Small towns and special districts: your ADA Title II deadline is April 26, 2028
Under the DOJ's April 20, 2026 interim final rule, public entities with a total population under 50,000, and every special district government regardless of size, must meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA for their web content and mobile apps starting April 26, 2028.
Who counts as a special district
Think water, sewer, fire, library, park, transit and similar districts. The rule puts all special district governments on the 2028 date, even large ones.
Why start now
- Small offices often have one person posting agendas and minutes, so the backlog builds slowly and is easy to miss.
- Fixing your templates now means every new PDF is closer to compliant.
- Nearby larger cities face the 2027 date, so demand for remediation help will rise before yours.
A small-office starter list
- List every PDF type you post regularly.
- Fix your Word or agenda-software templates (headings, alt text, language).
- Remediate forms and applications residents need first.
- Add a clear way for people to request an accessible copy.
Try us on one document free. Send one agenda, minutes or form (up to 25 pages); you get back a tagged PDF plus before-and-after veraPDF PDF/UA-1 reports. After that, 10 documents are $149.
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Sources
- DOJ interim final rule, 91 FR 20902 (Apr. 20, 2026)
- 28 CFR 35.200 (current eCFR)
- 28 CFR 35.201 exceptions
- WCAG 2.1
Last reviewed 2026-10-20.