Digital Accessibility

All resources on this page are free. There are additional resources that exist that may not be free. For the purposes of supporting state workers who may be working under limited budgets or facing other barriers, we are sharing the ones that have no cost. Resources are subject to change.

What is the state requirement?

  • Digital Accessibility Policy | WaTech
    • Who is WaTech?
      • WaTech is a Washington state agency that sets the standard for state government agencies.
      • Their Digital Accessibility Policy is called "USER-01," and was previously called "OCIO Policy #188," so you may see that previous name in older documents. We recently helped renew and revise this policy.
      • It is important to continue to include community voices, especially by those impacted by accessibility as those closest to the problem are closest to the solution. If you are interested, please contact us at access@equity.wa.gov.
  • These guidelines are called the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and called WCAG (pronounced “wick-Ahg”) for short. Specifically, Washington state agencies are currently required to meet WCAG 2.1 AA.
    • The “2.1” refers to the version of WCAG. Before 2.0, was 1.0.
    • “AA” refers to the level of criteria.
    • We will incorporate components from new versions, such as WCAG 2.2, as they are developed and consider our capacity as well as the voices of people with disabilities.

What's the federal requirement?

Deadlines

  • April 2026 - This is the compliance deadline for WA State policy USER-01, which refers to the Accessibility Standard, USER-01-01-S, requiring a minimum level of compliance of WCAG 2.1 AA for the technology we present to customers (external).
  • July 1, 2026 - By this date, the Accessibility Standard requires a minimum level of compliance of WCAG 2.2 AA.
  • July 1, 2029 - In addition to the technology required to be accessible by April 2026, the policy requires content and tools that employees use to perform their job duties (internal) meet the same standard.
  • May 11, 2026 for the two HHS (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) rulings, which impacts internal as well as public-facing, for entities of 15 or more employees who receive any federal funding -- with some caveats.
  • July 1, 2029 – This is the longer-term deadline under WaTech’s State Digital Accessibility Policy, which applies to internal employees-facing technology used by employees to perform job duties.
    • This anticipates future alignment with Title I of the ADA, should the DOJ issue a similar rule.
  • In Summary:
    • The immediate compliance date is April 2026 for content for the public.
    • The longer-term target is July 2029 for internal systems, or websites that state workers use to do their jobs.

Find Resources

Microsoft Accessibility Checker

Disability Inclusion Network

Watch the workshop

Find Community

Join Digital Accessibility Community of Practice

  • Email DEI@WaTech.gov
  • This collaborative community is open to all current Washington state employees.

Advanced Resources for Web Developers and Accessibility Testers

Quick Reference