September 10, 2024

Working Together to Comply With Accessibility Standards

The Department of Justice issued a Final Rule earlier this year on how the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) applies to publicly available digital content, including services, program information, and documents. They clarified that these digital assets and interactions need to conform with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), Version 2.1, Levels A and AA. This had been the interpretation previously, as outlined in Georgia’s Digital Accessibility Standards, but the requirements are now spelled out clearly.

DOJ Final Rule

Published in the Federal Register in April 24, 2024, state agencies have two years to comply. Read the rule in its entirety.

Read The Final Rule

WCAG 2.1 Level AA is a set of guidelines that make digital content easier to see, understand, and interact with for people with disabilities. This is the level that our state’s digital publishing platform meets.

While the rules went into effect on June 24, 2024, the deadline to meet these standards for published content is April 9, 2026 for all state and local governments. If a third-party vendor is involved in creating or maintaining digital content, they must be in compliance, too.

Let’s Get Compliant

  1. Learn the Basics: Take some time to understand how the ADA applies to websites and apps.
  2. Inventory Your Digital Properties: Make a list of all the websites, apps, and digital documents your organization maintains and audit them for compliance on a regular schedule. 
  3. Create an Accessibility Roadmap: Develop a plan to make your content accessible by identifying the issues that need attention from the accessibility audits and prioritize fixing them based on the greatest impact to the most users. For GovHub, we have an accessibility roadmap for our agency partners to stay abreast of how we keep the platform updated.
  4. Educate Your Team: Provide access to training on why accessibility is important and the team effort that is required to stay in compliance. From coding to designing to writing, every step of making content available to the public requires awareness of accessibility standards and guidelines.
  5. Include Accessibility in Procurement: When working with vendors, make sure your contracts explicitly include accessibility standards.
  6. Plan for the Future: Build accessibility into your daily work to ensure you stay compliant. For digital content, that can mean guidelines in your editorial style guide to write in plain language or describe images in captions and alt text. 

Keep in Mind

  • Exceptions: There are a few exceptions to the new rules, such as archived web content and content posted by third parties.
  • Get Feedback from People with Disabilities: Involve people with disabilities in your efforts to make your digital content accessible. 
  • It's a Journey: Remember that accessibility is an ongoing process. Keep working to improve and make your digital content more inclusive. Consider monitoring tools such as the tool we use in the Georgia Analytics Program to help explain the issues, recommend solutions, and make the process efficient. 

All public organizations have a responsibility to ensure access to public services and information. By starting with some of these action items or reaching out to us or AccessGa for assistance, we can collectively create a more welcoming digital environment for Georgians.

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