The rule
Who must comply, and by when
Title II of the ADA covers every state and local government. The web rule sets one standard for all of them, WCAG 2.1 Level AA, and two compliance dates based on population (28 CFR § 35.200).
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Who is covered
The rule applies to every “public entity” as defined in 28 CFR § 35.104: any state or local government and any of its departments, agencies, special purpose districts or other instrumentalities. In practice that includes:
- Cities, towns and counties
- Public K-12 school districts, including regional and vocational districts
- Public charter schools
- Public colleges and universities
- Public libraries
- Transit authorities
- Housing authorities
- Special districts, such as water, fire and regional planning districts
- State agencies
Content that a vendor posts for you under a contract or license, such as an agenda system or a website platform, is your responsibility too (28 CFR § 35.201(c)).
The two compliance dates
| Total population served | Compliance date |
|---|---|
| 50,000 or more | April 26, 2027 |
| Under 50,000 | April 26, 2028 |
| Any special district government, regardless of population | April 26, 2028 |
These dates come from DOJ's interim final rule of April 20, 2026 (91 FR 20902 (Apr. 20, 2026)), which moved each date back one year. It did not change the standard or the exceptions. See rule updates for what could change next.
How population is measured
“Total population” is defined in 28 CFR § 35.104. It is the population of the community you serve, not the number of students or customers:
- Cities, towns and counties use their count in the most recent decennial Census, which is the 2020 Census. Later estimates do not move an entity from one date to the other.
- Independent school districts use the Census Bureau's Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates (SAIPE) population for the district.
- Dependent school districts, which are part of a city, town or county government, use that government's population (DOJ fact sheet on the web rule).
- Instrumentalities of several governments use the combined decennial Census population of those governments.
“an independent school district with a population of 60,000 adults and children, as calculated in [SAIPE], is not a small public entity regardless of the number of students enrolled.”
Independent and dependent school districts
Whether a district is independent or dependent is decided by how the Census Bureau classifies it. In Massachusetts, for example, regional school districts, regional vocational-technical districts and independent vocational schools are independent school-district governments, while city and town school departments are dependent on their municipality (Census Bureau, Individual State Descriptions: Massachusetts (archived)). So a town school department takes its town's 2020 Census population, and a regional district uses its own SAIPE estimate.
DOJ also says that “a public school district is not treated as a special district government” (DOJ fact sheet on the web rule), so a school district does not get the later date just for being a district.
Charter schools: an open question
Public charter schools are Title II public entities, but the 2024 rule's preamble does not mention charter schools, and how a stand-alone charter's population should be measured has not been settled. One reasonable reading treats a charter as an instrumentality of the government that chartered it. Until DOJ says more, we plan charter work around the earlier date, April 26, 2027, and recommend that charter leaders confirm their date with counsel.
Special districts
Every special district government, such as a water, sewer, fire or regional planning district, has until April 26, 2028, whatever its population (28 CFR § 35.200(b); 91 FR 20902 (Apr. 20, 2026)).