Enhancing App User Experience: DOJ Issues Final Rule on Web Accessibility and ADA

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has issued its highly anticipated final rule regarding website and mobile app accessibility for state and local governments. This milestone development aims to ensure that public entities provide equal access to web content and mobile apps for individuals with disabilities, as mandated by Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The new rule sets clear requirements for state and local governments, including school districts, to guarantee that their digital offerings are accessible and usable by people with disabilities.

New Technical Standards

To meet these obligations, public entities must follow the 2018 version of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1, which was adopted as the technical standard for web content and mobile app accessibility. Specifically, state and local governments will need to comply with WCAG 2.1 Level AA success criteria and conformance requirements. This means that public entities must ensure that their websites, mobile apps, and other digital materials – including educational resources like digital textbooks – conform to these rigorous standards unless doing so would alter the nature of the services or cause an undue administrative or financial burden.

Exceptions

The final rule provides five exceptions to the accessibility requirements, which public entities should be aware of. These exceptions include:

Archived web content;
Preexisting conventional electronic documents, unless they are currently used to apply for, gain access to, or participate in the public entity's services, programs, or activities;
Content posted by a third party on the public entity's website, unless the third party is posting due to contractual, licensing, or other arrangements with the public entity;
Conventional electronic documents that are individualized and password-protected or otherwise secure; and
Preexisting social media posts.

Notably, if an exception applies, the public entity need not comply with the WCAG technical standards for that content. However, upon request from a specific individual, a public entity may have to provide the web content or content in mobile apps to that individual in an accessible format to comply with the entity's existing obligations under other regulatory provisions implementing Title II of the ADA.

Timeline for Compliance

The DOJ recognizes that small public entities may face challenges implementing these requirements due to limited resources. As a result, the timeframe for compliance varies by population. State and local governments in a county or city with a total population of 50,000 or more must comply with this rule by April 24, 2026, while those with 49,999 or fewer must comply by April 24, 2027.