Don’t stop. The HHS Office for Civil Rights was due to implement rules enforcing WCAG 2.1 A and AA as the required standard for any digital asset from an organization receiving HHS funding starting Monday May 11, 2026. As expected following the shift for ADA Title II, HHS just delayed the rule.
Under the revised timeline:
- Recipients with 15 or more employees will now have until May 11, 2027, to comply.
- Recipients with fewer than 15 employees will now have until May 10, 2028, to comply.
Don’t Stop!
I said it before and I’ll say it again. This is not a time to let up and relax. Especially for groups receiving these funds. Inaction on your part will likely to real world damage to individuals in need of those resources. Much more so than some of the Title II efforts.
You also have to deal with state laws. Many states have enacted their own version of the ADA and what is required for digital systems. Then there is the fact that the DOJ and HHS have been using WCAG 2.1 A and AA when assessing accessibility for several years already. Lastly, there are still private lawsuits. These won’t stop. Keep doing the work, more time allows you to make this habit and process or dig deeper if those are in place.
Civil Rights
The current administration doesn’t care about civil rights. Disabled people have been fighting for generations to get equal access. It has been more than 35 years since the ADA passed and two generations grew up on the internet in that time. Yet, disabled people are still considered permissible to discriminate against.
Even though the administration doesn’t care, they do not make up the majority of this country. I hope you realize how wrong it is to deprive the disabled the same access to the world just because it took a little more effort.
Don’t wait. Don’t stop. Hell, go faster.
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