24 Communications | Digital Accessibility Update
If your organization has been tracking the ADA Title II compliance deadline for digital accessibility, there’s an important update. The Department of Justice has extended the timeline, but this is not a reason to slow down.
The new deadlines give state and local government entities more time to meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA standards. Larger public entities serving populations of 50,000 or more have until April 26, 2027. Smaller entities have until April 26, 2028. The extension offers some breathing room, but organizations that wait until the final months will find themselves scrambling to catch up.
WCAG 2.1 Level AA covers more than just website design. It applies to the full digital experience your constituents and customers interact with every day, including digital forms. Forms must be keyboard accessible, properly labeled for screen readers, and built to clearly identify errors and guide users to correct them. Visual focus indicators, accessible PDFs, and third-party tools like job application portals and payment systems all fall under the requirement as well.
At 24 Communications, we are already helping private companies, and state and local agencies assess where they stand and build a realistic path to compliance. That includes auditing existing websites and digital forms, remediating content and code, updating PDFs, and helping teams understand what accessible digital experiences look like going forward.
A deadline extension is not a free pass. It is an opportunity to do this the right way, with time for a thorough audit, a thoughtful remediation plan, and the training your team needs to stay compliant. Organizations that start now will be in a much better position than those who wait and face compressed timelines and higher costs as the deadline approaches.
If you are not sure where your organization stands, reach out to us today. We will help you get a clear picture of what needs to be done and a practical plan to get there.
