Article updated
This article has been updated since it was first published on March 2, 2026. The most recent update was added on April 7, 2026. Read the updates for this article.
The deadline for state and local government entities with a population of 50,000 or more to meet web and mobile accessibility requirements is April 24 of this year. A recent government notice indicates that the Department of Justice may try to change either this deadline or other aspects of the rule. Here’s what’s happening and what you can do to let the government know how important this rule is.
Please remember: whatever happens to this rule the Americans With Disabilities Act will still require websites and mobile apps to be accessible (some resources on that below). Do not let the content of this article slow your efforts to make government website accessible. And never forget the rule is still the rule until it isn’t.
[For more about this rule, which was finalized in 2024, visit the article on this website titled Title II Web and Mobile Technical Accessibility Standards: History + Current Status. First written in 2022, I update this article with new developments, including what’s below.]
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The threat of an Interim Final Rule
In September 2025 the Department of Justice (DOJ) signaled that it might revisit parts of the Title II web rule. See the October 2025 Title II web rule update on this website.
At that time the DOJ said it might issue a Notice of Proposed RuleMaking (an NPRM) “to reconsider whether some of the regulatory provisions imposed by the April 24, 2024 rule could be made less costly.” An NPRM requires time for public comment and consideration of those comments.
An NPRM has not been issued. Instead, on February 13, 2026 the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, part of the Office of Management and Budget (OIRA, part of OMB) announced something else.
The news came in a short official document with the title “Pending EO 12866 Regulatory Review” (EO is short for Executive Order). It announces that instead of issuing an NPRM, The Department of Justice sent a revised rule to OIRA as an “Interim Final Rule,” or IFR.
We do not know what is in those revisions because the Department of Justice and OIRA has not made them public.
An IFR does not require public comment. This makes it possible that the Department of Justice could change the Title II web and mobile accessibility rule before the upcoming April 24, 2026 deadline.
As far as I know, the Interim Final Rule process has never been used for an accessibility regulation. The administration could use the process to change the timeline of the rule or to change other things. Or they could decide not to move forward with the IFR and leave the rule as it is.
Read below to discover how you can request a meeting with OIRA to tell them why they should not change the title II web and mobile accessibility rule.
Anyone can request a meeting with OIRA under EO 12866 as explained below. The agency does not have to have a meeting with you, and receiving meeting requests may not make a difference in the outcome. But it may be helpful for many people to share how important the rule is to them.
Here’s how you can let the government know they should not change the rule. That public sector access matters. That digital accessibility is the difference between inclusion or exclusion of disable people in the digital world.
Tell the federal government not to change the Title II web and mobile rule. Here’s how!
As mentioned above, Department of Justice has asked the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), a federal agency that manages the federal rulemaking process, for permission to issue an Interim Final Rule that may change the timeline or any other part of the title II web and mobile accessibility rule.
Anyone can request a meeting with OIRA about the importance of not changing anything about the Rule. You can request a meeting as an individual or on behalf of an organization. Here is the link to request a meeting. All meetings will be virtual.
You will be asked for your name, email and phone number. You will receive a confirming email with a link to schedule your meeting.
When you select that link, you will be asked to “provide a narrative description of what you will be presenting at your E.O. 12866 meeting.
Your response does not have to be long. It can be in plain language and you don’t need to use legal terms. In your own words, you can explain that you want to talk about things like:
- the importance of the Title II state and local government web and mobile accessibility standards
- Why the timeline or anything else should not be changed
- how you, your family, colleagues, and community, need accessibility to participate in government programs and services.
- you can mention specific government services you need access to. Things like parks, libraries, voting, and public meetings.
- That the Department of Justice has long held that state and local government websites must be accessible. (Find resources showing that the DOJ has recognized since at least 2003 that state and local government websites must be accessible here.
- If your organization is already meeting WCAG 2.1 it is important to explain the benefits and your successes!
- Many states have laws and regulations that state and local agencies, including educational institutions, need to follow that parallel the Title ii rule. Many of these are stricter than the Title ii rule. While I don’t have direct experience with this, I have heard from several people that many state and local governments that currently follow what is in the Title ii web rule have discovered that following this rule has lowered the cost of accessibility for them. [Thanks to Jonathan Katz-Ouziel who provided helpful information I included in this item.]
The agency does not have to meet with you. And receiving meeting requests may or may not make a difference in the outcome. But it may be helpful if many people let the government know that this rule is extremely important to them. If there are changes, and those changes are challenged in court, it could also be helpful to have meeting requests on file.
If OIRA does set up a virtual meeting with you, representatives of the Justice Department will probably attend as well. It is unlikely that either agency will say much but it is an opportunity for you to explain why the web rule is important and should not be weakened.
Protecting the Title ii web and mobile rule is an act of #Resistance in these times. Let’s tell the government that disabled people have to right to be included in all state and local government activities and that this rule matters!
Updates to this article
April 7, 2026 Update
As noted in the March 31 update below, many disability and accessibility advocates requested meetings with the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) to protect the web and mobile accessibility rule scheduled to go into effect on April 24 of this year.
Thank you to every person and organization who resisted the threatened rollback of this important rule by requesting a meeting.
Many meetings were held, but on April 7, 2026, any meetings still scheduled were cancelled. People with meetings on the calendar received an email stating the following. (OMB stands for the Office of Management and Budget. OIRA is part of OMB.)
OMB concluded review on 1190-AA82 (Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability; Accessibility of Web Information and Services of State and Local Government Entities). Since the rule is no longer under review, we cannot grant further EO 12866 meetings. We endeavor to accommodate all EO 12866 meeting requests. Thank you for your request, and we apologize for the inconvenience.
What does this mean for the Title II web and mobile accessibility rule? One of two things:
- The rule will stay as it is (which is as it has been since it was adopted in 2024)
- The government will change the rule before the April 24 deadline.
I could speculate, but I won’t. (Though I will say that we’ll probably find out before April 24.)
Instead I will remind us all that the Americans with Disabilities Act has required digital accessibility since 1996. Whatever happens with this rule, access to digital platforms, tools, and content is a civil right that agencies and others covered by this rule ignore at their peril.
March 31, 2026 Update
On March 17 Ken Nakata of the Converge Accessibility consultancy posted a critical update on the status of the Title II web and mobile accessibility rule. Read his article, titled Red Alert, the DOJ Web Rule, here.
Ken wrote that “There are credible rumors that the Title II web accessibility rule may not just get pushed back — it may get pulled entirely.” He encouraged people to request meetings with OIRA as recommended in the article above. (OIRA is the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, a federal agency with the power to approve a change to the web and mobile accessibility rule for state and local governments.)
Many people did request the meetings, and many meetings were held.
March 6, 2026 Update
On March 5, 2026 The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) submitted a strong letter to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs opposed to any changes to the 2024 Title II web and mobile accessibility rule discussed in this article.
Here is an excerpt from the NFB’s letter:
There is no basis for reconsidering the website rule, which has already gone through fourteen years of consideration, public input, and adjustment, and which is based on a requirement in existence for nearly fifty years. Additionally, public entities have had nearly thirty-six years to prepare for the requirements that were initially established in the ADA, clarified by the final rule, and have been actively requested by stakeholders on all sides. Conversely, delaying or amending the regulation at this point would severely harm blind and other disabled Americans by denying us access to important civic information. <cite
As discussed in the article above, you can tell the federal government not to change the rule by requesting a meeting with OIRA. Details on how to request the meeting are in this article. As explained above, when requesting your meeting you will be asked to “provide a narrative description of what you will be presenting at your E.O. 12866 meeting. Some ideas for that are suggested in the main article.
You can get other ideas of what to present in the NFB’s letter linked above. You can also say you want a meeting to share your agreement with the NFB’s March 5 letter.
Organizations can also take action to present the rule by writing a letter as the NFB did.