ADA Title II Compliance Checker: Free WCAG 2.1 AA Scan

Scan your site against WCAG 2.1

The DOJ rule's technical standard is WCAG 2.1 Level AA. The scanner runs automated checks mapped to those criteria and gives you a scored report with ready-to-paste fix code. Manual testing covers what automation cannot.

Deadline calculator

Which describes your organization?

Population 50,000 or morePopulation under 50,000Special district government

April 26, 2027

Calculating days left...

State governments and local governments (cities, counties, school districts and similar) with a total population of 50,000 or more.

Dates come from the DOJ interim final rule published April 20, 2026, which moved the original 2026 and 2027 dates back one year. Check the current DOJ rule on ada.gov before you plan around a date, as it can change again.

Title II readiness checklist

The PDF button below creates a dated readiness report with your compliance date, the exceptions you ticked and the status of every item.

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How to use

Scan your site

Type your domain, such as yourcity.gov, and click Run Title II assessment. The scanner crawls your pages and reports each automated WCAG failure with suggested fix code.

Find your date and exceptions

Pick population 50,000 or more, under 50,000, or special district government to see your compliance date and days left. Then tick the conditions for any content you think is exempt.

Track and export readiness

Tick off the 16 checklist items, or mark them needs work or not applicable with a note. Click PDF for a dated readiness report with your date, exceptions and item status, or save a progress file.

Why ADA Title II Compliance Checker

Scan, deadline calculator, exceptions self-check and checklist on one page.
Automated checks mapped to WCAG 2.1, the standard the DOJ rule adopts.
Dated PDF readiness report for a council, board or audit file.
Free to use, with no account.

Title II web rule exceptions, with examples

The rule lists five kinds of content that do not have to meet WCAG 2.1 AA. Each one has conditions, and content that fails any condition is covered. Keep a short written note for anything you treat as excepted.

Even when an exception applies, you must provide the information in an accessible way to a person with a disability who asks for it. The rule also keeps a limited defense for undue burden or fundamental alteration, which must be decided and documented by senior officials.

Exception	What it covers	Example	When it does not apply
Archived web content	Content kept only for reference, research or records, unchanged, in an area labeled as archived	Old council minutes in an Archive section	Content created after the compliance date, or updated after archiving
Preexisting documents	PDFs, word processing, presentation and spreadsheet files posted before the compliance date	An annual report PDF from earlier years	Files people currently use to apply for or access a service, such as a permit form
Third-party content	Content posted by members of the public or others not acting for you	Public comments on a city forum	Content a vendor posts for you under a contract or license
Individualized, secured documents	Documents about one person, property or account, protected by a password	A resident's utility bill in a portal	The portal pages themselves
Preexisting social media posts	Posts made on social platforms before the compliance date	An older event post on a city page	New posts made after the compliance date

Title II vs Title III

The ADA has separate titles for government and for private businesses. Title II covers state and local governments, and the DOJ's 2024 rule gives it a formal web standard with fixed compliance dates. Title III covers businesses open to the public, and there is no equivalent web rule for them.

If you run a public entity, use this checker. If you run a private business, the ADA Compliance Checklist on this site walks through the Title III process.

	Title II	Title III
Who it covers	State and local governments and their agencies	Private businesses open to the public
Web standard	WCAG 2.1 Level AA, set by DOJ rule	No formal rule; WCAG 2.1 AA is commonly used in settlements
Deadlines	April 26, 2027 or April 26, 2028 under the April 2026 interim final rule	No set date; the obligation applies now
Enforcement	DOJ, complaints and private lawsuits	Private lawsuits, demand letters and DOJ

Common questions

Who must comply with the ADA Title II web rule?

State and local governments and their departments and agencies: cities, counties, towns, public school districts, public colleges and universities, courts, police, transit agencies, public libraries and special districts. Content or apps provided for them by contractors or vendors is also covered. Private businesses fall under Title III instead.

What is the ADA Title II deadline for small cities and counties?

Under the DOJ's interim final rule of April 20, 2026, local governments with a population under 50,000 and all special district governments have until April 26, 2028. Entities with 50,000 or more people have until April 26, 2027. The original 2024 rule used April 24, 2026 and April 26, 2027, so check the current rule on ada.gov before relying on a date.

Does ADA Title II cover PDFs and mobile apps?

Yes. The rule covers conventional electronic documents such as PDFs, Word files, spreadsheets and slides, and it covers mobile apps a public entity provides or makes available. The scanner tests HTML pages and does not audit the contents of PDFs or apps, so the checklist tracks those separately.

What content is exempt under the Title II web rule?

There are five exceptions: archived web content, preexisting documents, content posted by third parties, individualized password-protected documents, and preexisting social media posts. Each has conditions, and the exceptions self-check on this page lists them. Even excepted content must be provided in an accessible way when a person with a disability asks.

Is WCAG 2.2 required for ADA Title II compliance?

No. The rule adopts WCAG 2.1 Level AA. The W3C says content that conforms to WCAG 2.2 also conforms to 2.1, so building to 2.2 AA is a safe choice, but it is not what the rule requires.

Can a public school website use this Title II checker?

Yes. Public school districts, public colleges and universities are Title II entities. Pick the population tier that fits your organization in the deadline calculator; if you are unsure how your population is counted, check the DOJ's guidance for your type of entity.

Does Title II apply to contractors and third-party tools a city uses?

Yes, when they provide content or services for the public entity through a contract, license or other arrangement. Payment portals, permit systems and meeting video platforms are common examples. One checklist item covers adding WCAG 2.1 AA requirements to procurement contracts.

What happens if a government misses the Title II deadline?

Title II is enforced by the Department of Justice, through complaints, and through private lawsuits. Outcomes can include investigations and settlement agreements that require remediation. Dated scan reports and a documented plan show the work you have done.

Will passing the automated scan make our city website Title II compliant?

No. The scan finds the machine-detectable part of WCAG 2.1 AA failures. Keyboard testing, screen reader checks, caption review and document remediation still need people, which is why the checklist includes them.

What is in the Title II readiness PDF report?

The report shows the date it was generated, your entity tier and compliance date, any exception where you ticked every condition, and each checklist item as Done, Needs work, Not applicable or Open, with your notes. Progress stays in your browser and is not uploaded; use Save progress file to keep a copy or pass it to a colleague. It is a progress record, not a certificate of compliance.