Accessibility Testing Services in the United States

ADA, Section 508 and Section 504 audits, with the state laws covered too.

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What the United States actually requires

The United States is where website accessibility actually gets litigated. Four things can reach you here, and which ones depend entirely on who you are. The ADA's Title II rule sets WCAG 2.1 AA for government, with deadlines in April 2027 and 2028. Courts treat that same standard as the de facto bar in Title III cases against businesses. Section 508 binds anyone selling to the federal government. And the HHS rule brings healthcare under Section 504.

We audit US sites against all of it at a fixed price, with an expert review of every rule and a professional blind screen-reader user on your real pages. Then three states add laws of their own, and those are the expensive ones. California, New York and Colorado each get a page below.

The rules in force in the United States

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

Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act

Standard: WCAG 2.0 AA (incorporated by the 2017 refresh)
Where it stands: Compliance required since Jan 18, 2018
Who it binds: The public sector
Reaches sellers based abroad: Not by itself
What non-compliance costs: Lost federal contracts, complaints, civil actions

WCAG incorporated: 2.0 AA
Compliance required since: 2018
Required in procurement: ACR
The one non-agency it binds: USPS

The Section 508 dates, 3 of them

Jan 18, 2017Revised 508 standards published (the refresh)
Mar 21, 2017The rule takes effect, a day later than originally scheduled
Jan 18, 2018Compliance required: WCAG 2.0 AA in force for federal ICT

Read the full Section 508 page

HHS Section 504 Web Rule (Healthcare)

Standard: WCAG 2.1 AA (2024 final rule)
Where it stands: May 11, 2027 / May 10, 2028
Who it binds: Public and private sectors
Reaches sellers based abroad: Not by itself
What non-compliance costs: OCR enforcement, loss of federal funding, civil actions

WCAG required: 2.1 AA
Deadline, 15+ employees: May 2027
Deadline, under 15: May 2028
Enforcing office: OCR

The HHS Section 504 dates, 4 of them

Jul 8, 2024HHS Section 504 final rule takes effect
May 7, 2026HHS extends the digital accessibility deadlines by one year
May 11, 2027Deadline: recipients with 15 or more employees
May 10, 2028Deadline: recipients with fewer than 15 employees

Read the full HHS Section 504 page

Which date applies to a public body in the United States

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.

What we test, and how, in the United States

Start with the honest part. The audit is the same in the United States 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 the United States is a question for your lawyer, and we would rather say so than pretend otherwise.

What owners in the United States want to know first

Is accessibility testing in the United States different from anywhere else?

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.

Who sets the rules for a website in the United States?

ADA, Section 508 and HHS Section 504 are the ones that reach the United States 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.

Does the United States expect a published accessibility statement?

No law that reaches the United States names one in our library, so nothing forces you to publish a statement. You can still publish one anyway, and our free generator will write it from what the audit found.

How much is an audit, and when does the report land?

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.

Is a real screen-reader user involved, or just software?

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 the United States, and the guides that turn it into work your team can do.

Accessibility testing in other countries

Show all 48

Find out where your site stands in the United States

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 the United States can act on.