The deadline for state and local governments in the United States to meet the 2024 rule about web and mobile accessibility are coming up in 2026 and 2027, depending on the size of the government agency. I illustrated this article with an image of an hour glass to represent the idea that time is running out to meet the deadlines, and organizations shouldn’t wait.
But there is another reason besides the coming deadlines that state and local governments shouldn’t wait to work on digital accessibility. As I’ve said many times on this website and in public talks, the rapidly approaching deadlines don’t mean that the ADA is on hold until then when it comes to making websites and mobile applications accessible to disabled people. After all, the Department of Justice has recognized the connection between accessible websites and ADA compliance for over two decades. [See Accessibility of State and Local Government Websites to People with Disabilities, published by the DOJ in 2003.
A judge in a federal court in Louisiana recently confirmed that state and local governments cannot ignore web and mobile accessibility until the deadlines arrive.
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Louisiana lawsuit about inaccessible state websites
A blind resident of that state named Beau Ellerby recently filed a lawsuit against Louisiana because there were several state websites he could not access using his screen reader. These included the Louisiana Department of Health’s website and the Department of Children and Family Services (“DCFS”) website. His lawsuit asked the court to order the state to make the websites accessible under the ADA and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and to compensate him and his lawyers to the extent the law allows.
The state agencies sued in the case asked the judge to throw the case out of court, in part because the deadlines for the title II web and mobile standards regulations are in the future.
The judge refused to throw the case out of court:
Similarly, the fact that the technical standards have yet to be enforceable does not prohibit Ellerbee from stating a claim for violation of Title II or the RA for failing to make a public entity’s “services, programs or activities” readily accessible to him as a disabled individual. The technical standards are merely illustrative of whether a website complies with Title II or the RA’s accessibility requirement – a factual determination for the trier of fact at the summary judgment stage or trial. They do not, however, dispose of ADA’s program accessibility requirements.Ellerbee vs. State of Louisiana, p. 17
You can read the Judge’s full 19 page decision in the January 28, 2025 Court Ruling on the Motion to Dismiss in the Louisiana Web Accessibility Case.
This Ruling does not mean that Mr. Ellerbe won the case. It means that his complaint is plausible, and can move forward. And that the mere fact that the Title II web and mobile regulation deadlines have not yet passed is not a good enough reason to prevent Mr Ellerbe from having his day in court.
If the case does not settle, Mr. Ellerbe and his lawyers will have the chance to prove that the state websites were not accessible to him and that the lack of access violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehab Act. Mr. Ellerbe’s lawyer, Garret DeReus of the Bizer & DeReus law firm based in New Orleans.
Resources for the Title II web and mobile access rule
For more on the Title II web and mobile regulations, including the upcoming deadlines and how to meet them, see:
- the Department of Justice Fact Sheet about the rule
- the DOJ’s “State and Local Governments: First Steps Toward Complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act Title II Web and Mobile Application Accessibility Rule”
- Article on LFLegal: Finally! There are Technical Standards in the United States for State and Local Government Websites + Apps