of $50,000–$300,000 and the math is clear: remediation costs 10–20% of what litigation costs.
WCAG 2.2, published in October 2023, adds nine new success criteria beyond WCAG 2.1. While the current DOJ rule specifies WCAG 2.1 AA, the regulation includes provisions for updating the standard. Bipartisan legislation introduced in 2025 references current WCAG standards broadly. Building to WCAG 2.2 now future-proofs your site against the next regulatory update. WCAG 3.0 is in development but is years from finalization.
Yes. Many WCAG requirements overlap directly with SEO best practices. Proper heading hierarchy helps search engines understand content structure. Alt text makes images indexable. Semantic HTML improves crawlability. Captions make video content searchable. Clean code structure reduces technical debt. Google has explicitly stated that accessibility improvements can positively impact search performance.