Is Washington's Website Ready for the ADA Title II Deadline?
Did you know the deadline already changed?
If your compliance calendar still shows the original date, it's out of date: on April 20, 2026 the DOJ issued an Interim Final Rule that moved every ADA Title II web deadline back one year. For Washington, the operative date is now April 26, 2028. The public comment period closed June 22, 2026 — the deadline is set, and the clock is running.
Washington's latest accessibility scan
Overall compliance risk: High — 2 citizen services residents with disabilities may be unable to use
⚠ Critical Service Risks
These citizen services appear to have no accessible alternative pathway — the highest-exposure findings in this scan:
- Public records / records request — The only pathway we found for this service fails 6 serious accessibility checks — including: images have no text alternative, so screen readers can't describe them. Residents using assistive technology may be unable to complete it.
- Court services — The only pathway we found for this service fails 9 serious accessibility checks — including: buttons have no accessible name — assistive tech users can't tell what they do. Residents using assistive technology may be unable to complete it.
Top issues, in plain English
- critical Images have no text alternative, so screen readers can't describe them (WCAG 1.1.1 · 120 pages)
- critical Form fields have no label — users can't tell what to type in them (WCAG 4.1.2 · 9 pages)
- critical Buttons have no accessible name — assistive tech users can't tell what they do (WCAG 4.1.2 · 7 pages)
- serious Links have no readable text — screen reader users can't tell where they lead (WCAG 2.4.4 · 120 pages)
- serious Lists are marked up incorrectly, so screen readers misread their structure (WCAG 1.3.1 · 119 pages)
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What WCAG 2.1 Level AA means for city government websites
With 35,501 residents, Washington falls under the DOJ's small-entity tier (under 50,000 population), which comes with the later of the two federal deadlines — but the same technical standard.
WCAG 2.1 Level AA is the technical standard the DOJ adopted for ADA Title II. In plain terms, it's a checklist that makes sure residents who use screen readers, keyboard navigation, or captions can actually use your website: text on every image, labels on every form field, enough color contrast to read, and video captions.
Smaller entities sometimes assume they're exempt. They aren't — the later deadline is the only accommodation the rule makes for size. Services like recreation registration, utility billing, and building permits all need to work for residents with disabilities.
Washington is a mid-size community, and its website is the front door for recreation registration, utility billing, and building permits. Under ADA Title II, that front door has to work for every resident.
Don't find out about problems from a demand letter
A11yCheck monitors Washington's website continuously and sends a plain-English weekly digest — no technical background needed.