The ADA Title II web rule, in plain language for small towns

What the ADA Title II web rule is

The ADA Title II web rule is a Justice Department regulation, published on April 24, 2024, that sets a technical standard for the web content and mobile apps of state and local governments. It sits in subpart H of 28 CFR part 35. Title II already required equal access. The rule says how to measure it online.

A public entity shall ensure that the following are readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities: (1) Web content that a public entity provides or makes available, directly or through contractual, licensing, or other arrangements; and (2) Mobile apps that a public entity provides or makes available, directly or through contractual, licensing, or other arrangements.

28 CFR 35.200(a)

If your agenda software or website vendor hosts the file, it is still your content. The Department’s First Steps guide says a public entity “is still responsible for ensuring the accessibility of its web content and mobile apps, even if it outsources the accessibility work to somebody else.”

Who the rule covers

The rule covers every public entity under Title II: states, counties, cities, towns, townships, special districts, and their departments, such as a police department or a library. Size changes the date, not whether you are covered. A town of 800 people is covered, just on a later date than a city of 80,000.

Size means “total population,” defined in 28 CFR 35.104: for most towns and counties, the 2020 decennial Census figure. A department with no Census population of its own, such as a town library, uses its parent government’s figure.

Special districts get one date whatever their size; see the special districts guide. In Colorado, a state law also applies; see our guide to HB21-1110.

When small towns must meet the rule

Small towns must meet the rule from April 26, 2028. That date applies to any public entity with a total population under 50,000 and to every special district government. Entities of 50,000 or more have until April 26, 2027. Both dates come from a 2026 extension that is now being challenged in federal court.

Beginning April 26, 2028, a public entity with a total population of less than 50,000 or any public entity that is a special district government shall ensure that the web content and mobile apps that the public entity provides or makes available … comply with Level A and Level AA success criteria and conformance requirements specified in WCAG 2.1 …

28 CFR 35.200(b)(2)

The 2024 rule first set April 24, 2026 for large entities and April 26, 2027 for small ones (89 FR 31320). On April 20, 2026 an interim final rule moved each date by one year (91 FR 20902). The Department said it “will consider issuing an NPRM” on the rule’s substance; its regulatory agenda of August 14, 2026 lists that proposal as “To Be Determined” (91 FR 53016).

On May 21, 2026 the National Federation of the Blind sued in the District of Maryland (No. 1:26-cv-02007), asking the court to set the extension aside. The public docket we checked showed no ruling; its last entry was dated July 13, 2026 (CourtListener). We found no later Federal Register action through September 25, 2026. If the dates change, we will update this page.

What WCAG 2.1 Level AA asks of a document

WCAG 2.1 Level AA is the technical standard the rule adopts: a W3C Recommendation dated June 5, 2018. Content conforms at Level AA when it meets every Level A and Level AA success criterion. For a council packet PDF, that means real text, tagged headings and tables, a title, a set language and a sensible reading order.

For Level AA conformance, the Web page satisfies all the Level A and Level AA Success Criteria, or a Level AA conforming alternate version is provided.

WCAG 2.1, Conformance Requirement 1

For meeting documents, the criteria that matter most are 1.1.1 Non-text Content, 1.3.1 Info and Relationships, 1.3.2 Meaningful Sequence, 2.4.2 Page Titled and 3.1.1 Language of Page. A scanned page is the hard case. The W3C technique for scanned PDFs says a document made of scanned images of text “is inherently inaccessible because the content of the document is images, not searchable text” (PDF7). Checking also takes a person: the Department’s First Steps guide warns that automated tools “can’t test for all aspects of accessibility.”

The five exceptions

The five exceptions in 28 CFR 35.201 cover archived web content, preexisting documents, content posted by unrelated third parties, individualized password-protected documents, and social media posts made before the compliance date. Each one is narrow. None of them covers a new agenda, packet or set of minutes posted after your date.

The one small towns meet most often is the exception for older documents:

Conventional electronic documents that are available as part of a public entity’s web content or mobile apps before the date the public entity is required to comply with this subpart, unless such documents are currently used to apply for, gain access to, or participate in the public entity’s services, programs, or activities.

28 CFR 35.201(b)

An old event flyer can usually stay as it is; an old permit application that residents still use cannot. The archived content exception has four required conditions, covered in the archived content guide. For meeting documents, read are agendas and minutes covered.

The exceptions only lift the technical standard. The Department’s fact sheet says that even then a government “would likely still need to provide the content to a person with a disability who needs it in a format that is accessible to them.”

What 35.205 says about small gaps

Section 35.205 lets a town that falls short of WCAG 2.1 Level AA still be treated as meeting the rule, but only if it can demonstrate that the gap has so little impact that people with disabilities keep substantially equivalent timeliness, privacy, independence and ease of use. The burden of showing that sits with the town.

A public entity that is not in full compliance with the requirements of § 35.200(b) will be deemed to have met the requirements of § 35.200 in the limited circumstance in which the public entity can demonstrate that the noncompliance has such a minimal impact on access that it would not affect the ability of individuals with disabilities to use the public entity’s web content or mobile app …

28 CFR 35.205

The section then lists what people must still be able to do: access the same information, engage in the same interactions, conduct the same transactions, and otherwise take part. The Department calls the section “intended to apply in rare circumstances” and says a town “must provide evidence” (89 FR 31387). That is why a dated record of what you checked and fixed is worth keeping; see keeping an accessibility record.

What a small town should do now

A small town should start with an inventory of what it posts each month, then decide who fixes new documents and when. Fix the recurring documents first, write down any exception decisions, publish a clear way for residents to ask for help, and keep dated notes of each step. Most of this is routine, not technical.

A worked example

Take a hypothetical town of 4,000 people. Each month it posts a 180-page council packet, two agendas, one set of minutes and a few public notices, about 200 pages in all. The packet is the hard part: staff reports scanned from paper, a budget table exported from a spreadsheet, a site plan drawing.

From April 26, 2028, each new packet generally needs to meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA when it goes up. Packets posted before that date can usually stay as they are under the preexisting documents exception, unless someone currently uses them to take part in a town service. So the real job is the next packet: roughly 2,400 pages a year, every year.

That is upkeep, not a project. The Department’s First Steps guide suggests fixing first what people use often, need for key tasks, or have flagged as inaccessible. For many small towns, that points to meeting documents.

What we do about it

What we do about it is monthly work. We scan your website each month, find the new agendas, packets, minutes and notices, and fix those documents so they read properly. We log every step in the Readable Record, a dated file you can show a resident. We do not rebuild websites; see how it works.

This guide explains the rule in plain language. It is not legal advice. For decisions about your town, talk to your attorney.