What changed in 2024
The 2024 DOJ rule codified WCAG 2.1 Level AA as the technical standard. The underlying ADA Title II nondiscrimination obligation was already in place; what changed was the precision of the requirement.
Before the 2024 rule
ADA Title II prohibited disability-based discrimination by state and local government entities from the statute's effective date in 1992 (42 U.S.C. § 12131 et seq.). DOJ interpreted Title II's nondiscrimination obligation to require communications "as effective as" those provided to people without disabilities, including in digital contexts.
What was missing before April 2024 was a codified technical standard. The regulations did not say "WCAG 2.1 AA" or any other specific standard. DOJ enforced through settlement agreements, typically referencing WCAG 2.0 AA or WCAG 2.1 AA as the technical baseline the entity must meet. Courts in private litigation worked from the same statutory text without a codified standard to anchor to.
The practical result: every entity was bound by the same nondiscrimination obligation, but no single document told an entity what conformance looked like. WCAG was the de facto standard; it was not the regulatory standard.
What the 2024 rule added
The April 2024 final rule added Subpart H to 28 CFR Part 35, codifying the technical standard that was previously informal. The rule did three substantive things:
- Identified WCAG 2.1 Level AA as the regulatory technical standard (28 CFR § 35.200).
- Set compliance deadlines based on population served: April 24, 2026 for entities serving 50,000 or more people; April 26, 2027 for smaller entities and all special districts (28 CFR § 35.200(b)).
- Defined narrow exceptions for archived web content (§ 35.201) and preexisting electronic documents (§ 35.202), and clarified the minor-nonconformance allowance (§ 35.203).
WCAG 2.1 AA as the technical standard
The choice of WCAG 2.1 Level AA reflects several considerations. WCAG is published by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and is the international standard for web accessibility. Versions of WCAG had been used in DOJ settlements since the early 2010s. Level AA is the conformance level recognized internationally as the appropriate target for legal mandates (Level A is insufficient; Level AAA is aspirational and includes criteria that cannot reasonably apply across all content types).
The rule did not adopt WCAG 2.2, despite WCAG 2.2 being available at the time of rulemaking. DOJ's preamble explains that 2.1 was chosen for stability and industry familiarity. The choice does not preclude future adoption of 2.2 or a later version; it does mean the current regulatory floor is 2.1.
What changed in practice
For entities that were already tracking WCAG 2.1 AA as the working standard (typical of larger entities with active accessibility programs), the 2024 rule largely codified existing practice. The deadline structure was new, but the substantive requirement was familiar.
For entities that had treated accessibility as an accommodation-on-request matter (typical of smaller entities, special districts, and many municipalities), the rule changed the operating model significantly. Accommodation-on-request is no longer a defensible compliance posture for covered digital content. Content has to meet WCAG 2.1 AA in its published form.
For vendors selling to public entities, the rule changed the market. Procurement standards now consistently reference WCAG 2.1 AA conformance. Vendor products that have not addressed accessibility face progressively fewer winning bids.
For private plaintiffs and OCR complainants, the rule made compliance posture easier to plead. A specific document or page that fails WCAG 2.1 AA is identifiable against a codified standard, where previously the analysis required arguing what the standard should be.
What did not change
Several things the 2024 rule did not do:
The underlying ADA nondiscrimination obligation
Title II's prohibition on disability-based discrimination by state and local entities continues to exist in statute (42 U.S.C. § 12131 et seq.) and continues to apply regardless of the 2024 rule. The rule is one way of operationalizing the obligation; the obligation predates and would survive any change to the rule.
Coverage of physical accommodations
The 2024 rule addresses web content and mobile apps. Physical-environment ADA requirements (built environment, programs, services delivered in person) are unchanged and are governed by other parts of 28 CFR Part 35 and by 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design.
Pre-rule settlements
DOJ settlement agreements entered into before the 2024 rule remain valid law-of-the-case for the entities involved. The rule does not supersede or modify those agreements.
Section 508 for federal agencies
Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, which covers federal agencies, is unchanged. The 2024 rule applies to state and local entities (Title II), not federal agencies. Federal agencies continue to operate under Section 508's harmonized accessibility standards.
State accessibility laws
State laws (Colorado HB21-1110, California Government Code §§ 11135 and 7405, others) continue to apply independently. The 2024 federal rule did not preempt or displace state-level accessibility obligations.