DOJ Title II Web Rule (2024) + April 2026 IFR

Key dates (updated for April 2026 IFR)

What the IFR does NOT change

• Title II's nondiscrimination mandate — in full force today, no waiting
• DOJ's authority to investigate complaints during the extension
• Private plaintiffs' ability to sue under Title II right now
• The 28 C.F.R. § 35.201 exceptions (archived web content, preexisting electronic documents, third-party content not under contract, password-protected individualized documents, preexisting social media posts)
• The HHS Section 504 deadlines — those are not extended (May 11, 2026 / May 10, 2027)

Self-evaluation and transition plans: the process behind the deadline

April 26, 2027 and April 26, 2028 are conformance deadlines, not the entire compliance process. Title II has long required covered entities to maintain a self-evaluation of their programs, services, and policies against the nondiscrimination mandate, and — for larger entities — a transition plan describing how identified gaps will be closed. The 2024 web rule extends that same discipline to web content and mobile apps.

1. Self-evaluation. Inventory every web page, mobile app, and third-party tool or platform used to deliver services — payment portals, scheduling systems, embedded forms — then test each against the 50 WCAG 2.1 AA success criteria (30 Level A + 20 Level AA) to identify gaps.
2. Transition plan. Entities with 50 or more employees must document the specific steps and schedule for closing those gaps and make the plan available for public inspection — the same public-inspection requirement Title II has long applied to structural, physical-facility barriers, now extended to digital ones.
3. Ongoing maintenance. Because the rule requires standing WCAG 2.1 AA conformance rather than a one-time fix, both documents work best as living records — revisited as new content ships and third-party vendor contracts renew.

None of this creates a compliance date separate from the deadlines above — it is the operational path most entities use to reach them. It is also the same kind of written, documented record Title II expects if an entity ever needs to invoke the undue-burden or fundamental-alteration defenses this rule preserves (see the FAQ below).

The five Title II exceptions (28 C.F.R. § 35.201)

1. Archived web content — clearly identified, not updated, kept solely for reference/research/recordkeeping
2. Preexisting conventional electronic documents — PDFs/Word documents posted before the compliance date, unless still used to provide services
3. Third-party content not posted by the entity or under contract/license with the entity (e.g., public comments on social media)
4. Password-protected individualized documents — prepared for specific individuals, secured, not public
5. Preexisting social media posts

Enforcement and penalties

DOJ enforces through complaint investigations, compliance reviews, pattern-or-practice lawsuits, and intervention in private suits. Remedies under Title II include injunctive relief, compensatory damages (no cap), attorneys' fees, and potential loss of federal funding. Punitive damages are not available against government entities.

What the public comment period actually means

The IFR's comment period, open through June 22, 2026, sometimes gets misread as meaning the new deadlines aren't final or binding yet. They are. DOJ issued this as an Interim Final Rule — a rule that takes effect immediately upon publication rather than waiting for comments to close first. That is why April 26, 2027 and April 26, 2028 became the operative deadlines the moment the IFR published on April 20, 2026, not conditional dates pending the comment window.

What the comment period does is give the public, disability advocates, and covered entities a formal channel to weigh in before DOJ finalizes its position on the extension — DOJ could revise the rule, leave it as published, or adjust it further in response to what it receives. DOJ has already signaled its intent by stating it “fully anticipates implementing the regulation at the new deadline,” which is not the posture of an agency planning to walk the extension back.

Practical takeaway: submitting or reading public comments is a way to participate in shaping any future adjustment — it is not a reason to pause remediation work. Entities that wait for the comment period to close before starting are gambling on a reversal DOJ has given no indication it intends to make.

How this rule interacts with Section 508 and state law

Title II's 2024 web rule does not operate alone for most government entities. Two other layers commonly apply at the same time:

• Section 508applies directly only to federal agencies, federal contractors, and — as a funding condition — some federal grant recipients, not to state and local governments as such. Its technical standard, WCAG 2.0 Level AA, is one version behind Title II's WCAG 2.1 AA. A state agency that also receives federal funding conditioned on Section 508-equivalent accessibility may need to satisfy both standards; meeting WCAG 2.1 AA for Title II covers WCAG 2.0 AA as well, since WCAG 2.1 was built to be backward compatible with 2.0's success criteria. See the full Section 508 vs. ADA comparison.
• State-level IT accessibility statutescan predate — and are not tied to — DOJ's federal deadlines. Illinois's Information Technology Accessibility Act and Texas Government Code Chapter 2054's web accessibility requirements for state agencies have applied since 2007 and 2006 respectively, years before the 2024 Title II rule existed. The April 2026 IFR extends only the federal Title II conformance dates — it has no effect on a state statute's independent compliance timeline. A state agency covered by both should not assume the federal extension buys it more time under its own state law. See state accessibility laws for more on state-level requirements.

The practical result for most state and local government IT teams: target WCAG 2.1 Level AA as the floor. It satisfies Title II, exceeds Section 508's WCAG 2.0 AA baseline, and generally satisfies state IT accessibility statutes that reference WCAG or Section 508 as their benchmark.

FAQ

When does the DOJ Title II web rule take effect?

The DOJ's 2024 final rule (89 Fed. Reg. 31320) was published April 24, 2024 and became effective June 24, 2024. The April 20, 2026 Interim Final Rule (91 Fed. Reg. 20902; AG Order No. 6742-2026) extended the compliance dates by one year. New deadlines: April 26, 2027 for entities serving 50,000+ population; April 26, 2028 for smaller entities and special district governments.

Why did DOJ extend the Title II web compliance dates?

DOJ stated in the April 2026 IFR that it "overestimated the capabilities (whether staffing or technology) of covered entities" to comply in the original time frames. The agency also reclassified special district governments to the smaller-entity tier. Public comment on the IFR runs through June 22, 2026.

What does the IFR NOT change?

The IFR extends only the WCAG 2.1 AA technical-conformance deadlines. It does not change: (1) Title II's underlying nondiscrimination mandate, which remains in full force today; (2) DOJ's authority to investigate complaints in the interim; (3) private plaintiffs' ability to sue under Title II for inaccessible content; (4) the 28 C.F.R. § 35.201 exceptions; (5) the April 24, 2024 publication or June 24, 2024 effective date.

What technical standard does the rule mandate?

WCAG 2.1 Level AA — 50 success criteria (30 Level A + 20 Level AA) organized under the four POUR principles. This is codified at 28 C.F.R. § 35.200. The rule preserves the existing Title II undue-burden and fundamental-alteration defenses, requiring written, documented findings to invoke them.

Did HHS also extend its Section 504 web/mobile deadlines?

No. HHS has NOT matched the DOJ Title II extension. Section 504 deadlines remain: May 11, 2026 for HHS funding recipients with 15+ employees, and May 10, 2027 for those with fewer than 15.