On April 20, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) released a new Interim Final Rule on their implementation of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act web-based accessibility requirements for state and local governments. Citing a significant administrative burden, the DOJ is providing new guidance to reduce the cost of compliance, and is giving public entities an additional year to comply with the new federal accessibility guidelines. In the Interim Final Rule, DOJ acknowledges that they "overestimated the capabilities (whether staffing or technology) of covered entities to comply with the rule in the time frames provided."  

• Local governments with populations over 50,000 now have a compliance date of April 24, 2027.
• Local governments with populations at or below 50,000 have until April 28, 2028, to comply.

The extension came just four days before the the original April 24, 2026, deadline.

For more information on ensuring compliance with DOJ's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, check out these ICMA resources:

• The Countdown to Compliance
• ADA Website Compliance and How to Do It Right
• How to Achieve Accessibility Compliance