States Work to Make Digital Services Accessible for All

People with disabilities regularly face accessibility challenges while using government websites. Solving these challenges has become more urgent, for two reasons. First, COVID-19 pushed more of life online, and it is often easier now to do business digitally than in person. Second, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a new final rule under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act in April 2024. This requires all state and local governments to make digital services “readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities.” This one-two punch means there is now more momentum than ever before to make government digital services accessible. Total digital accessibility can be an intimidating goal to work toward. It can be tough for government to even know where to start. The new final rule from the federal government provides a set of standards that can be used as guidance, but there are still lots of questions.