The ADA itself does not name a specific web accessibility standard, which for decades left businesses guessing at what “accessible” meant. That changed for public entities in April 2024, when the Department of Justice finalized a Title II rule requiring state and local government websites and apps to conform to WCAG 2.1 Level AA, with compliance deadlines of April 24, 2026 for most entities and April 26, 2027 for public entities serving populations under 50,000.
Title III, which covers private businesses open to the public, still has no formal regulation, but courts have consistently applied WCAG 2.1 AA as the practical benchmark in lawsuits and settlements.