In response to advocacy from National League of Cities and other allies, the Department of Justice has released an interim final rule extending the date for its new website accessibility rules by one year. The new deadlines are now:
- April 26, 2027 for government entities with populations of 50,000 and above
- April 26, 2028 for government entities with populations below 50,000 and special districts.
From the interim final rule: "The Department finds the compliance concerns raised in the foregoing correspondence to be compelling and upon its own review determines that it overestimated the capabilities (whether staffing or technology) of covered entities to comply with the rule in the time frames provided. Therefore, we agree with those suggestions to delay the effective dates of the 2024 final rule. The Department believes this IFR will lead to greater predictability and certainty as covered entities work towards accessibility of their websites notwithstanding the untenable, dynamic technical standards linked to the 2024 rule. This will lead to greater accessibility for individuals with disabilities."
The interim final rule is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on Monday, April 20th.
For more information on the new website accessibility rules, what they mean for local governments, and practical resources to support compliance and ongoing accessibility efforts, review this article from NLC.