By the end of 2023, more than 10% of districts are estimated to be affected by a website ADA claim. ...
What is website accessibility?
Just as buildings must have wheelchair ramps, district websites must have special provisions for users with disabilities. This means your website must have things like alternative text for images, and adequate color contrast between website elements to ensure users with disabilities can access your website content. As public agencies, districts are required to have not only a website that is technically accessible, but policies and procedures for reporting and remediation.
What accessibility laws apply to districts?
While more and more state laws are emerging with their own timelines and penalties, most districts do not realize that they are already liable for violations of federal laws, which comprise the majority of current legal actions. Districts are required to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 508, WCAG, and other state-specific laws.
While they are related, they actually build upon each other. It originally started with the ADA, which didn’t technically define website requirements, but defines equal access to services for people with disabilities.
On top of that came the Federal Section 508 requirements, which outlined basic website accessibility. WCAG 2.0 AA was officially adopted as the standard in January 2018, and those standards apply to government websites in most states.
Most states also have what are referred to as "little 508s" - state-specific laws that define accessibility (like HB 21-1110 in Colorado and AB 434 in California), often simply pointing to Section 508 (which now aligns with WCAG). However, even if your state doesn't specifically define website accessibility requirements, you're still expected to have a website that complies with the adopted guidelines.
We're a small district, can't we just ignore this?
No. Just like other local government agencies, special districts are being sued across the country for having non-compliant websites, costing tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars in attorney and settlement fees. The number of lawsuits rose 56% in 2021, and the penalties for noncompliance are rising fast—averaging $4,000 for an ADA claim in 2019 to $39,000 in 2022. It’s a situation that The Wall Street Journal calls “very perilous” in a recent article.
Plus, considering that an estimated 15-20% of the population has a disability that may make it difficult to navigate an inaccessible website, it’s the right thing to do!
To learn more, check out our blog post about the risks of having an in-accessible website here.