ADA Title II Goes Digital: What Public Entities Need to Know

ADA Title II requires all public entities at the state and local level to ensure their websites, apps, and livestreams meet WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility standards by the April 2026 and April 2027 deadlines.

In April 2024, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Title II web accessibility rule was finalized by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), providing all state and local public entities with enforceable accessibility standards for their digital services.

Title II compliance is directly tied to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA, with deadlines set for April 2026 and April 2027. For public entities, this means websites, mobile apps, livestreams, and digital archives must meet the accessibility requirements in a measurable way. 

In this article, we’ll break down what has changed, who is required to comply with Title II, what WCAG 2.1 AA means in practice, and how you can prepare to meet these requirements.

Key Takeaways

• ADA Title II now includes clear digital accessibility requirements tied to WCAG 2.1 Level AA for websites, apps, livestreams, and digital archives.
• Large public entities, serving a population of 50,000+ people, must comply by April 2026. Smaller entities, serving a population of fewer than 50,000 people, must comply by April 2027.
• Accessibility requirements include captions, transcripts, audio description, keyboard accessibility, and color contrast standards.
• Limited exceptions apply to archived content, certain third-party posts, secured/individualized documents, and old social media posts.
• Public entities remain responsible for third-party content, ensuring vendors, contractors, and embedded content and tools meet accessibility requirements.
• Non-compliance with Title II may lead to DOJ enforcement actions, lawsuits, and potential funding risks.

What Is ADA Title II?

Title II of the ADA prohibits disability discrimination by all state and local governments and public entities. 

This ensures equal access to programs and services that are delivered physically or digitally across a number of areas, including public education, public transport, health care, social services, voting, and emergency communications. 

Title II covers only public entities at state and local levels, with Title III covering private businesses, and Section 504 covering federally funded programs.

What Changed Under ADA Title II? 

The ADA Title II has always prohibited discrimination by public entities at state and local levels, however digital accessibility obligations were less defined, creating uncertainty for agencies. 

The new Title II regulations removes ambiguity by: 

• Requiring compliance with WCAG 2.1 Level AA for all public-facing web content and mobile apps. 
• Establishing firm deadlines based on population size: 
  • April 24, 2026: Public entities serving 50,000+ people. 
  • April 26, 2027: Public entities serving fewer than 50,000 people, plus special district governments. 
• Clarifying scope of the rules to apply to digital content “provided or made available” by an entity, even if a contractor or vendor is responsible for delivery. 
• Allowing only limited exceptions, such as archived content, third-party posts, or individualized documents. 

If you are a state or local public entity in the U.S., you will soon be expected to demonstrate WCAG 2.1 AA compliance across your digital ecosystem.

Who Must Comply?

The rule applies broadly to: 

• State governments 
• Local governments (counties, cities, towns) 
• State/Local departments & agencies (police departments, courts, licensing offices, social services) 
• Public education (public schools, community colleges, public universities)
• Public transport (bus systems, subways, any government-run transit)
• Special districts (water, park services, other government-created districts)

This rule includes public-facing websites, mobile apps, online forms, council meeting livestreams, education portals, and other digital tools that deliver programs and services. 

If your entity provides information digitally, whether directly or through contractors, you must comply with Title II.

Core Compliance Requirements

Meeting accessibility requirements can be complex, but understanding the core requirements ensures agencies can meet their obligations and provide accessible content to their audiences.

WCAG 2.1 AA Standards

WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) is a global accessibility standard developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). The DOJ has now anchored ADA Title II obligations to this framework. 

Level AA builds on Level A, meaning both sets of criteria must be met for compliance. Here’s what matters most for multimedia:

Captions

• Prerecorded video must have accurate, synchronized captions (Level A). 
• Live video (e.g. council meetings, public hearings, livestreams) must include real-time captions (Level AA).

Captions ensure all audiences, particularly individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing, can access and understand spoken content by providing synchronized on-screen text for dialogue and key audio information. 

Public entities can use AI-powered captioning solutions, like LEXI ASR automated captioning, to meet these accessibility standards and compliance obligations at scale.

Transcripts

• Audio-only content (e.g. podcasts, recorded speeches, announcements) must have accompanying text transcripts (Level A). 

Transcripts support accessibility for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing by providing a text-based alternative to audio content. They can also improve content searchability, making information indexable and easier to find. 

Public entities can use solutions, such as AI-Media’s transcription services, to streamline transcript creation.

Audio Description

• Prerecorded video must include audio description when visual content conveys meaning not spoken in the main track (Level AA). 
  • Example: A training video showing steps on screen without verbal explanation must add audio description.

Audio description (AD) is one of the most significant new accessibility requirements for agencies. This requires visual information in video content to be communicated through a spoken description, ensuring individuals who are blind or have low vision can understand what is happening on screen. 

Public entities can use solutions, like AI-Media’s LEXI AD, to generate natural-sounding narration quickly, at scale, and cost-effectively.

Together, these requirements ensure that content is easily accessible for people who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind, or have low vision.

Exceptions & Limitations

To help reduce the burden of compliance, the DOJ has established five exceptions. This means that web content covered by these exemptions won’t need to immediately comply with Title II requirements by the applicable deadline.

These exceptions include:

• Archived web content: Covers content that was created before the compliance deadline, that is kept for reference, research, or recordkeeping, and has not been updated after archiving. 
  • Includes old web pages, digitized paper documents, or other physical media content that has been clearly marked as archived.
• Pre-existing conventional electronic documents: Covers conventional files that were created before the compliance deadline, unless they are actively used to apply for, gain access to, or participate in public services or programs.
  • Includes PDFs, Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, and PowerPoint documents.
• Content posted by a third party: Covers content posted by an external party unless it is specifically managed through a contract, license, or other arrangement.
• Secured or individualized electronic documents: Covers documents that contain information about a specific individual, their property, or account, and are password-protected or otherwise secured.
• Pre-existing social media posts: Covers social media content created before the compliance deadline that is not actively updated or maintained.

Even if content falls under one of these exceptions, public entities should still ensure information is clear and effectively communicated for all audiences to understand.

Why This Matters for Public Entities

Accessibility directly impacts your community’s ability to participate fully in public life, but it also helps public entities with: 

• Equity & inclusion: Residents rely on captions and descriptions for equal access to government services. 
• Legal risk: Once deadlines arrive, non-compliance could expose agencies to lawsuits or DOJ enforcement actions. 
• Public trust: Providing accessible digital services signals commitment to all citizens.
• Efficiency: Accessible content benefits everyone – captions help in noisy environments, transcripts support searchability, and audio descriptions improve clarity.

The Compliance Challenge

While the rule is clear, implementation can be daunting. Many public entities face: 

• High costs of human captioners and describers for every meeting or recording. 
• Complex logistics of coordinating accessibility across multiple departments, vendors, and platforms. 
• Large volumes of existing content requiring retroactive captioning and description.
• Limited expertise from staff to manage technical accessibility workflows.

Traditional approaches, such as staffing human captioners or outsourcing audio description, can quickly become financially unsustainable. Government budgets demand predictable, scalable solutions that can handle both live meetings and large video archives without overwhelming costs.

Getting Started: A Practical Checklist 

Here are five steps you can take now to prepare: 

1. Confirm your deadline: April 2026 (≥50k) or April 2027 (<50k/special district). 
2. Create an inventory of digital content: List out all live streams, recorded videos, podcasts, and apps. 
3. Audit current accessibility: Do your videos have captions? Are transcripts available? Is any AD in place? 
4. Prioritize high-impact content: Focus first on meetings, emergency updates, and widely accessed information. 
5. Explore scalable solutions: AI-driven tools now make captions and AD affordable and practical at scale. 

For the full 10-point version, download the checklist below.

How AI-Media Can Help 

At AI-Media, we specialize in AI-powered accessibility solutions designed to make compliance simple: 

• LEXI Text: Provides automated captions for live and prerecorded content. Delivers low latency, high accuracy, speaker identification, and non-speech cues. Plus, it creates transcripts for your content. 
• LEXI AD: Delivers breakthrough automated audio description. Produces natural-sounding narration at scale, making it the only cost-effective way to meet new AD requirements across large video libraries. 
• End-to-end infrastructure: Our Alta encoders and iCap Network deliver captions and AD seamlessly across platforms. 

With AI-Media, compliance doesn’t have to mean complexity.

Looking Ahead: The Countdown to 2026 

The countdown has begun to the first ADA Title II deadline – but you don’t have to tackle compliance alone. AI-Media is here to help public entities prepare with practical, cost-effective solutions. 

The countdown has begun. Will your agency be ready?

Next Step: Download the ADA Compliance Checklist 

We’ve created a free 10-point ADA Title II Compliance Checklist to help you get started. It outlines exactly what you need to do to prepare for the April 2026 and April 2027 deadlines, with practical steps for captions, transcripts, and audio description. 

• Download the ADA Compliance Checklist: Get our free 10-point guide to ADA Title II readiness.

[ Download the Checklist ]

Book a Consultation

• Book a Consultation: Talk with an AI-Media expert about how your agency can prepare for compliance with captions and audio description at scale.

[ Book a Consultation ]

• Visit the ADA Title II Hub: Explore deadlines, FAQs, and practical solutions all in one place.

[ Explore the Hub ]

Further Reading & Official Resources 

• DOJ Final Rule in the Federal Register (April 24, 2024) – full regulatory text 
• ADA.gov Fact Sheet: Web & Mobile Accessibility Under Title II – plain-language summary from DOJ 
• DOJ Announcement: Final Rule to Strengthen Web & Mobile App Access – Department of Justice press release 
• Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1  – World Wide Web Consortium Recommendation; 6 May 2025

Please note that the content on this page (and all linked and related content) represents our interpretation of the DOJ Ruling only. We strongly advise you reach out to your legal experts for clarification and confirmation of requirements.

FAQs

What is the difference between ADA Title II compliance and general web accessibility best practices?

ADA Title II compliance is a legal requirement for public entities, ensuring their digital content is accessible and meets WCAG 2.1 Level AA standards. General web accessibility best practices do not replace legal compliance, and are instead voluntary enhancements that improve usability and inclusivity.

How does ADA Title II apply to third-party platforms and embedded content?

Public entities are responsible for ensuring the accessibility of any third-party tools, apps, or embedded content used. Agencies can ensure vendors meet WCAG requirements contracts, accessibility statements, or other documentation demonstrating compliance.

Do public entities need to make internal staff-only digital systems accessible under ADA Title II?

If the internal digital systems are used by a public entity to create or deliver public services, then the systems must be made accessible under ADA Title II. However, systems used for purely internal administrative purposes and are not connected to public services may fall outside the scope of Title II.