On April 24, 2026, the ADA Title II Act will go into effect, which requires larger state and local government websites and mobile apps to be fully accessible. Every business and organization should take notice.
What is Accessibility?
Accessibility simply means creating things so that everyone has access. On the web, this means developing websites, experiences and resources so that people with disabilities can use them.
According to the book Mismatch, disability is when a design fails to accommodate a person’s needs, creating a “mismatch” between them and their surroundings. This leads to exclusion. Disability isn’t a personal health issue. When the environment around a person isn’t accessible, our job as communication professionals is to limit these mismatches and make accommodations.
Doing so is easier said than done, because it involves creating accommodations for people with blindness, photosensitivity and low vision, deafness and hearing loss, limited movement, speech disabilities, learning disabilities and cognitive limitations. On the web, creating accommodations starts by verifying your website adheres to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). WCAG has different versions and levels. WCAG 2.2 AA is the most recent version that is accommodating enough for most websites.
Why is Web Accessibility Important?
Supporting accommodations for people with disabilities is the right thing to do. Period. In addition, we are firm believers in the principle of universal design: when you design for people with disabilities, you make products better for everyone. For example, curb cuts are designed for people with wheelchairs to navigate cities independently, but they also help people with strollers, arthritic knees or even people toting roller bags.
In addition to permanent disabilities, we are all temporarily or situationally disabled at some point in our life. Someone navigating the streets with a broken leg has a temporary disability while someone with a stroller has a situational disability.
Accessibility makes things better for everyone.
What Makes a Website Accessible?
According to the WCAG 2.2 AA, your website needs to meet 55 success criteria on all pages and documents. Some of these success criteria can only be fixed by web developers and others may be under your control. Adhering to these criteria allows your website to become more perceivable, operable, understandable and robust for all users and to be used on a variety of devices using assistive technologies, such as screen readers, keyboards and magnifiers.
Even if your content management system or website template advertises itself as accessible or meeting WCAG guidelines, take that with a grain of salt because it’s very easy to design templates, create content or embed widgets that break the accessibility guidelines.
We recommend using automated tools for scanning websites combined with manual review of pages. According to Accessible.org, scanning tools can only detect 13% of the success criteria accurately, 45% are partially detectable and 42% are not detectable at all, so manual review of pages is necessary.
There are no “quick fixes” to accessibility, so be wary of tools, widgets or subscriptions that claim to fix your website’s accessibility issues in minutes or by using AI.
What Can I Do To Make My Website More Accessible?
If you contribute content to a website, here are some common accessibility issues that non-developers should be aware of:
- Use elements with structural meaning: lists instead of paragraphs with bullet characters and headings instead of paragraphs with a bigger font size.
- Make sure the content under headings is related to the heading.
- Use tables for displaying data instead of formatting and use header cells.
- Use descriptive link names. Instead of “Click here to email Jane” use “Email Jane”.
- Use colors with sufficient contrast between the foreground and the background. Tools like WebAIM’s Contrast Checker can help. Also, don’t convey information using color alone. For example, 1 in 12 men have red-green color blindness.
- Make sure each image has alternative text (alt text) that describes it so that blind users can understand what the image is conveying. Avoid text, tables and graphs in images. If you do, provide a detailed description.
- Avoid using PDFs on your website unless you know they are accessible. PDFs need to follow accessibility guidelines as well.
- Provide captions or transcripts with videos.
There are many other success criteria that you will likely need technical assistance with and we’re happy to help you!
When Does my Website Need to be Accessible by?
The U.S. Department of Justice recently finalized the ADA Title II Act requiring state, local governments and many public universities to meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA standards. This affects government agencies and any private contractors or vendors who build or manage websites and web apps.
By April 24, 2026, large state and local governments (serving 50,000+ people) will need to comply.
By April 26, 2027, small state and local governments (serving under 50,000 people) will need to comply.
Since this creates a new gold standard rule for public sector web accessibility, similar litigation for companies and organizations is likely to follow.
No matter who you are, now is a great time to audit your site and start making your website more accessible.
Are Accessibility Standards Enough?
While the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines are great and the world would be a better place if every website adhered to them, there is a difference between meeting the success criteria and making something the best possible experience for someone with a disability. We encourage people to think about inclusive web experiences in addition to accessible experiences. Microsoft’s Inclusive 101 is a wonderful introduction to this.
Imagine you are a building owner and you can either jerryrig an elevator in the back entrance or create a street level entrance designed for everyone. If you are in a wheelchair, which would make you feel more welcome or included?
Together, let’s create inclusive experiences.
Next Steps to Make Your Website Accessible
We love helping clients improve the accessibility of their websites. Here’s how to get started:
- Conduct an accessibility audit of webpages and PDFs using automated scanners and manual review. Identify opportunities for more inclusive experiences.
- Neuger will create a proposal with the professional fees associated with making your website compliant with WCAG 2.2 AA (the newest version of accessibility guidelines).
- We will perform the fixes and check the website again for issues.
- If your staff contributes to content on the website, we will train them on accessibility for content editors.
- Create a page stating your commitment to accessibility, your aim to comply with WCAG 2.2 AA and a form to report any accessibility issues.
- Review accessibility regularly.
There are no “quick fixes” to accessibility, but it’s the right thing to do and makes the web better for everyone. Together, we’ll make the web a better place.