Web Accessibility, Resident Trust, and ADA Title II: Practical Considerations for Local Governments
By April 2026, the Department of Justice will require all local governments with a population of 50,000 or more to meet specific accessibility requirements under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for their websites and mobile apps. Requirements for smaller administrations are forthcoming in 2027. However, recent research shows a wide divide between what the law requires and what administrations are currently doing — or even understand.
AudioEye, a leading digital accessibility solution, analyzed nearly 800 government websites across the country and found quite a few gaps and opportunities for improvement. Their analysis reflects a broader industry challenge faced by governments of all sizes, regardless of web platform or service provider. Additionally, research by CivicPlus® and CivicPulse found that most officials don’t understand how to prepare to meet the new rules. They may face barriers such as a lack of budget, time, and expertise which can result in not only web accessibility compliance risks, but a loss of resident trust if people with disabilities — more than one in four U.S. adults according to CDC — cannot participate in local government. Accessibility isn’t just a mandate — it has real consequences in people’s lives. That’s why it is so crucial to know what web accessibility means in practice.
Understanding What Web Accessibility Means for Local Governments
For leaders getting up to speed on accessibility, it’s crucial to conduct a holistic evaluation of your current digital platforms to fully understand how they stack up to some of the more granular Title II ADA requirements. For example, the mandate requires websites to be navigable with a keyboard for residents who may not have the dexterity to operate a mouse, but more than 50% of testable elements on any given government webpage that AudioEye tested (such as forms, navigation menus and search fields) do not meet this requirement.
It’s vitally important to survey your residents on accessibility and understand their needs, then conduct user testing on potential solutions. For example, those that are blind or vision impaired need meaningful text alternatives for images, text descriptions for all non-text content including web forms and individual fields, and text describing links for easier navigation with screen readers.
Harness Partnerships, Diverse Solutions for Better Accessibility and Compliance Peace of Mind
Web accessibility is multi-faceted; it is likely your team will need to address multiple ADA digital accessibility requirements ranging from keyboard navigation to alt text, PDF readability, and more. It is also important to consider how you’ll continuously monitor and address new ADA needs as they arise. Luckily, you don’t need to reinvent the wheel. Consider consulting a regional ADA hub — there are 10 hubs across the nation dedicated to helping organizations comply with the ADA, with one even offering easy-to-follow online accessibility courses.
When redoing or refreshing your municipal website, make sure to work with vendors that prioritize web accessibility and understand how to seamlessly integrate purpose-built accessibility solutions that meet your specific needs. The best solutions offer comprehensive approaches that offer a balance of automation and expert human testers to ensure lasting accessibility. Once you establish partnerships that work best for you, consider layering in purpose-built tools that can help you monitor, identify and repair accessibility issues, from making PDFs accessible to the use of assistive technology.
Accessibility Knowledge is Power
Remember, the key to closing the digital accessibility gap lies in a combined approach of people and technology. Equip everyone on your team with the tools and resources to be advocates, such as digital courses covering web accessibility, digital accessibility and compliance laws, and accessible coding.
Only by working together — with our teams, experts, residents, and other leaders — can we build government technology that truly works for everyone, regardless of ability, and no matter what the future brings.
Brenden Elwood is Vice President of Market Research at CivicPlus. He oversees the company’s resident and local government research and focuses on providing actionable insights and data to enhance resident and community engagement using accessible digital solutions. In addition, Brenden serves on the City Council of North Bend, Washington.
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