The new rule on accessibility: Not as hard as you think!

This year, there is a new rule from the Department of Justice on the accessibility of web content and mobile apps provided by state and local governments, including elections offices. The rule sets the deadlines for compliance, clarifies the scope, and explains some exceptions to meeting federal guidelines.  

What you need to know:

  • The rule requires meeting the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1, Level AA.
  • The deadline is April 24, 2026 (April 2027, for any jurisdiction with fewer than 50,000 people). 
  • If it’s online, it’s probably included: web pages, online services, all kinds of forms, election results data, and video or other media. 

The goal of the rule

Web accessibility guidelines help ensure that everyone can use online resources, no matter how they access the web. People with different disabilities have different needs, so your website and apps have to adapt to different styles of interaction, just like they adapt to different screen sizes.

Much of accessibility work happens in code – behind the scenes. This is especially true for people like Jacob. When people talk about web accessibility, their first impression is often someone like Jacob. He’s a paralegal, blind since birth, and a skilled technology user who says, “The right technology lets me do anything.” He uses his laptop or a Braille device and audio to read a web page. 

Jacob – and other screen reader users – rely on websites being built to work with their technology. But people with other disabilities rely on different kinds of assistive technology or features built into websites. 

Illustration of a smiling man wearing sunglasses and a headset, sitting at a desk and using a computer, with one hand on the keyboard and the other touching his earpiece.

For some people, seeing the words on the screen can be hard because the text is too small, doesn’t stand out from the background, or has too-tight line spacing. Even sharp eyes can struggle in poorly lit spaces. Additionally, people with cognitive or attention disabilities often prefer to focus without distractions. 

About the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)

The WCAG is published by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the international organization behind most of the web standards. The federal government adopted WCAG as part of the ADA and Section 508 standards. WCAG is also included in the VVSG 2.0 voting system guidelines. 

The WCAG guidelines are not new. WCAG 2.0 was adopted in December 2008. WCAG 2.1 is an incremental update, approved in May 2025. The updates focused on people with cognitive or learning disabilities, low vision, and mobile devices. 

The first principle in WCAG – that information should be perceivable – includes guidelines for how information is presented. These guidelines are important because, for almost everyone, if information or a feature looks hard, it is also harder to understand or more frustrating than it needs to be. The guidelines include features that are easy to check:

  • Test size and contrast
  • Controls and form fields
  • Written descriptions that provide alternatives to visual content, such as image descriptions or captions for video

An important point is that web designers and developers have been working with these guidelines for many years. If you look at newer websites for elections, government, and commercial use, you will see the results of following the WCAG guidelines.

Exceptions to the rule

There are two exceptions that are important for elections offices: archived web content and conventional electronic documents. Both are situations in which new materials must be accessible going forward, but existing materials get special consideration.

Archived web content. The rule does not require you to remove or fix archived material that is not already accessible. 

Examples include records from past elections, board meetings, press releases, or other official records.  To be covered by this exception, the information has to meet 4 tests. It must:

  • Already exist, and have been created before April 24
  • Be used for reference, research, or recordkeeping
  • Be kept in a clearly identified area for archival content 
  • Not been changed since it was archived. 

However, if someone requests a specific archived document, you must make that document accessible in a timely way. 

Tips:

  • Label archived material clearly. The page title or heading within a page might say “Past Elections,” or “Past Meeting Notes,” or “Sample Ballot Archive.”
  • Check your web logs to see whether archived pages receive regular traffic. Make those pages or files accessible now, instead of waiting for a request. 

Electronic documents. Like archived material, you do not have to immediately fix conventional electronic documents. This applies to any word processing, presentation, PDF or spreadsheet files already on your website. 

However:

  • It does not apply to documents in current, active use
  • Any new documents must be made accessible 

Forms of all kinds must be accessible, whether in web format, PDF fillable forms, or any other format. 

Governments may use one version as an accessible alternative only when a technical or legal limitation prevents inaccessible web content or mobile apps from being made accessible. When there are multiple versions, it’s helpful to show them side by side so voters with disabilities can find the option that works best for them. 

Meeting deadlines.  Ideally, everything you publish after April 24 is accessible from the first day. Situations in elections where statutory deadlines or the need to post information immediately can be challenging. If you have to post something that is not accessible, have a plan to quickly update it with an accessible version. Here are a few tips that can help you meet that goal:

  • Set up accessible templates in your word-processing program, so the basic document is ready for you to add content.
  • Write a plan that prepares you to move quickly. Include target turnaround times.
  • If you cannot make the source file accessible, have a plan for providing an alternative version that you can post in the same place or attach to the main document.

Accessibility statements

An accessibility statement is an important tool for communicating to users what you know about the accessibility of your site.  

They will be used most often when someone has a problem, so make it easy to find by putting links in the site footer or help menu. They should also be written in plain language, not as a legal document. 

An accessibility statement includes:

  • Your commitment to accessibility for people with disabilities
  • Measures you are taking to ensure accessibility
  • The standard you are applying (such as WCAG 2.1 Level AA) 
  • Any known limitations, browsers the site supports, or other technical details
  • Any special cases, like board or committee materials, and how you make them accessible
  • How to contact you or report a problem, including phone, email, and postal address
  • How quickly you respond, for example, within a number of business days 

As your work to meet the new Rule is in progress, you can also use the accessibility statement to share your plans and report on progress towards the goal

Learn more about the rule and accessibility 

Information about the rule from the federal ADA.gov site

Information about WCAG and people with disabilities

Tools 

Accessibility checkers 

There are a number of free and commercial tools available that can help you check all the pages on your website for accessibility. They are useful as a first step in evaluating how well your site complies with requirements that can be checked automatically. You will also need to do a “manual review” of your pages for those that cannot.

To identify an accessibility checker, start with your IT department. Ask if they already have a service that includes accessibility. Some of them also provide suggestions for fixing any problems they find.