UDSKRIFT 🔗
WEBVTT
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.959
You are listening to the Access Brief Podcast Edition of the Book Real Relevant Required.
00:00:07.280 --> 00:00:09.199
My name is Becky Rehorn.
00:00:09.519 --> 00:00:12.160
We are continuing part one Real.
00:00:12.480 --> 00:00:15.039
In chapter one, we looked at how we got here.
00:00:15.279 --> 00:00:19.280
In chapter two, what the rule actually says, we open the rule itself.
00:00:19.679 --> 00:00:23.120
The april twenty twenty four final rule is short.
00:00:23.359 --> 00:00:31.519
The Federal Register Version, including the explanatory preamble that accompanies every federal rulemaking, is roughly one hundred pages.
00:00:31.760 --> 00:00:39.759
The rule itself, the portion that actually amends the code of federal regulations and carries the force of law, is shorter than this chapter.
00:00:39.920 --> 00:00:43.039
A practitioner can read it in an afternoon.
00:00:43.920 --> 00:00:47.439
Most of the practitioners I know have not read it.
00:00:48.079 --> 00:00:49.679
That is not a criticism.
00:00:49.840 --> 00:01:05.840
Federal rules are written in a register most of us do not use in our day jobs, and the April twenty twenty four rule arrived during a period when the agency staff and consultants responsible for implementing it were already being asked to deliver more with fewer people.
00:01:06.079 --> 00:01:14.079
What I offer in this chapter is the rule in plain language, what it requires, who it covers, what it exempts, and where the edges are.
00:01:14.400 --> 00:01:24.079
Every substantive claim here is anchored to a citation in the endnotes so you can verify the source for yourself what the rule requires.
00:01:25.359 --> 00:01:29.439
Strip the rule to its core and it says three things.
00:01:30.239 --> 00:01:41.920
First, state and local government web content and mobile applications must conform to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version two point one level A.
00:01:42.640 --> 00:01:50.000
Level AA is the most widely adopted accessibility standard for government and private sector programs worldwide.
00:01:50.319 --> 00:01:53.599
Chapter three covers what it requires in detail.
00:01:54.560 --> 00:02:03.760
Second, the obligation runs to content the agency produces itself and to content produced by third parties on the agency's behalf.
00:02:03.920 --> 00:02:08.080
A consultant built project website is the agency's responsibility.
00:02:08.319 --> 00:02:12.080
A vendor hosted comment portal is the agency's responsibility.
00:02:12.319 --> 00:02:16.800
A mobile app developed under contract is the agency's responsibility.
00:02:17.039 --> 00:02:21.360
The agency cannot delegate the obligation by delegating the work.
00:02:21.759 --> 00:02:26.000
Third, compliance must be met by a fixed deadline.
00:02:26.159 --> 00:02:35.439
There is no phased on ramp, no partial credit scheme, and no general provision for we will comply once we finish our current IT project.
00:02:35.680 --> 00:02:42.560
The deadline arrives, and on that date, the content either conforms or it does not.
00:02:42.800 --> 00:02:44.479
That is the core of the rule.
00:02:44.639 --> 00:02:54.639
The remaining provisions are definitional, who is covered, what exemptions apply, and what counts as an acceptable alternative path to equivalent access.
00:02:54.879 --> 00:03:00.319
The rest of this chapter walks through each of those who is covered and when.
00:03:00.800 --> 00:03:06.159
The rule applies to every public entity subject to Title II of the ADA.
00:03:06.400 --> 00:03:08.240
No agency is exempt.
00:03:08.560 --> 00:03:12.719
That is a larger universe than many practitioners realize.
00:03:12.879 --> 00:03:30.960
It includes state governments, county and municipal governments, public universities and community colleges, K twelve school districts, transit agencies, water and sewer authorities, public housing authorities, and special districts of every description.
00:03:31.199 --> 00:03:37.199
What differs by population is not whether the rule applies, but when compliance is required.
00:03:37.439 --> 00:03:44.719
Agencies serving populations of 50,000 or more must comply by April 26, 2027.
00:03:44.960 --> 00:03:55.360
Agencies serving populations under 50,000 and all special district governments regardless of population must comply by April 26, 2028.
00:03:55.759 --> 00:04:02.479
These dates reflect a one year extension granted by DOJ in April 2026 through an interim final rule.
00:04:02.639 --> 00:04:10.560
The original deadlines were April 24, 2026 and April 26, 2027, respectively.
00:04:10.800 --> 00:04:24.079
The extension was an acknowledgement that DOJ had overestimated the advancement and availability of technology and underestimated the resource and staffing constraints facing covered agencies.
00:04:24.319 --> 00:04:34.399
The substantive requirements of the rule, the WCAG two point one level AA standard, the scope of coverage, the absence of a safe harbor, are unchanged.
00:04:34.639 --> 00:04:37.839
The extension is not an invitation to delay.
00:04:38.079 --> 00:04:49.600
Agencies that wait until early 2027 or early 2028 to begin will find themselves in the same compressed remediation posture the extension was designed to relieve.
00:04:49.839 --> 00:05:00.399
Chapter four addresses common points of confusion about coverage, including how population is measured and how special districts are treated under the rule.
00:05:01.120 --> 00:05:04.720
What counts as web content and mobile apps?
00:05:04.959 --> 00:05:13.360
The phrase web content and mobile apps is deliberately broad, and the breadth is where most scoping conversations get stuck.
00:05:13.680 --> 00:05:21.680
Web content, as the rule uses the term, is the full set of information and experiences delivered to users through a web browser.
00:05:21.920 --> 00:05:46.560
That includes the public facing website pages most practitioners think of first, but it also includes documents
Load full transcript
linked from those pages, PDFs, Word documents, spreadsheets, presentations, embedded video and audio, interactive maps, comment portals, online forms, surveys, registration systems, and third party platforms an agency uses to communicate with the public.
00:05:46.800 --> 00:05:58.399
If a member of the public reaches the content through a link on the agency's site, through a login the agency provides, or through a service the agency directs them to, the content is in scope.
00:05:58.560 --> 00:06:01.040
Mobile applications are treated the same way.
00:06:01.279 --> 00:06:16.319
Any application the agency makes available to the public, whether developed in-house, commissioned from a contractor, or licensed from a vendor, and branded as the agency's own, must meet the same WCAG 2.1AA standard.
00:06:16.639 --> 00:06:22.000
That broad definition of web content has two practical consequences worth highlighting.
00:06:22.240 --> 00:06:28.800
The first is that PDFs are in scope, and PDFs are frequently where the largest compliance gap resides.
00:06:29.120 --> 00:06:42.399
An agency can redesign its website and still be noncompliant if the documents linked from that website, environmental assessments, meeting minutes, budget documents, public notices have not been remediated.
00:06:42.800 --> 00:06:51.439
The purpose of analysis of State Department of Transportation public involvement plans discussed in chapter 5 illustrates the scale of this gap.
00:06:51.680 --> 00:06:54.800
Chapter 5 treats the PDF problem in detail.
00:06:55.839 --> 00:07:03.360
The second is that third-party platforms are in scope when they are used to deliver agency services or information.
00:07:03.920 --> 00:07:17.680
If an agency uses a third-party survey tool to collect public comment, a third-party video platform to host public hearings, or a third party payment processor to accept utility payments.
00:07:17.839 --> 00:07:23.040
The accessibility of those platforms is the agency's responsibility, not the vendors.
00:07:23.360 --> 00:07:26.480
The rule does not care where the content is hosted.
00:07:26.720 --> 00:07:29.759
It cares whether the public can access it.
00:07:30.560 --> 00:07:36.240
The exceptions The rule includes five narrow exceptions.
00:07:36.480 --> 00:07:42.959
All of them are narrower than they first appear, and none of them should be treated as default safe harbors.
00:07:43.279 --> 00:07:45.120
Archived web content.
00:07:45.360 --> 00:07:57.759
Content that is reproduced exactly as it was originally published, retained exclusively for reference, research or record keeping not used beyond those purposes and clearly identified as archived is exempt.
00:07:58.560 --> 00:08:00.720
The four elements are conjunctive.
00:08:00.959 --> 00:08:04.079
A document is archived only if it meets all of them.
00:08:04.399 --> 00:08:09.199
A PDF buried three clicks deep on an agency site is not archived.
00:08:09.519 --> 00:08:11.360
It is simply old.
00:08:11.920 --> 00:08:15.839
Preexisting conventional electronic documents.
00:08:16.160 --> 00:08:30.879
Documents published to a website or mobile app before the agency's compliance date are exempt unless they are currently being used to apply for, gain access to, or participate in the agency's programs or activities.
00:08:31.120 --> 00:08:34.960
The exemption sunsets on contact with current service delivery.
00:08:35.200 --> 00:08:41.919
The moment a preexisting document is actively used, it loses its exempt status and must be remediated.
00:08:42.320 --> 00:08:47.039
Third party content not posted by or on behalf of the agency.
00:08:47.360 --> 00:08:57.600
Content posted by members of the public, for example, a comment left on a municipal social media account by a resident, is not the agency's responsibility to remediate.
00:08:57.840 --> 00:09:07.840
Content posted by the agency or by a contractor operating under the agency's direction is the agency's responsibility even if it lives on a third party platform.
00:09:08.399 --> 00:09:12.000
Individualized, password protected documents.
00:09:12.559 --> 00:09:27.679
Content created for a specific individual and protected behind authentication, a student's individualized education program, for example, or a parent's view of their child's school records is exempt in limited circumstances.
00:09:27.919 --> 00:09:34.080
The exemption is narrow and does not extend to password protected content generally.
00:09:34.960 --> 00:09:37.840
Preexisting social media posts.
00:09:38.480 --> 00:09:43.840
Posts an agency made on social media platforms before the compliance date are exempt.
00:09:44.080 --> 00:09:48.399
Posts made on or after the compliance date are not.
00:09:48.639 --> 00:09:55.279
Each of these exceptions will draw scoping questions from readers who want to apply them more broadly than the rule allows.
00:09:55.440 --> 00:09:58.080
The analytic discipline is the same in every case.
00:09:58.320 --> 00:10:10.320
Read the exception narrowly, document the basis on which you are claiming it, and remember that the exception exists to address a specific limited problem, not to reduce the total universe of work.
00:10:11.120 --> 00:10:13.120
Equivalent facilitation.
00:10:13.279 --> 00:10:25.440
The rule permits an agency to use a method or material not specified in WCAG 2.1AA if the alternative provides substantially equivalent or greater accessibility.
00:10:25.759 --> 00:10:32.559
This provision, often called equivalent facilitation, is important and limited in equal measure.
00:10:32.799 --> 00:10:38.080
Equivalent facilitation is important because accessibility is a field that continues to evolve.
00:10:38.240 --> 00:10:44.080
The rule does not freeze practice at the 2018 publication of WCAG 2.1.
00:10:44.320 --> 00:10:49.120
It allows for practices and technologies that achieve the same or better outcomes.
00:10:49.279 --> 00:11:02.159
An agency that adopts WCAG 2.2, for example, is generally considered to meet the 2.1 requirement because 2.2 adds to 2.1 rather than replacing it.
00:11:02.320 --> 00:11:04.000
The provision is also limited.
00:11:04.320 --> 00:11:11.039
Equivalent is a high bar and the burden of demonstrating equivalence falls on the agency claiming it.
00:11:11.279 --> 00:11:23.360
An agency that builds a conforming alternate version of a website, a separate parallel version intended for users of assistive technology is generally not meeting the equivalent facilitation standard.
00:11:23.840 --> 00:11:28.480
Separate is not equal, and the rule reflects that principle.
00:11:28.720 --> 00:11:42.960
In practice, equivalent facilitation is used most successfully as a forward looking provision, a way to adopt emerging best practice, rather than as a workaround for declining to meet the specified standard.
00:11:43.679 --> 00:12:02.559
The rule in one paragraph If a public entity subject to Title II produces or commissions web content or a mobile app that members of the public are expected to access, that content must conform to WTAG two point one level AA by the agency's compliance deadline.
00:12:02.960 --> 00:12:05.519
A small number of narrow exceptions apply.
00:12:05.759 --> 00:12:10.240
Alternative methods may be used if they achieve equivalent or greater accessibility.
00:12:10.480 --> 00:12:17.279
Responsibility for compliance cannot be transferred to a contractor, a vendor, or a third party platform.
00:12:18.480 --> 00:12:33.840
With the rule itself covered, the next chapter translates WCAG two point one level double A, the standard the rule points to, into language a practitioner can work with four key takeaways in chapter two.
00:12:34.879 --> 00:12:48.480
Number one, the rule requires three things conform to WCAG two point one level AA, cover all content produced by or on behalf of the agency, and meet the deadline.
00:12:48.639 --> 00:12:53.919
Number two, PDFs are in scope and are frequently the largest compliance gap.
00:12:54.080 --> 00:12:58.480
A redesigned website with inaccessible documents is still noncompliant.
00:12:59.360 --> 00:13:05.039
three, third party platforms are in scope when used to deliver agency services.
00:13:05.279 --> 00:13:09.039
The agency cannot transfer the compliance obligation to a vendor.
00:13:10.960 --> 00:13:13.519
four, the five exceptions are narrow.
00:13:13.679 --> 00:13:17.279
Treat each one as a limited carve out, not a general safe harbor.
00:13:17.759 --> 00:13:19.679
That's it for chapter two.
00:13:20.159 --> 00:13:21.600
Thank you for listening.
00:13:21.919 --> 00:13:34.399
In the next episode, chapter three, WCAG two point one level AA in practice, we take the standard the rule points to and translate it into language a practitioner can work with.
00:13:34.639 --> 00:13:37.279
As always, keep moving forward.