Your City's Website Could Get Sued in 2026: ADA Title II Compliance for Government Websites

On April 8, 2024, the Department of Justice published a final rule that, for the first time, establishes a specific technical standard for digital accessibility under Title II of the ADA. Every state and local government website and mobile app in the United States must conform to WCAG 2.1 Level AA.

The deadlines are firm:

There is no exemption for small governments. Every city, county, township, school district, public library, and special district must comply — from New York City to a rural water district in Wyoming.

What This Rule Actually Requires

The rule mandates that all web content and mobile apps operated by state and local governments meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA. That means:

• All images must have descriptive alt text
• All forms must be navigable by keyboard alone
• Color contrast ratios must meet 4.5:1 for normal text
• Videos must have captions and audio descriptions
• PDFs must be tagged and screen-reader compatible
• Interactive elements (menus, dropdowns, modals) must work with assistive technology

For most government websites, the biggest problem areas are untagged PDFs (meeting agendas, permit applications, budget documents), third-party vendor portals (utility payments, permit systems, court filings), and legacy content that was never built with accessibility in mind.

Governments Are Already Getting Sued

The April 2026 deadline hasn't arrived yet, but lawsuits against government entities are not new. Title II already prohibits disability discrimination by public entities — the new rule simply removes ambiguity about what "accessible" means for digital services.

Here are documented enforcement actions:

Texas Counties — Election Website Accessibility (June 2024)

The DOJ's Civil Rights Division, working with U.S. Attorneys' Offices across all four Texas federal districts, secured settlement agreements with four Texas counties — Colorado, Runnels, Smith, and Upton. The counties maintained election websites that discriminated against individuals with vision or manual disabilities. Under the agreements, each county must make all online election content accessible, hire independent auditors, and train relevant personnel. (DOJ Press Release)

Alaska — Inaccessible Elections Website (June 2024)

The DOJ issued a letter of findings that the State of Alaska violated Title II by maintaining an inaccessible elections website, denying voters with disabilities an equal opportunity to participate in the voting process. (DOJ ADA Cases)

Manatee County, Florida (2019)

A disabled resident sued Manatee County after the county's website wouldn't work with his screen reader. The county paid the plaintiff $16,000 and agreed to bring its websites into compliance within fourteen months — or face a $1,500-per-day fine. The city of Bradenton, a municipality within the county, took its entire website offline for several months out of concern about additional litigation. (Source: Accessibility.Works)

Ellerbee v. State of Louisiana (2024)

A disabled resident sued the state because several websites — including the Department of Health and Department of Children and Family Services — were inaccessible via screen reader. The state moved to dismiss. The judge refused. (CourtListener RECAP)

Service Oklahoma — Mobile App Accessibility (2024)

The DOJ found that Service Oklahoma violated Title II by maintaining a mobile application inaccessible to individuals with vision disabilities. Under a January 2024 settlement, Service Oklahoma agreed to conform its mobile apps to WCAG 2.1 Level AA, retain an ADA coordinator, and provide employee training. (DOJ Settlement)

University of California — Inaccessible Online Content

A consent decree against the UC Regents mandated accessible content, revised institutional policies, staff training, and independent audits. (DOJ ADA Cases)

Since 2011, 142 municipalities in the United States have been sued for accessibility non-compliance (Source: Delaware GIC).

The Penalties Are Steep

Federal civil penalties under the ADA were adjusted for inflation in 2024:

Beyond federal penalties, plaintiffs in some states can seek monetary damages under state law. California's Unruh Civil Rights Act, for example, allows $4,000 per violation per visit. Private lawsuits can also recover attorney's fees, which typically range from $2,000 to $5,500 per case but can climb far higher in protracted litigation.

For a full breakdown of ADA lawsuit costs, see our analysis of 2025 case data.

What Makes Government Websites Especially Vulnerable

Government websites carry unique risk factors:

1. High public visibility. Everyone interacts with government services. You can't choose a competitor.
2. Transaction-heavy services. Online payments, permit applications, court filings, voter registration — all must be accessible.
3. Document-heavy operations. Meeting agendas, ordinances, budgets, and forms are routinely published as untagged PDFs that screen readers cannot parse.
4. Third-party vendor dependencies. Many municipalities outsource their utility billing, permitting, or court filing portals to vendors who never specified accessibility in their contracts.
5. Legacy content. Years of archived content that was never built to any accessibility standard.

The Political Landscape Is Shifting — But the Law Isn't

In March 2025, the DOJ under the Trump administration formally withdrew 11 technical assistance documents related to the ADA. In October 2025, the DOJ announced it would "re-examine" regulations under ADA Title II and Title III.

However, the April 2024 final rule is a regulation, not guidance. It went through formal notice-and-comment rulemaking. Withdrawing guidance documents does not undo the rule. The April 2026 and April 2027 deadlines remain in effect unless the rule is formally repealed through a new rulemaking process — which has not been initiated.

Meanwhile, pro se ADA filings (plaintiffs without attorneys) increased 40% in 2025 compared to 2024, according to Seyfarth Shaw. AI tools like ChatGPT are enabling individuals to draft and file complaints without legal representation, lowering the barrier to lawsuit initiation.

What Governments Should Do Now

1. Audit your website against WCAG 2.1 Level AA. Automated tools catch only about 30-40% of issues. Manual testing with screen readers (JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver) is necessary.
2. Prioritize PDFs. Tag all public-facing documents or convert them to accessible HTML.
3. Review vendor contracts. Ensure third-party portals (utility billing, permitting, courts) include accessibility requirements with contractual enforcement mechanisms.
4. Establish an accessibility policy. Publish an accessibility statement, designate an ADA coordinator, and create a feedback mechanism for residents to report barriers.
5. Train staff. Content creators, webmasters, and IT staff need to understand basic accessibility principles.
6. Budget for compliance. This is not optional. The cost of compliance is a fraction of the cost of a lawsuit, remediation under court order, and daily fines.

The Bottom Line

The clock is ticking. Entities serving 50,000+ people have until April 24, 2026. Smaller entities have until April 26, 2027. Plaintiffs' attorneys know these deadlines. So do advocacy organizations. The combination of clear legal standards, established penalties, and AI-assisted complaint filing means government entities that haven't started preparing face significant legal and financial exposure.

142 municipalities have already been sued. After April 2026, that number will grow rapidly.

Sources: DOJ Final Rule on Web Accessibility, ADA.gov Case Database, Delaware Government Information Center, Accessibility.Works, Seyfarth Shaw ADA Title III Report, CourtListener RECAP Archive