Your city or local government website may look modern. It may work perfectly for your staff. Residents may use it every day without reporting problems.
But is your website actually ADA compliant?
For cities, towns, counties, and special districts, that question is becoming increasingly important. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has established accessibility requirements under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), with compliance deadlines approaching for state and local governments.
If you have not evaluated your website recently, now is the time to find out where you stand.
What Does ADA Title II Require?
In 2024, the DOJ finalized a rule requiring state and local governments to make their web content and mobile applications accessible to people with disabilities.
The technical standard is Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA.
WCAG 2.1 AA addresses accessibility considerations such as alternative text for images, keyboard navigation, color contrast, captions, accessible documents, and website structures that assistive technologies such as screen readers can understand.
And accessibility goes far beyond your homepage.
Forms, meeting documents, PDFs, videos, images, online services, and other active digital content can all be part of the accessibility equation.
Is Your Website Really Compliant?
This is where local governments need to look beyond appearances.
A website can look polished and still contain accessibility barriers.
Can someone navigate your website without using a mouse? Can a screen reader understand your forms? Do images contain appropriate alternative text? Are PDFs and documents accessible? Is there enough contrast between text and backgrounds?
If you do not know the answers, how confident are you that your website meets WCAG 2.1 AA?
An accessibility audit can uncover problems that are easy to overlook during normal website use.
The 2027 and 2028 Deadlines Are Approaching
According to the current information in our source material, the compliance dates were extended by one year in April 2026.
Governments serving populations of 50,000 or more must comply by April 26, 2027. Governments serving fewer than 50,000 people, as well as special district governments, must comply by April 26, 2028.
Because these deadlines have already changed, local governments should verify the latest dates and requirements directly through ADA.gov.
More importantly, the extension should not become a reason to wait.
Accessibility remediation can involve years of website pages, PDFs, forms, videos, templates, and other digital resources.
Compliance Doesn’t End After an Audit
ADA website accessibility isn’t simply a box you check once.
Every new page, PDF, photograph, form, video, or website feature can potentially introduce another accessibility issue.
That means achieving accessibility is only part of the challenge. Your organization also needs the ability to maintain it.
Staff should understand basic accessible publishing practices, and your organization should have a process for identifying and correcting technical accessibility issues when they appear.
Can You Fix Your Own Website?
There is another question municipalities should be asking:
When an accessibility problem is discovered, who controls the fix?
On some proprietary website platforms, code and template changes can only be performed by the platform provider. Your municipality may have to submit a request and wait for the vendor.
With an open-source website, you have greater control. Your organization or any qualified developer can address code-level accessibility problems directly.
Open source does not automatically mean ADA compliant. What it provides is something extremely valuable when compliance deadlines are involved: control over your website and the ability to act when problems are discovered.
Find Out Where Your Website Stands
Don’t assume your municipal website is accessible because it looks good or because nobody has complained.
Ask the harder question:
Is our website actually compliant—and can we keep it that way?
At Ask the Egghead, we build and support WordPress websites with an emphasis on performance, flexibility, ownership, and long-term manageability.
If you’re responsible for a city, town, county, or special district website, now is the time to understand your accessibility position.
Contact Ask the Egghead today to discuss your government website and start identifying the steps your organization can take toward a more accessible digital presence before the applicable ADA Title II deadline arrives.
This article provides general information and is not legal advice. Verify current requirements at ADA.gov and consult appropriate legal counsel regarding your government’s specific obligations.
