Why Digital Accessibility Must Be a Priority for State and Local Governments

From websites and forms to portals and applications, digital channels have become the primary way that people interact with government agencies. Yet too often, these digital experiences are built without accessibility in mind. This prevents people with disabilities from fully accessing essential services, programs, and information.

Whether it’s a permit application, healthcare resource, job portal, voter registration form, or emergency alert, inaccessible government tools create barriers for users, erode public trust, and introduce legal risk.

Governments must integrate accessibility into the digital experience lifecycle—not as an afterthought, but as a core responsibility—to ensure every constituent can access, engage with, and benefit from the services they rely on.

In this blog, we’ll share practical steps your department can take to reduce legal exposure, serve constituents equitably, and meet accessibility standards—without overwhelming your already-stretched resources.

Web accessibility for government: Key legal requirements

For government agencies, digital accessibility isn’t optional—it’s a legal mandate. Keeping up with the latest legal requirements is key to mitigating risk and maximizing public trust.

Before you can take meaningful action, it’s important to understand the specific laws that apply to your digital services. These requirements form the foundation for creating accessible, compliant digital experiences—and for protecting your agency from costly legal exposure.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Title II

Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) mandates that state and local governments provide people with disabilities with equal access to all programs, services, and activities—including digital services like websites, mobile apps, and portals. In April 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice finalized a rule reinforcing this obligation and aligning digital accessibility requirements with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Levels A and AA.

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973

Section 504 requires that organizations receiving federal funding—such as public schools, universities, and healthcare providers—ensure their programs are accessible to individuals with disabilities. This requirement extends to websites, online services, and digital content tied to these programs.

State-level accessibility laws

Several states, including Colorado, California, Minnesota, and Illinois, have passed their own digital accessibility mandates, many of which mirror federal standards or set even stricter requirements. In Colorado, for example, the landmark legislation HB21-1110 requires all higher education institutions in the stateto adopt policies and procedures ensuring that digital communications and information technology are accessible to people with disabilities.

Understanding website accessibility standards

WCAG is widely recognized as the technical standard for accessible digital content. While WCAG itself isn’t a law, it’s referenced in federal regulations, and increasingly in state-level mandates, as the benchmark agencies are expected to meet.

For state and local governments, aligning with WCAG Level A and AA is foundational to meeting the requirements of Title II of the ADA and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.

WCAG is organized around four core principles, known as POUR:

• Perceivable: Content must be presented in ways that users can perceive, whether through sight, sound, or assistive technology such as screen readers. It should also be adaptable into alternative formats such as large print, braille, speech, symbols, or simplified language to meet different user needs.
• Operable: All features must be usable by everyone, including those relying on keyboards or assistive technologies.
• Understandable: Information should be presented clearly and consistently, helping users avoid confusion.
• Robust: Your digital content should work reliably across browsers, devices, and assistive tools—now and as technology evolves.

Conforming to WCAG can be technically complex, which is why many government agencies choose to partner with experienced accessibility providers for support and guidance.

The right partner can help you mitigate legal risk, ensuring your agency meets compliance requirements with confidence. They can also free up internal teams, reduce long-term costs, and help your agency avoid the expensive, recurring cycle of reactive accessibility fixes that many organizations struggle to break.

Four steps to get started with digital accessibility

Now that you understand your legal obligations, it’s time to take the first steps toward compliance. The following best practices can help your agency begin its digital accessibility efforts:

1. Leverage automated remediation tools for quick gains.

Automated remediation tools allow government agencies to identify and fix common accessibility issues, such as missing alt text, low color contrast, and unlabeled form fields, across large volumes of web content.

While not a substitute for full compliance, these tools can reduce immediate risk and improve usability while long-term fixes are developed. The right partner can help you harness automation as part of a sustainable program and support you as you proactively integrate accessibility into your day-to-day workflows.

2. Audit your highest-impact digital interactions.

Evaluate your most frequently used and visible digital assets—like your public website, online forms, social media posts, digital documents, and emergency alert systems —for accessibility barriers. These are often the first places constituents engage with your agency, and the first to draw attention in accessibility complaints.

A professional audit helps establish a clear baseline, uncover high-risk issues, and demonstrate that your agency is taking compliance seriously. To obtain a thorough and accurate audit, consider partnering with an experienced accessibility provider. They can deliver prioritized findings, align your efforts with ADA and Section 504 requirements, and provide a tailored remediation roadmap based on your risk level and operational timelines.

3. Train internal teams across departments.

Digital accessibility isn’t just an IT issue. Communications staff, procurement officers, and digital service managers all play a role in building inclusive experiences.

Role-specific training helps reduce remediation costs and builds compliance into daily workflows. And, with on-demand, expert-led courses—such as the Level Access Academy’s Global Accessibility Laws or WCAG in Detail—you can equip staff with the knowledge they need to build accessibility in from the start.

4. Future-proof your digital public services

Digital accessibility is an ongoing responsibility. As your agency launches new services or updates existing websites, forms, and portals, each change can unintentionally introduce new accessibility barriers.

To stay compliant and serve all constituents effectively, you need to build accessibility into your agency’s everyday operations. That means integrating it into procurement processes, content creation, and development workflows. Whether your team is promoting a press release on social media, uploading a new policy PDF, or implementing a third-party platform, accessibility should be baked into every part of the process.

This proactive approach reduces legal risk, minimizes costly retrofits, and ensures digital public services remain inclusive and accessible by default—today and into the future. For more tips, explore our Quick Guide to Digital Accessibility for State and Local Governments

Build accessibility into government services

Level Access brings more than 20 years of experience helping organizations across industries, including state and local government agencies, achieve compliance with the ADA, Section 504, and other digital accessibility laws.

We empower agencies to build impactful digital accessibility programs across three core pillars: Audit & Test to identify compliance gaps, Build & Fix to implement efficient improvements, and Governance & Reporting to maintain ongoing oversight and accountability.

Through this framework, state and local government agencies can not only reduce legal risk, but also improve user experience, accelerate digital innovation, and uphold public trust. To learn more about how we can help you build a digital accessibility program that’s sustainable and ready for the future, contact our team today.

Frequently asked questions

What is a realistic first step for local government website accessibility?

A practical starting point is to audit and improve your agency’s highest-traffic digital services—such as permit applications, public health forms, or emergency alert systems. Prioritizing these high-impact assets helps you demonstrate early progress and build momentum for broader efforts.

Is role-specific accessibility training for government necessary?

Absolutely. Accessibility responsibilities are spread across teams—from IT to communications to procurement—so one-size-fits-all training often falls short. Tailored, hands-on training equips each team with the specific skills they need to embed accessibility into their daily work, whether that’s creating accessible documents or managing websites.

How should we handle accessibility for third-party tools and platforms?

 

Third-party tools, like learning platforms, scheduling systems, or form builders, are a common part of government digital services, but they can introduce serious accessibility gaps. Agencies are still responsible for ensuring that these tools meet accessibility standards.