Step 1: Learn about the Department of Justice's final rule

Make sure you understand the Department of Justice’s final rule and what’s expected to make your website accessible. Key takeaways Understand the rule DOJ fact sheet Full DOJ final rule (PDF) Small Entity Compliance Guide Compliance deadlines Local governments with a population of 50,000 or more: Compliance deadline: April 24, 2026 Local governments with a population up to 49,999: Compliance deadline: April 26, 2027 Learn about the technical standard Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Understanding WCAG 2.1 WCAG checklists Action for today Read through the requirements and consider your deadline. And don’t worry – we will be providing training resources in a future step! Want to test your knowledge? Take our accessibility quiz !

Step 2: Assign a website accessibility coordinator and post an accessibility statement

Your county should designate at least one web accessibility coordinator, who will serve as the main point of contact on web accessibility issues and post an accessibility statement . What you need to do Identify key roles: Determine who within your county will be responsible for ensuring compliance, including IT staff, web developers, procurement staff and others who may play a role in accessibility. Set clear expectations: Assign specific responsibilities to relevant staff and create a culture of accessibility by clearly defining roles to avoid confusion. This should include who is responsible for developing and publishing accessible content (including PDFs and other files) to your website. Accessibility Statement: Add an accessibility statement to your site. This statement should explain that your website follows ADA accessibility guidelines and provide a way for users to report issues. If you’re a CIRA member , we can post an accessibility statement for you. If not, check out W3C’s resources . Action for Today: If you’re not a website accessibility coordinator for your county, make sure they get these emails by joining our mailing list !

Step-by-Step Guide to Website Accessibility

Hand stacking follow these steps blocks TAC CIRA is providing a step-by-step guide to website accessibility coordinators and any other county officials or employees interested in learning more about website accessibility best practices. The guide is based on the Department of Justice’s action steps. If you haven’t already, join the mailing list. If you’re just getting started, find the key steps below that will help you catch up. Questions? Contact CIRA Support.

Make sure you understand the Department of Justice’s final rule and what’s expected to make your website accessible.

Key takeaways

Understand the rule
Compliance deadlines
- Local governments with a population of 50,000 or more:
  Compliance deadline: April 24, 2026
- Local governments with a population up to 49,999:
  Compliance deadline: April 26, 2027
Learn about the technical standard

Action for today
Read through the requirements and consider your deadline. And don’t worry – we will be providing training resources in a future step!

Want to test your knowledge?
Take our accessibility quiz!

Your county should designate at least one web accessibility coordinator, who will serve as the main point of contact on web accessibility issues and post an accessibility statement.

What you need to do

Identify key roles: Determine who within your county will be responsible for ensuring compliance, including IT staff, web developers, procurement staff and others who may play a role in accessibility.
Set clear expectations: Assign specific responsibilities to relevant staff and create a culture of accessibility by clearly defining roles to avoid confusion. This should include who is responsible for developing and publishing accessible content (including PDFs and other files) to your website.
Accessibility Statement: Add an accessibility statement to your site. This statement should explain that your website follows ADA accessibility guidelines and provide a way for users to report issues. If you’re a CIRA member, we can post an accessibility statement for you. If not, check out W3C’s resources.

Action for Today:
If you’re not a website accessibility coordinator for your county, make sure they get these emails by joining our mailing list!

TAC County Information Resource Agency (CIRA)

Step-by-Step Guide to Website Accessibility

More sections coming soon – join our mailing list to follow along with our guide!