Working to Keep You Informed

April 10, 2026
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As many Civic Clarity clients understand, the DOJ has mandated that your website be considered ADA accessible using under  28CFR Part 35 ruling, using WCAG 2.1 Level AA guidelines.  We are partnering with you to make sure that your website passes these guidelines before the 4/26/2027 deadline.  There is one aspect of the WCAG guidelines that we can not fix, and that is your documents.  But we can try to help.

We are currently beta testing an ADA checker for PDFs that will let you know if your document conforms to ADA accessibility standards.  We plan to roll this out in late April after testing is completed.  It will not fix your documents but it will give you valuable information on if your documents need fixing.

While you wait, we have just learned from a client (thank you Elk Township!) that the DOJ has requested as-yet-unpublished changes to their 28 CFR Part 35 ruling to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.  We absolutely are moving forward with the concept that original ruling will be enforced and all our communication with you will be about how to fix your documents and our plan to move historical non-accessible documents before your 4/26/2027 deadline.  We are sharing the below information so that you are up to date on the current state of the mandate.

Seeking Regulatory Relief on ADA Web Accessibility Rules

The Department of Justice (DOJ) is considering changes to its 2024 rule that requires state and local governments (including cities, counties, and schools) to make their websites and mobile apps accessible to people with disabilities (28 CFR Part 35, Subpart H).

  • On February 13, 2026, the DOJ sent a revised version of this rule to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) labeled as an Interim Final Rule (IFR), RIN 1190-AA82.
  • An IFR is a faster-track tool. It allows the government to make changes with little or no public comment period beforehand (unlike the normal slow process). The actual proposed changes have not been made public by DOJ or OIRA.
  • As of April 8, 2026, the IFR is still under OIRA review and has not been published in the Federal Register. No one outside the government knows the exact wording or details.

From public meetings and advocacy by cities and counties, the hoped-for changes would likely focus on reducing the burden on local governments, such as:

  • Extending or staggering compliance deadlines (especially the April 24, 2026 deadline for governments serving 50,000+ people).
  • Adding more exemptions for small towns or certain types of content.
  • Addressing the high costs of fixing websites and documents.

Important note on the mixed signals: An IFR could bring changes relatively quickly. However, the official Spring 2025 Unified Agenda (still current as of April 2026 and the OIRA/government’s formal statement of intent) says the DOJ “now plans” to use the slower, standard process, publishing a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM). This creates some inconsistency between the fast-track IFR submission and the published long-term plan. No updated agenda has been released yet to clarify which path DOJ will actually take.

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