United States
Americans with Disabilities Act (Titles II and III)
The Americans with Disabilities Act has applied to websites as a matter of case law for years. In April 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice adopted a final rule under Title II that, for the first time, explicitly names a technical standard: WCAG 2.1 Level AA.
At a glance
- ADA enacted 1990; web accessibility under Titles II and III has been litigated since the 1990s as a matter of case law.
- April 2024 — DOJ publishes the Title II final rule adopting WCAG 2.1 Level AA as the technical standard.
- Compliance dates stagger by population: entities with 50,000 or more people must comply by April 2026; smaller entities by April 2027.
- Title III (private sector public accommodations) does not have an equivalent final rule, but plaintiffs routinely cite WCAG 2.1 AA in litigation.
How TrustScans covers ADA Title II & III
- TrustScans reports tag every finding with its WCAG Success Criterion — the unit the DOJ rule references.
- Reports include the per-page, timestamped, screenshotted evidence required for a Title II compliance record.
- Scanning against WCAG 2.2 is a superset of 2.1, so coverage satisfies the DOJ rule while also flagging newer issues 2.1 alone would miss.
Primary citation
DOJ Final Rule: Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability; Accessibility of Web Information and Services of State and Local Government Entities (28 CFR §35.200, April 2024)
Read the sourcePlain-language overview (DOJ, ADA.gov)
TrustScans is not a law firm. This summary is a plain-language overview — consult counsel for legal advice.