By Josie Rosene

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability. Title II of the ADA protects the rights of individuals with disabilities in accessing local government services. Under the law, city websites and mobile apps are considered part of those services.

The start date for compliance with the federal government’s 2024 rule change to the ADA depends on your city’s population. After the rule’s start dates, your city’s web content and mobile apps must comply with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1, Levels A and AA standards.

• For cities with a population of 50,000 or more, the compliance deadline is April 24, 2026.
• For cities with a population of 0 to 49,999 and special district governments, the compliance deadline is April 26, 2027.

So, does everything on city websites and mobile applications need to comply? In short, no. Cities can start by understanding what content they have, prioritizing the content that must comply, reviewing what may need to comply, and developing a plan to start implementing accessibility standards.

Start with an inventory

Creating an inventory can help cities identify what content and digital tools may fall under the new requirements. For example, cities can create an inventory that tracks:

• City website(s), including:
  • Number of webpages.
  • Types of web content (PDFs, Word files, videos, audio, images).
  • Who can post on the website, including members of the public.
• Social media and video platforms used, and types of content posted on these platforms.
• Other places where city content appears online.
• Mobile apps used by the city — whether in-house or vendor- operated.
• Content hosted or provided by third-party vendors. Minnesota IT.

Services (MNIT) has an Accessibility Inventory Workbook to help cities gather data, identify questions, and document plans for future changes. For more information, see the MNIT accessibility toolkit website at bit.ly/MNIT-accessibility-toolkit.

What content is exempt?

What content does not need to comply with the WCAG 2.1 AA standards?

The ADA Title II rule provides limited compliance exceptions for certain online content. Very broadly, the exceptions include:

• Archived web content.
• Preexisting conventional electronic documents.
• Password-protected content.
• Content posted by a third party.
• Preexisting social media posts.

Cities can find more details and criteria about the exceptions, including helpful examples, on the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) website at bit.ly/ADA-rule-change_2024. Cities are encouraged to consult with their vendors and city attorneys to determine whether content must comply.

Develop a plan to fix accessibility issues

Once a content inventory is complete, cities can plan how to address accessibility gaps to comply with the WCAG 2.1 AA standards. Not all issues can be fixed at once, so it is important to prioritize what to fix now and what can be fixed over time.

Cities should consider giving priority to content that:

• Enables people to perform key tasks such as applying for jobs, registering for programs, submitting forms, paying bills, or making purchases.
• Is frequently accessed or necessary for accessing essential government programs and services.
• Has been flagged as inaccessible by individuals with disabilities.
• Appears across multiple web pages, like navigation menus, search features, and footers.
• Is based on a template — fixing the template helps ensure broader compliance.

The DOJ provides guidance on how to prioritize content at bit.ly/DOJ-prioritizing-content. Additionally, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) outlines additional prioritization strategies at bit.ly/w3-prioritizing-accessibility.

Train staff, work with vendors

Some fixes may need to be handled by third-party vendors. Others can be addressed by trained city staff who understand basic web accessibility principles and how to make repairs. Once fixes have been made, they should be checked again to ensure accessibility issues were adequately addressed.

Josie Rosene is a staff attorney at the League of Minnesota Cities. Contact: [email protected] or (651) 281-1205.