The Deadline That Did Not Move

The DOJ extended the ADA Title II compliance deadlines. But there is another federal rule requiring the same WCAG 2.1 AA standard, and its deadline did not move. In this episode, Becky Rehorn breaks down the HHS Section 504 final rule, who it covers, how it overlaps with ADA Title II, and why the May 11, 2026 deadline still matters for any organization receiving federal financial assistance from the Department of Health and Human Services.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

- HHS Section 504 Fact Sheet: https://www.hhs.gov/civil-rights/for-individuals/disability/section-504-rehabilitation-act-of-1973/ocr-detailed-504-fact-sheet/index.html

- ADA Title II Readiness Checklist: https://www.aogaccess.com/ada-title-ii-readiness-checklist

- Full blog post: https://www.aogaccess.com/insights

- Accessible Organizations Group: https://www.aogaccess.com

Access Brief is produced by Accessible Organizations Group LLC.

Transcript

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If your organization exhaled when the Department of Justice extended the ADA Title II compliance deadlines, this episode is for you. There is another federal rule requiring the same digital accessibility standard, the same Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, or WCAG version 2.1 level AA, and its deadline did not move. That deadline is May 11th, 2026. This is Access Brief. I am Becky Rehorn with Accessible Organizations Group. The rule I am talking about is the Department of Health and Human Services final rule updating Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Section 504 has prohibited disability-based discrimination in federally funded programs for over 50 years. What changed in 2024 is that HHS published a final rule that specifies for the first time what accessible means for digital content. The standard is WCAG two point one level double A, the same standard as the Americans with Disabilities Act, Title II. The difference is the deadline. The DOJ extended its ADA Title II deadline to april twenty sixth, twenty twenty seven. The HHS Section five hundred four deadline remained on may eleventh, twenty twenty six. And the enforcement mechanism is separate. HHS Office for Civil Rights can investigate proactively without a complaint being filed. So who does this apply to? Any organization that receives federal financial assistance from HHS. That includes hospitals, physician practices, health plans, community health centers, and research institutions. But it also includes state agencies that administer Medicaid, public health programs, disability services, aging services or child welfare programs. The threshold is low. A single Medicare or Medicaid payment can imply coverage. If your organization is not sure whether it is covered, that determination needs to happen now, not next quarter. Here is why this matters beyond healthcare. Many state agencies are subject to both ADA Title II and Section 504. They may have felt relief when the DOJ deadline moved to 2027, but if they receive HHS funding, May 11 is still on the calendar, and the work required is the same, web content and mobile applications that meet WCAG two point one double A. The good news is that the technical standard is identical under both rules. You are not meeting two different standards. You are meeting one standard under two legal authorities. The work you do to meet Section five hundred four by may eleventh will also satisfy ADA Title II when that deadline arrives. The procurement angle matters here too. The Section five hundred four rule explicitly covers digital content provided by third parties on behalf of covered organizations. If your agency contracts with vendors or consultants to build or maintain digital content, those contracts need to include accessibility requirements. If accessibility is not in the scope of work, it is not being delivered. And for HHS funded programs, the deadline for that conversation is not twenty twenty seven. It is may eleventh, twenty twenty six. If you are hearing about this for the first time, start with one question. Does your organization receive federal financial assistance from HHS? If the answer is yes, the May 11 deadline applies. From there the path is the same as ADA Title II. Inventory your digital content, identify the highest risk assets, and build accessibility into the workflows that produce new content. I will link to the HHS fact sheet on section five oh four in the show notes so you can read the full rule yourself. The Americans with Disabilities Act Title II Readiness Checklist at AOGAccess dot com also covers the dimensions of preparedness that apply to both rules. I appreciate you spending a few minutes with me. Keep moving forward and keep checking the calendar. The full blog post on this topic is available at AOGaccess.com.