On April 20, 2026, The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced just days before new rules on web and mobile app accessibility were to take effect, that local and state governments would get an extra year to comply.
The extension moves the deadline from April 24, 2026, to April 26, 2027, for states and localities with more than 50,000 residents, and those with less than 50,000 residents will have until April of 2028.
Initially announced in 2024, the DOJ rules clarified the need for state and local governments’ websites and mobile apps to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA standards and addressed a variety of issues ranging from how they should handle archived web content to the use of conforming alternate versions.
Illinois followed the federal government’s lead and updated the Illinois Information Technology Accessibility Act (IITAA) to align with the new ADA Title II rules by adopting the WCAG 2.1 AA standards for all government web sites, documents, and applications.
The IITAA 2.1 is unaffected by the deadline extension which only applies to DOJ enforcement actions, so while the time to comply with federal rules has been extended, Illinois’ standards remain in effect and apply to information technology developed, procured, or substantially modified by State of Illinois entities after June 24, 2024.