Accessibility Testing in Colorado, Done by Hand

HB21-1110 audits, enforced since July 2025 at $3,500 per violation per person.

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The short answer for Colorado

Colorado wrote WCAG straight into its state standards with HB21-1110, and has enforced it since July 1, 2025. Statutory damages run $3,500 per violation, per person. It is the newest of the state laws, and that is exactly what makes it bite, because a public body in Colorado gains nothing from learning about this one late.

We audit against the WCAG 2.1 AA rules the state standards name, with an expert review of every rule and a professional blind screen-reader user on your real journeys. Findings come with screenshots and fixes your team can start on the day the report lands.

Which law lands on you in Colorado

Colorado HB21-1110

Standard: WCAG 2.1 AA (written into state standards)
Where it stands: Enforced since Jul 1, 2025
Who it binds: The public sector
Reaches sellers based abroad: Not by itself
What non-compliance costs: $3,500 statutory damages per violation, per person

Per violation, per person: $3,500
WCAG in state standards: 2.1 AA
Enacted: 2021
Full enforcement: Jul 2025

The Colorado HB21-1110 dates, 2 of them

Jul 1, 2024Compliance date under HB21-1110
Jul 1, 2025HB24-1454 grace period ends: full exposure begins

Read the full Colorado HB21-1110 page

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

Standard: WCAG 2.1 AA (Title II rule, de facto standard in Title III cases)
Where it stands: Title II: Apr 26, 2027 / Apr 26, 2028
Who it binds: Public and private sectors
Reaches sellers based abroad: Not by itself
What non-compliance costs: Federal lawsuits, DOJ enforcement, settlement costs

Federal web suits, 2025 (Seyfarth): 3,117
Growth over 2024: +27%
Of all Title III filings: 36%
WCAG version cited: 2.1 AA

The ADA dates, 4 of them

Apr 24, 2024DOJ Title II final rule published: WCAG 2.1 AA becomes a formal requirement for state and local governments
Apr 20, 2026DOJ extends the compliance deadlines by one year
Apr 26, 2027Deadline: public entities with a Census population of 50,000 or more
Apr 26, 2028Deadline: smaller entities and special districts

Read the full ADA page

Which date applies to a public body in Colorado

This is the part public bodies get wrong most often, and it is worth two minutes. The Title II rule sorts you by population, and the Department of Justice says in as many words that your population is not the number of people you serve. Four rules decide which figure is yours.

You have a Census population of your own. Use it. A city, a county, a state.
You are an independent school district. Use your figure from the 2022 Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates instead, not the district's enrollment.
You have no population of your own. Take the Census population of the government you are part of. A library branch, a parks department, a transit agency, a public university. This is the one that moves people into the earlier tier, and it is why the figure above matters to more than the local government itself.
You are a special district government. There is no Census population to count, and your date is April 26, 2028.

The DOJ's own example is the one that lands. A state university with 40,000 students, sitting inside a state of six million, has a population of six million and the earlier date. The student count never came into it. The full ADA page works through the rest, including the five kinds of content that are exempt and the cost defense and who has to prove it.

Take federal health money as well and a second clock runs beside this one, because the HHS Section 504 rule counts employees rather than population. We audit against both dates at once for government bodies and school districts.

Inside an audit for a site in Colorado

Start with the honest part. The audit is the same in Colorado as it is anywhere, because WCAG does not change at a border. What changes is which law is watching and what it costs to fail, and the section above settles that.

The work itself runs in three passes. A machine finds the failures a machine can prove. A human works every one of the 55 A and AA rules by hand. Then a professional blind screen-reader user opens your real journeys and tries to finish them, the way your customers would. Every finding arrives with its screenshot and the fix that closes it, drawn from our free library of 432 guides.

None of the reference sits behind a form, either. Every number below counts pages you can go and read right now, free, whether you ever buy an audit or not.

A and AA rules we check: 55
Techniques and failures: 432
ACT test rules: 90
ARIA roles documented: 94
Terms in the glossary: 131
Checklists to work from: 9

A free 10-page scan that finds what a machine can prove, before you spend anything
Paid audits at fixed prices on the pricing page, $499 for 10 pages in 5 business days, $1,499 for 25 in 10
The exact deliverable, free to read, as the sample report

The honest limit

And an audit is evidence, not a legal opinion. We tell you what fails, who it stops, and what closes it. Whether that satisfies a regulator or a court in Colorado is a question for your lawyer, and we would rather say so than pretend otherwise.

Straight answers for Colorado

My site is in Colorado. Does that change what you test?

No. WCAG is the same standard everywhere, so the testing is identical wherever you are. What changes is which law is watching and what failing it costs, and that is what the law section on this page settles.

What law am I actually answering to in Colorado?

Colorado HB21-1110 and ADA are the ones that reach Colorado first, and each has its own page here covering what it asks for, who it lands on, and how it gets enforced. Sell into more than one market and more than one of them can reach you at the same time.

Should I be publishing an accessibility statement here?

At least one of the laws that reaches Colorado names an accessibility statement, so plan on publishing one. Our free generator writes it from what the audit found, so the page says what actually works today rather than what you hope works.

What am I paying, and what turnaround do I get?

A Rapid Audit is $499 for 10 pages, with the report in 5 business days. A Standard Audit is $1,499 for 25 pages in 10 business days. Once your team has fixed things, the re-audit is half price within 3 months.

Who does the human half of the testing?

Yes, on every audit. A professional blind screen-reader user opens your real journeys and tries to finish them, and we write down where they stop. That is the pass no scanner can run.

Related on this site

The reading behind the law that reaches you in Colorado, and the guides that turn it into work your team can do.

The short version

Laws that reach you: 2
Accessibility statement: Named in the law
Counties we cover: 64
Other states in the United States: 50
Rules we check: 55
Fix guides on file: 432
Countries we test in: 49

Write yours with the free generator

Where you stand in Colorado

A machine pass, an expert pass, and a professional blind screen-reader user working your real journeys. Every finding arrives with its screenshot and its fix.

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Counties we test in Colorado

Show all 64

Accessibility testing in other countries

Show all 49

Find out where your site stands in Colorado

Run the free scan. Read the sample report. Order the audit when you want the humans on it, and what lands is a report your developers, your lawyer or a regulator in Colorado can act on.