Guide
ADA Title II web rule: a guide for WordPress sites
In April 2024 the US Department of Justice published a rule requiring state and local governments to make their websites and mobile apps meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA. In April 2026 it moved the compliance dates back by a year. If you run or build WordPress sites for a city, county, school district, public university or other public entity, here is what that means. This is general information, not legal advice.
Updated September 28, 2026. General information, not legal advice.
Who it applies to and when
The technical standard did not change with the new dates: web content and mobile apps must meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA. The Department of Justice has said it may propose further changes, so check the Federal Register for updates.
- Public entities serving a population of 50,000 or more: by 26 April 2027.
- Public entities serving fewer than 50,000 people, and special district governments: by 26 April 2028.
What it means for a WordPress site
Everything the public uses to get services is in scope: pages, news posts, forms, event calendars, payment and permit portals, and documents such as PDFs. The rule includes limited exceptions — for example for some archived content and some pre-existing documents — but the exceptions are narrow and have conditions, so review them carefully before relying on one.
Content added by third parties through your site, embedded maps and videos, and plugins you install are part of the experience too. Vendor promises are not a substitute for testing what actually appears on your pages.
A practical plan
- Inventory the site: templates, key pages, forms, documents and third-party embeds.
- Scan all content and fix the common, high-volume problems first: alt text, headings, link text, form labels and contrast.
- Test the templates and key journeys with a keyboard and a screen reader.
- Remediate or replace inaccessible PDFs, and publish new documents as accessible HTML where you can.
- Train content editors, and check new content before it is published so the site stays accessible.
- Document your work and publish an accessibility statement with a way to report barriers.
Where Lumtera helps
Lumtera checks content against WCAG 2.2 A and AA — which includes what WCAG 2.1 AA requires, apart from the retired 4.1.1 Parsing — while editors write, scans the whole site in one click, and checks the rendered page, theme and keyboard use included, one page at a time in review mode.
Its free accessibility statement can name WCAG 2.1 AA as the standard and has an ADA Title II / Section 504 template. ADA Title II exception tags let you record which exception you believe applies to a post or file, with a note; tagged items stay in every total and report, marked "Exception claimed", because a tag is a record of your reasoning, not a verdict.
Lumtera Pro adds scheduled checks of key pages and templates, PDF checks, alerts when new errors are published, fix tracking, a tamper-evident evidence log and reports you can share with leadership or procurement, including a VPAT 2.5 conformance report.
Automated checks find a meaningful share of issues, not all of them. Plan for manual testing, and for an expert audit of your most important services.
Questions
Does WCAG 2.2 meet the Title II requirement?
The rule requires WCAG 2.1 Level AA. WCAG 2.2 AA includes all of the 2.1 AA criteria except 4.1.1 Parsing, which W3C retired, so meeting 2.2 AA puts you in a strong position.
Does the rule apply to private businesses?
No — Title II covers state and local governments. Private businesses are covered by Title III, where there is no specific web regulation but courts regularly apply the ADA to websites.
Are PDFs included?
Documents the public uses are generally in scope, with exceptions for some pre-existing documents. Check the rule's exceptions and their conditions.
Sources
Find these issues on your own site
Lumtera checks every post, page and product against 69 WCAG 2.2 checks while you write, checks the rendered page in review mode, keyboard included, and scans the whole site in one click. Free, with no account.
Lumtera features that help
-
Free
ADA Title II exception tags
Record which ADA Title II exception you believe applies to a post or file, with your reasoning. Tagged items stay in every total, marked "Exception claimed".
-
Pro
PDF accessibility checks
Check the PDFs in your Media Library for tags, title, language, scanned pages, bookmarks and restrictive encryption.
-
Pro
Accessibility Conformance Report (VPAT 2.5)
A WCAG 2.2 A and AA conformance report in the VPAT 2.5 layout, filled in from your checks, manual tests and test sessions, ready to review and export.
Start with the free plugin today
All 69 content checks and 33 whole-page checks, fixes you approve with undo, and the site report — free, with no account and no page limits.