Accessibility in Georgia: Collaborating for Compliance

At GOVTalks: June 2026, DSGa shared an overview of the state of digital accessibility in Georgia. Through sharing details about the deadline and the work that has been done with the accessibility compliance working group, the core message was clear: digital inclusion is about people, habits, and community.

Led by Mary Liebowitz, Lead Content Strategist, Hadi Rezaei, Web Accessibility Coordinator, and Ericca Rowe, Outreach Coordinator, the presentation mapped out where Georgia stands today, what digital barriers look like in real life, and action items that agencies can adopt to build deep, sustainable accessibility workflows. 

DOJ Title II Update

On April 24, 2024, the Department of Justice (DOJ) published updated regulations for Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This long-awaited update provides explicit technical clarity for state and local government entities, in an effort to ensure that every constituent has independent, equal access to digital information.

Updated Compliance Deadline

While initial deadlines were set for two to three years following the rule’s publication, an Interim Final Rule recently extended the timeline by one year. All state  agencies must meet compliance by April 2027.

However, as Mary emphasized during the talk, these compliance dates shouldn’t be treated as arbitrary finish lines. Constituents face digital barriers today, meaning agencies should actively use this time to dismantle their toughest accessibility challenges rather than delaying action.

Facing An Inaccessible Experience

To better understand why accessibility compliance matters, Hadi shared his perspective on navigating government websites as a blind user relying on screen-reading technology.

“I don’t just look for these digital barriers in my day job; I live them. Just like every single person, I expect to go online and handle my business privately, independently, and on my own time. But when a website isn’t built accessibly, that independence vanishes.”

Hadi highlighted two common developmental oversights that instantly break a user’s digital autonomy:

• Unlinked Form Labels: when filling out a paper form your eyes instantly link a label, like First Name, to its corresponding input box. On a website, that connection must be explicitly built into the code. When it is omitted, a screen reader lacks the context to read the field accurately and may associate a label with the incorrect input box.
• Silent Submits: imagine submitting a form to a clerk, only for them to slide it back across the desk without saying a word. Inaccessible web interfaces replicate this behavior through silent submits. A user clicks the submit button and the page updates visually, but there is no clear message passed to the screen reader. The user is left wondering if their request went through successfully or not.

Forced Dependence: The Hidden Cost

When websites do not provide an accessible experience, users are forced to rely on friends or family. This comes with three profound costs:

• Loss of Privacy: dictating sensitive details like Social Security numbers, medical histories, or private income levels out loud.
• Loss of Time: relying entirely on someone else’s availability rather than handling matters on their own schedule.
• Loss of Choice: true independence isn’t about never asking for help; it is about having the freedom to choose when you do.

Proactive Habits

The work toward accessibility compliance is not done once all of the boxes are checked. Ericca shared how to build deep, sustainable habits within your agency to support accessibility compliance. It involves focusing on three areas: process, content, and people.

Process

Establish clear, repeatable processes where accessibility checks happen before anything goes live. This could include implementing a checklist to verify common accessibility violations are avoided, like heading levels not being in the correct order or inaccurately describing links.

Content

Developing accessible content from day one relies on sticking to the fundamentals of accessibility:

• Perceivable - can users take in the information? Use descriptive alt text for images and text that stands out clearly against the background so that it is easy to read.
• Operable - can they move through a web page? Use the correct heading level order to create an outline for users relying on screen readers.
• Understandable - is it clear and predictable? Write in plain language and use bullet points for complex ideas. 
• Robust - does the information hold up when copied or moved? Clear formatting from text copied directly over from Microsoft Word or Google Docs so that hidden formatting will not make the content appear broken.

People

We need to ensure that everyone who touches our websites—whether they manage an entire portal or just update occasional calendar events—understands Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and accessibility best practices. A few ideas to achieve this are:

• If someone is just making occasional website updates, make sure they understand the accessibility standards and guidelines that are relevant to their work. 
• Create templates that content managers can start from that contain heading levels in the correct order and already have accessibility standards in place.
• Share your experience - explain how you found a resource that was helpful in understanding an accessibility concept or share a tool that you used to work through an accessibility violation. 

It’s about building a shared culture of inclusivity. By continuing our work and developing processes to maintain the accessibility efforts that have been put into place, we can ensure that when the deadline comes next spring it will be a victory lap, not a frantic scramble.

Community Driven Compliance

We partnered with Civic Roundtable to create a collaborative space where agencies can bring their questions, share working solutions, and work together toward a common goal. We’ve built an accessibility working group made up of over 80 members across 27 Georgia state agencies to create a supportive, judgment-free space where peers are actively lifting each other up.

If one agency untangles a complex form layout, they share that solution with the group so another agency doesn't have to reinvent the wheel. We are truly leaning on each other to address challenges and learn about opportunities that can help state government meet the needs of all Georgians.

Related to: 

• Accessibility
• GOVTalks