ADA Program Access Requirements Many Government Agencies Get Wrong

There is a belief among some government officials that the Americans with Disabilities Act is primarily a building code, satisfied by installing a ramp and a few accessible restroom stalls. That belief is costing agencies enormously, in legal exposure, in enforcement actions, and in the trust of residents with disabilities. According to USAFacts, approximately 45.8 million Americans had a disability as of 2024, representing 13.7% of the population, or roughly 1 in 7 people. Every one of those residents is a potential user of a public program, a government website, a public meeting, or a city service. When agencies treat ADA program access requirements as a checklist rather than a framework, real people are shut out of civic life.

This article breaks down the specific program access obligations that state and local governments routinely get wrong, why those mistakes happen, and what agencies should do to correct them.

Key Takeaways

• Program access covers the entire program, not just the building: The ADA.gov guidance on city governments confirms that Title II requires city governments to ensure all programs, services, and activities are accessible when “viewed in their entirety,” but program access generally does not require making each part of a facility accessible. Agencies that fix one entrance and call it done are missing the point.
• Digital access is now a formal legal requirement: In April 2024, the U.S. Attorney General signed a final rule requiring state and local governments to ensure their services, programs, and activities meet web accessibility standards, making digital access an explicit legal obligation. Agencies without accessible websites are already out of compliance.
• Third-party tools are your responsibility: As DOJ’s final rule on third-party vendor accountability notes, it explicitly holds government entities accountable for the accessibility of third-party services used to deliver public programs. So if a city uses an inaccessible third-party parking app, the city, not the vendor, is legally responsible.
• Self-evaluation and transition plans are mandatory, not optional: The ADA National Network confirms that all public entities subject to Title II must complete a self-evaluation, and those with 50 or more employees must also maintain a transition plan addressing structural changes needed to achieve program accessibility.
• Grievance procedures are widely neglected: Research from Demand Our Access identifies that “one compliance mistake almost all state and local governments make is their failure to ensure every agency, department, or instrumentality... has its own grievance procedure.” If your agency does not have a published grievance procedure, it is in violation of federal law.

Quick-Start Prioritization Framework

Start here if you are:

• A small agency (under 50 employees): Begin with a self-evaluation of your programs, services, and policies. You are not required to have a formal transition plan or designated ADA Coordinator, but you are still fully subject to Title II.
• A mid-sized or large agency (50+ employees): Designate your ADA Coordinator first, then publish a grievance procedure. These two steps are legally required and carry the highest immediate risk if absent.
• A technology-forward agency: Conduct a web and mobile accessibility audit against WCAG 2.1 Level AA immediately. Review all third-party vendor contracts for accessibility language.

Mistake 1: Treating “Program Access” as Purely a Physical Problem

What Program Access Actually Requires

As Skulski Consulting explains, “program access is the foundational principle for Title II of the ADA relative to physical accessibility,” and when viewed in its entirety, programs, services, and activities must be accessible to people with disabilities. The critical word is “viewed in its entirety.” Agencies are not required to make every square foot of every building accessible. They are required to make every program accessible, which is a very different obligation.

According to the Northeast ADA Center, Title II requires that people with disabilities have equal access to state and local government programs, services, and activities, covering everything from voting at the polls to attending government meetings. A program can be made accessible through alternative delivery methods, such as relocating activities, providing home visits, or using alternative technology, rather than by retrofitting a facility.

The “Grandfathering” Myth

One of the most persistent misconceptions in government agencies is that older buildings are “grandfathered” and therefore exempt from accessibility requirements. Accessibility law experts make clear that “unlike building codes, the ADA does not allow for the concept of ‘grandfathering’”: if a barrier to access exists in a building that predates the ADA, there is an obligation to remove the barrier if doing so is readily achievable.

Pro Tip: If your agency is putting off barrier removal because a building is "old," reconsider. The obligation does not expire. As the agency's financial circumstances improve over time, barriers that were once too costly to address may become readily achievable, and that makes them newly required.

No Size Exemption Exists

The ADA.gov common problems resource is explicit: “there is no exemption from Title II requirements for small municipalities.” All public entities, regardless of size, must comply with Title II’s requirements, even though smaller entities have fewer administrative requirements like maintaining self-evaluations on file. Small towns, rural water districts, and single-purpose agencies are all covered.

Mistake 2: Skipping the Self-Evaluation and Transition Plan

Why These Documents Matter

The ADA.gov Primer for State and Local Governments states that the 1991 ADA regulation required all public entities, regardless of size, to evaluate all of their services, policies, and practices and to modify any that did not meet ADA requirements, and entities with 50 or more employees were required to develop a transition plan detailing structural changes needed to achieve program access.

In practice, many agencies completed a self-evaluation decades ago and never revisited it. The ADA Action Guide recommends an updated self-evaluation because Title II regulations and the ADA Standards for Accessible Design were updated in 2010, including requirements for recreation areas, event ticketing policies, service animals, and video-remote interpreting. A 2004-era evaluation does not cover digital accessibility, modern park facilities, or updated service delivery models.

What a Transition Plan Must Include

According to Skulski Consulting’s program access overview, Title II requires agencies with more than 50 employees to create transition plans that identify barriers, the methods for removing them, and the timelines for removal. The plan must be made available for public inspection, and public input must be solicited during its development.

The DOJ’s Title II guidance notes that documentation is an essential compliance component, especially important when situations of “technical infeasibility” are encountered. Without documentation, an agency cannot demonstrate good-faith efforts if a complaint is filed.

Pro Tip: Treat your self-evaluation as a living document. Set a recurring calendar reminder to update it whenever your agency adds a new program, renovates a facility, or launches a digital service. The goal is continuous improvement, not one-time compliance.

Mistake 3: Ignoring Digital Accessibility Until a Lawsuit Arrives

The Scale of the Problem

According to AudioEye’s 2025 Digital Accessibility Index, government websites average 307 accessibility violations per page. That figure is remarkable because it means the average government web page would fail accessibility review dozens of times over. If your agency has not audited its website, assume violations exist and audit immediately.

As accessibility compliance experts point out, private lawsuits over web accessibility do not wait for federal deadlines, and over 8,600 ADA-related lawsuits were filed in 2025 alone. An extended federal compliance deadline does not protect an agency from private litigation in the meantime.

The 2024 DOJ Final Rule and Updated Deadlines

Per the ADA.gov fact sheet on the new web rule, an Interim Final Rule published in April 2026 extended the compliance date for state and local government entities with a total population of 50,000 or more to April 26, 2027, while entities with populations under 50,000 or special district governments have until April 26, 2028. These are enforceable deadlines, not suggested targets.

The technical standard is WCAG 2.1 Level AA, a globally recognized set of accessibility guidelines covering visual, auditory, physical, cognitive, and neurological disabilities. Meeting this standard means ensuring keyboard-only navigation, adequate color contrast, text alternatives for images, accessible forms, and screen reader compatibility across all public-facing pages.

The Third-Party Vendor Trap

Many agencies assume that if a third party builds their website or payment portal, liability passes to that vendor. This assumption is wrong. As ADA Title II compliance guidance explains, Title II places the ultimate responsibility for compliance on the government entity, and “the government entity cannot transfer its obligations under Title II to third-party contractors.”

This creates significant compliance challenges because, as AudioEye’s 2025 Digital Accessibility Index shows, many vendors offer products that are not fully accessible. As a result, agencies should require vendors to provide a Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) documenting their WCAG conformance before purchasing any third-party service.

Mistake 4: Failing to Provide Effective Communication

What “Effective Communication” Actually Obligates

According to the ADA National Network’s effective communication factsheet, the ADA requires public entities to provide auxiliary aids and services so that individuals with speech, hearing, and vision disabilities can understand what is said or written and can communicate effectively, with the goal of making communication as effective as that with people without disabilities.

The scope of this obligation surprises many agencies. As the ADA Best Practices Toolkit for State and Local Governments clarifies, even “tax bills and bills for water and other government services are subject to the requirement for effective communication,” and whenever a state or local government provides information in written form, it must make that information available in usable formats for individuals who are blind or have low vision upon request.

The Cost Question Agencies Get Wrong

The ADA National Network notes that a public entity is financially responsible for the cost of auxiliary aids or services unless it can demonstrate an undue financial burden in light of the entity’s overall financial resources, and it cannot impose a surcharge on an individual with a disability to cover those costs.

This means an agency cannot bill a deaf resident for the cost of a sign language interpreter at a public meeting. It also means an agency cannot deny a request for an accessible format because it is inconvenient or expensive, unless it can formally document an undue burden.

Pro Tip: Train frontline staff, not just ADA coordinators, on effective communication obligations. Staff who interact with the public at permit counters, service windows, or by phone are on the front lines of compliance. A single poorly handled request can become a formal complaint.

Mistake 5: No ADA Coordinator and No Grievance Procedure

The Forgotten Administrative Requirements

The ADA Best Practices Toolkit states that a state or local government with 50 or more employees is required to adopt and distribute a public notice about ADA provisions, designate at least one employee to coordinate ADA compliance and investigate complaints, and develop and publish a grievance procedure for fair and prompt resolution of complaints.

These are not optional enhancements. They are legal requirements. Per the ADA Best Practices Toolkit checklist, “if the state or local government has 50 or more employees, it must have a published grievance procedure,” and “any state or local government that does not have a grievance procedure is in violation of federal law.”

The ADA Coordinator Problem

As Demand Our Access documents, while all public entities with at least 50 employees should appoint their own ADA coordinator and have their own grievance procedure, “most local governments, if they have an ADA coordinator at all, do not have one in every agency or department.” A single coordinator housed in the HR department does not satisfy the requirement for every department or instrumentality that independently qualifies as a public entity.

The Mid-Atlantic ADA Center enforcement overview confirms that information about the grievance procedure and how to contact the ADA Coordinator must be available to the public, whether posted on websites, at public offices, or in program brochures and meeting notices.

Common Misconceptions Compared to the Actual Requirements

Frequently Asked Questions

What is “program access” under the ADA?

Program access is the foundational principle of Title II, meaning that when viewed in its entirety, each program, service, and activity of a government agency must be accessible to people with disabilities. It does not require every room in every building to be accessible. It requires the overall program to be reachable and usable. Agencies can achieve this by relocating services, providing alternative delivery options, or removing physical barriers.

Does the ADA web accessibility rule apply to our agency’s social media accounts?

Per MRSC’s local government ADA guidance, certain online content is exempt from the new accessibility standards, including “preexisting social media posts.” However, new social media content posted after your agency’s compliance deadline generally must meet accessibility standards, and the government-operated platforms themselves must be accessible.

What happens if our agency cannot afford to make a required accommodation?

The ADA includes an “undue burden” defense. As MRSC explains, the undue burden provision “recognizes that some accessibility requirements place an undue financial or administrative burden on local governments, and allow a municipality to look for alternatives.” This is a formal legal defense requiring documentation, not a general excuse for inaction. The agency must still provide access to the underlying program through an alternative method.

Who is legally responsible when a third-party app or payment system is inaccessible?

Under Title II, as ADA Title II compliance guidance, the government entity bears ultimate responsibility for compliance, meaning “the government entity is responsible for ensuring that all public-facing digital content, including content provided or managed by third parties, complies with accessibility standards.” Agencies should include accessibility requirements and VPAT documentation demands in all vendor contracts.

What is the difference between a self-evaluation and a transition plan?

A self-evaluation is the process of reviewing all programs, services, policies, and practices to identify barriers. As the City of Charlottesville’s ADA plan describes, the self-evaluation identifies potential barriers to participation, while the transition plan establishes an actionable, trackable method for addressing them, detailing structural and programmatic changes with a specified timeframe for completion.

Where to Start: A Practical Action List

Compliance is manageable when broken into concrete steps. Tools like www.bluedag.com can help government agencies organize their ADA compliance workflows, track progress on transition plans, and systematically document self-evaluation findings.

Start with these actions:

• Confirm whether your agency has a designated ADA Coordinator and a published grievance procedure.
• Schedule a current self-evaluation review, specifically including digital services and communications.
• Audit your website and any third-party tools against WCAG 2.1 Level AA.
• Add accessibility requirements and VPAT language to vendor contracts.
• Train frontline staff on effective communication obligations, including auxiliary aid requests.
• Document everything; good-faith effort documentation is critical if a complaint is filed.

As ADA.gov’s Primer for State and Local Governments states, “training staff on the ADA, conducting periodic self-evaluations... and developing a transition plan to remove barriers are other proactive steps to ensure ADA compliance.” These steps are not just best practices; they are the foundation of a defensible compliance program.

Pro Tip: Accessibility is a public trust issue, not just a legal one. When residents with disabilities cannot access a government program, they are effectively excluded from civic participation. Agencies that lead on accessibility build community trust and reduce long-term legal risk simultaneously.

Disclaimer: This article is provided for general informational and educational purposes only and is not intended to constitute legal advice or a legal opinion. While reasonable efforts have been made to provide accurate and current information, laws, regulations, standards, guidance, and interpretations may change, and no representation or warranty is made regarding the accuracy, completeness, or applicability of the information provided. References to tools, resources, or compliance approaches are for informational purposes only and do not guarantee compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) or any other applicable law or regulation. Readers should consult qualified legal counsel or other appropriate professionals regarding their specific circumstances. BlueDAG assumes no liability for any errors or omissions or for actions taken or not taken in reliance on the information contained in this article.

Sources

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