ADA Title II and video accessibility

Current deadlines

In April 2026 the Department of Justice issued an interim final rule that moved the compliance dates back by one year:

• April 26, 2027 for public entities serving a population of 50,000 or more.
• April 26, 2028 for smaller public entities and special district governments.

The technical standard, WCAG 2.1 Level AA, did not change. A lawsuit challenging the delay was filed in 2026; check ADA.gov for the latest status.

Who is covered

State and local government entities, such as cities, counties, state agencies, public school districts, community colleges and public universities. Vendors that build or host content for them are often required to meet the same standard by contract.

What it means for video

WCAG 2.1 AA requires captions for prerecorded audio (1.2.2), captions for live video (1.2.4), and audio description for prerecorded video (1.2.5). Archived content and some third-party content have limited exceptions under the rule; review them with your counsel.

The backlog problem

Many institutions hold thousands of hours of lecture and training video. At published human rates of roughly $4 to $8 or more per minute, describing 1,000 hours could cost $240,000 to $480,000. Automated AI description is how most teams can afford to start.

A practical plan

1. Inventory public-facing video and sort by audience and traffic.
2. Caption everything first; captions are cheaper and widely understood.
3. Decide which videos need audio description, and document the ones that already describe their visuals in the narration.
4. Describe new content at publication and work through the backlog by priority.

Not legal advice

This page is general information. For decisions about your organization, consult your counsel and the rule text published by the Department of Justice.