Last year, the Department of Justice announced new web and mobile accessibility rules for government websites (check out our blog post to learn more: DOJ Announces New Web and Mobile Accessibility Rules). Keeping track of deadlines and what needs to be compliant can be overwhelming, but we’re here to help! Let’s go over the ADA compliance deadlines and exceptions to the ruling.
ADA compliance deadlines and exceptions
Depending upon the size of your organization, you will need your website and mobile apps to be compliant by the following dates:
- 0 to 49,999 persons: April 26, 2028
- Special district governments: April 26, 2028
- 50,000 or more persons: April 24, 2027
Exceptions to the ADA ruling
Some government website and app content does not necessarily need to comply with the accessibility guidance. These exceptions, for the most part, cover pre-existing/archived content that is not being used by the public.
According to the Fact Sheet on ADA.gov, the following content is excluded from the ADA ruling:
- Archived web content that isn’t created or updated after the compliance deadline and is used for reference, research, or record-keeping. It must be kept in a special area for archived content.
- Prexisting conventional electronic documents (word processing, spreadsheets, PDFs, and presentations).
- Some content posted by third parties. This exception only applies when the third party is not posting due to contractual, licensing, or other arrangements with a public entity. In other words, third-party content posted by the government or their contractors/vendors still needs to be compliant.
- Individualized documents that are password-protected.
- Preexisting social media posts.
If you or your government organization need assistance knowing what you need to do to be compliant, contact us to set up a meeting!