Insights
What a city or county accessibility statement should say, with a template you can copy.
What good looks likeBy Whitelam Media7 min read
All insightsA city or county accessibility statement should name the standard, admit what isn't fixed yet, say how to report a problem or ask for another format and name who answers and how fast. It should also show when it was last reviewed. Here are the 11 parts, with wording you can copy.
A city or county website accessibility statement should say which standard the site aims to meet (WCAG 2.1 Level AA, the one the ADA Title II web rule names), what doesn't meet it yet, how to report a problem or ask for the same information another way and who answers and how fast. It should also show when it was last reviewed, and it belongs in the footer of every page. Below are the 11 parts we'd put in one, the rule or guidance behind each and wording for a made-up county that you can copy and fill in.
We wrote this in November 2026 from the rule and the Justice Department's guidance on ada.gov, the ADA's Title II regulations, W3C's advice on accessibility statements and the federal government's own requirements for its sites. It isn't legal advice. Your ADA coordinator and counsel should read your statement before it goes live.
Does the ADA require an accessibility statement?
Not by name. The Title II web rule sets the standard: from April 2027 for places of 50,000 people or more, and April 2028 for smaller places and special districts, web content and mobile apps must meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA (ada.gov). It doesn't ask for a statement. But the duties around it all need a public place to live, and the statement is that place.
Three of those duties are older than the web rule. A public entity with 50 or more employees must name at least one employee to coordinate its ADA compliance and make that person's name, office address and phone number available. It must also publish grievance procedures for complaints (28 CFR 35.107). Every public entity must make information about the ADA's protections available to the people it serves (28 CFR 35.106). And its communication with disabled people has to be as effective as with everyone else, giving primary consideration to what the person asks for (28 CFR 35.160).
The web rule leans on that last duty. Content that falls under one of its five exceptions, such as an archived video or an old court document, may still have to be provided in a form a disabled person can use when they ask (ada.gov). Residents need to know how to ask. The Justice Department's earlier guidance also lists a way for the public to report accessibility problems among the things a website should have (Guidance on web accessibility and the ADA).
Federal agencies already have to publish one. The White House budget office's memo M-24-08 requires a statement on federal websites that names the standard, gives contacts and a way to give feedback, explains how to complain and shows the date it was last reviewed, linked from the footer of every page (Section508.gov). It doesn't bind cities and counties, but it's a useful model.
About half the city and county sites we checked had one.
In October 2026 we looked closely at 30 US city and county websites. 16 of them had an accessibility page or statement and 14 didn't (what we found). The 30 weren't a random sample, and having a page says nothing about what it says.
W3C, which writes WCAG, says a statement should at least commit to accessibility, name the standard and give contact details for people who run into problems (Developing an accessibility statement). It also advises listing known limitations, the steps the organization takes and references to the laws that apply. A local government statement needs a few more parts, because of the duties above.
The 11 parts of a local government statement.
| Part | Why it belongs | Example wording for "Example County" |
|---|---|---|
| A commitment | W3C's minimum | "Example County wants everyone to be able to use this website, including people with disabilities." |
| The standard you aim for | The web rule names WCAG 2.1 AA (28 CFR 35.200) | "We aim to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA, the standard the ADA Title II web rule sets for state and local governments." |
| Where the site stands today | W3C advises stating it | "We last tested this site in [month and year], with automated tools and by hand with a keyboard and a screen reader." |
| What isn't fixed yet, and the way around it | W3C's known limitations | "Some agendas posted before [year] are scanned PDFs a screen reader can't read. Ask and we'll send a version you can use within [3] business days." |
| How to report a problem | ada.gov guidance lists it | "Email [accessibility@yourcounty.gov] or call [phone]. Tell us the page and what went wrong." |
| Another way to get the same thing | The effective communication duty (28 CFR 35.160) | "You can also pay a bill by phone at [phone] or in person at [office address]. Ask for any document in large print, braille or another format." |
| Who answers, and how fast | The ADA coordinator duty (28 CFR 35.107(a)) | "Our ADA coordinator, [name], [office address], [phone], replies within [5] business days." |
| How to make a formal complaint | The grievance procedure duty (28 CFR 35.107(b)) | "If we don't resolve it, you can use our [ADA grievance procedure] or file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice at ada.gov." |
| Relay calls | FCC's 711 service | "If you are deaf, hard of hearing or have a speech disability, dial 711 to reach us through a relay service." |
| Tools run by vendors | The rule covers content provided through a contract or license | "Online payments and permit applications run on systems from other companies. We hold them to the same standard, so report problems with them to us." |
| The date it was last reviewed | Federal sites must show it; it tells readers the page is current | "This statement was last reviewed in [month and year]." |
Example County is made up. The parts in brackets are yours to fill in, and the numbers in brackets (3 business days, 5 business days) are our suggestions, not figures from any rule. Pick numbers your staff can meet every time.
Two rows do the most work. The coordinator row turns an existing duty into something a resident can act on: a named person, an office and a phone number, with a promise about time. Section508.gov tells federal agencies not to give a general or group inbox for their program manager (Section508.gov). A county isn't bound by that, but a named person gets answers. The "way around it" row is what keeps a known gap from shutting someone out. The 711 relay works from any phone anywhere in the US (FCC).
Where the statement goes and who keeps it current.
Put a link labeled "Accessibility" in the footer, so it is on every page. That is what federal sites must do, and Section508.gov warns against tucking the statement under a policies page (Section508.gov). Make it a web page, never a PDF.
Write it after you test the site, not before, so the gaps you list are real. Our WCAG 2.1 AA checklist for city and county websites covers the 16 checks to run first, and our free website health check gives you a quick automated read. Then review the statement on a schedule: after every audit, whenever a known gap is fixed or a new vendor tool goes live, and at least once a year. Change the date each time.
Route the email address and the phone number to people who answer them. A report that sits for weeks does more harm than having no form at all, because the resident did what you asked and heard nothing.
What a statement can't do.
A statement doesn't make a site meet the rule. The rule measures the site against WCAG 2.1 AA, and the statement only tells people where you stand. Three kinds of wording cause trouble:
- "This site is fully ADA compliant." Unless an audit against every WCAG 2.1 AA criterion backs it, don't say it. Say what you aim for and when you last tested.
- Credit given to an overlay widget. An overlay leaves the page code as it was, and the code is what WCAG tests. In April 2025 the Federal Trade Commission approved a final order requiring accessiBe, an overlay maker, to pay $1 million over claims that its AI tool could make any website WCAG compliant (FTC).
- A list of exceptions with no way to ask. The five exceptions in the rule don't remove the duty to communicate effectively. If you lean on one, say how to request the content.
For the deadlines and what to fix first, see our guide to when state and local government websites must meet WCAG 2.1 AA. For the documents the exceptions do and don't cover, see which old PDFs, agendas and vendor tools are covered.
When the known gaps won't fit in a statement.
If the honest list of gaps runs to templates, forms and thousands of documents, the statement can't carry it. Our ADA website compliance program audits the site against every WCAG 2.1 AA criterion, fixes what fails, writes the accessibility statement from the audit and keeps it current with a check every month. If you're replacing the site, our guide to writing a county website RFP for ADA Title II shows how to ask for a statement at launch. Or book a call and we'll read your current statement with you.
