Federal, state, and public regulations have played a crucial role in ensuring equal access for individuals with disabilities over the past decades. These include:
- Section 504 and 508 of the Rehabilitation Act (1973 and 1998) eliminated discrimination based on disability in federally funded programs. This includes the built and technological environments.
- The Americans with Disabilities Act (1990) eliminated discrimination based on disability for state and local programs. However, this primarily focused on the built environment (doorways, ramps). There was not an established standard for web content.
- In response to a lawsuit, Penn State passed AD-69 (2011), which required equal access including tech, web pages, services, and resources.
However, there were holes in these guidelines. The most recent Department of Justice (DoJ) ruling in April 2024 establishes the requirement that state and local programs make their web and mobile applications accessible to individuals with disabilities. It also provides an opportunity to address barriers that remain in web and mobile app content.
Department of Justice (DoJ) Rule
The DoJ rule states that we must:
- Adopt the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Version 2.1, Level AA: specific requirements about how to ensure that web content and mobile applications (apps) are accessible to people with disabilities.
- Comply with the technical standard by April 24, 2026.
Content Affected
- Web Content (text, images, sound, videos, documents)
- Electronic Documents (Portable document formats (PDF), word processor, presentations, spreadsheets)
Exceptions
In limited situations, some kinds of web and mobile app content may not have to meet the technical standard:
- Archived web content (historical)
- Pre-existing conventional electronic documents (do not have to remove, but they can not be used in access or participation in programs)
- Third party content (does not relate to contractual relationships with third parties like publishers or technology tools)
- Individualized password-protected documents
- Preexisting social media posts (prior to April 24, 2026)