California government agencies must make all websites, apps, PDFs, and documents WCAG 2.1 Level AA compliant. Get compliant before the deadline—avoid lawsuits and federal enforcement.
The DOJ's final rule requires all state and local government agencies to make their web content and mobile apps accessible to people with disabilities. This is not optional—failure to comply exposes your agency to lawsuits and federal enforcement.
Public entities in California with populations of 50,000 or more:
Smaller public entities with populations under 50,000:
All digital content and services:
Non-compliance risks include:
Archive Exception: Content created before April 24, 2026 may be archived (kept for reference only) without remediation, but it must be moved to a clearly labeled archive section and cannot be updated or actively used.
ADA Title II applies to all state and local government entities providing public services
All California state departments and offices
All 58 counties and 482 cities
K-12 districts and county offices of education
UC, CSU, community colleges
Superior courts and judicial agencies
County hospitals, health departments
Water, fire, transit, utilities
Public housing agencies
The DOJ rule defines five specific exceptions—but they come with important conditions
Important: Even if content qualifies for an exception, your agency must still meet other ADA obligations—including providing accessible alternatives to people with disabilities who request them. The ADA requires reasonable accommodations regardless of these technical exceptions.
DOJ's recommended roadmap for meeting your accessibility deadline
Understand what the Title II web accessibility rule requires.
Read DOJ Fact Sheet →April 24, 2026 for 50K+ population; April 26, 2027 for smaller entities.
Check your deadline →Designate staff to oversee compliance efforts and coordinate across departments.
Ensure content creators understand accessibility requirements.
W3C Training Resources →Audit all websites, mobile apps, PDFs, documents, and social media accounts.
Determine which content must be made accessible vs. what can be archived or removed.
Scan your documents and websites for WCAG 2.1 compliance issues.
Focus first on high-traffic pages, essential services, and critical public-facing content.
Ensure third-party vendors provide accessible content and understand your requirements.
Document your accessibility policies and establish ongoing compliance procedures.
Comprehensive document accessibility scanning and remediation
Identify images, charts, and graphics missing alternative text descriptions for screen reader users.
Verify logical reading order so assistive technologies present content in the correct sequence.
Check for proper heading hierarchy, lists, and semantic markup that aids navigation.
Ensure data tables have proper headers, scope attributes, and logical cell relationships.
Identify vague link text like "click here" that doesn't describe the destination.
Check text and background color combinations meet WCAG minimum contrast ratios.
Verify all form fields have associated labels for screen reader users.
Scan against ISO 14289-1 PDF/UA standard for universal accessibility.
Generate Voluntary Product Accessibility Templates documenting compliance status.
Two ways to fix accessibility issues, depending on what your document needs
Best for PDFs that need metadata and alt text fixes.
Best for PDFs with structural issues that can't be fixed in-place.
Both options are available during the ADA accessibility scan. Choose one or both based on your document's needs.
Example accessibility findings from a real document scan
Automated scanning for key accessibility guidelines
Key guidance directly from the Department of Justice's compliance materials
"Automated testing tools alone can't test for all aspects of accessibility."
You'll need manual review in addition to automated scanning. Some issues—like whether alt text accurately describes an image—require human judgment.
"Working with vendors doesn't mean your public entity is off the hook."
Your agency is still legally responsible for accessibility, even if you outsource web development or content creation to contractors.
"Testing takes time and planning—don't leave it until the last minute."
Start your accessibility assessment now, not weeks before the deadline. Remediation can be time-consuming and may require budget allocation.
"Even excepted content may need accessible alternatives."
The ADA requires reasonable accommodations on request. If someone needs an accessible version of archived content, you must provide it.
A complete ADA compliance solution designed for California government agencies
Upload PDFs, Word documents, and other files to instantly identify WCAG 2.1 Level AA violations. Our scanner checks for missing alt text, improper reading order, color contrast issues, table structure problems, and 50+ other accessibility criteria.
SentraCheck automatically fixes what it can in your original PDF — adding document titles, language tags, alt text for images, and bookmarks. Download a remediated PDF ready for publishing.
For PDFs with structural issues that can't be fixed in-place — untagged content, broken tables, missing reading order — SentraCheck converts your PDF to fully semantic, ADA-compliant HTML using AI.
Automatically generate Voluntary Product Accessibility Templates documenting your compliance status—required by many procurement processes.
Track your progress toward the April 2026 deadline with real-time metrics showing documents scanned, issues found, and remediation status.
Know what to fix first. We identify high-traffic documents and critical public-facing content so you can focus remediation efforts where they matter most.
Identify which documents qualify for the archive exception and which must be remediated—helping you allocate resources efficiently.
Join California agencies already using SentraCheck to meet their ADA compliance deadline.
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