Staying Ahead of Accessibility Regulations

What to Know About Recent Accessibility Regulatory Changes

When you own or operate a business, staying informed of shifting regulations is crucial to meeting accessibility standards and ensuring that your site is usable to all. And 2024 has been a big year regarding accessibility regulations, so we’ve compiled some rules and proposed changes you may have missed.

California AB 424 and California AB 1757

California has a rich history of enacting online legislation toward the protection of consumer rights, from the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and amended California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), to the proposed California Children’s Data Privacy Act. Assembly Bill No. 434 is no exception.

Enacted in 2019, AB 434 requires all state agency websites to adhere to accessibility standards, currently the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0. Agencies must post a certification signed by the agency director and chief information officer verifying the website meets WCAG 2.0 Level AA success criteria. At minimum, this certification must be actively maintained and renewed every two years.

No fines have been established for non-compliance. However, the California Attorney General maintains the right and responsibility to bring legal action against anyone who doesn’t comply after they have been expressly notified with continued refusal to act.

On the other hand, the proposed Assembly Bill No. 1757 applies WCAG to websites and mobile apps providing products and services, expanding liability to third-party developers and businesses in the private sector that operate in California, including those headquartered in other states. Since many businesses outside of California have customers in California too, the law could become a national standard for accessibility, which is a definite first for WCAG.

While advocates applaud moves to ensure the fundamental right of digital inclusion for the nearly 15% of the U.S. population with a cognitive or physical impairment, there are concerns about the potential burden on small businesses, as this bill opens them up to litigation if they fail to meet the standards.

Some lawmakers worry this could stifle the state’s flourishing startup culture. Critics also point out that in the past year alone, over 1,000 web accessibility lawsuits have been filed in California, more than in any other state.

At this time, no framework has been outlined to penalize businesses that fail to act. We expect this to change as the conversation continues to evolve.

Colorado HB21-1110

Colorado’s HB21-1110, officially titled “Colorado Laws For Persons With Disabilities,” represents one of the most comprehensive state-level accessibility laws in the United States to date.

While digital accessibility has long since been embedded in state statutes, not to mention federal laws like Sections 504 and 508, there was no official process for instituting this requirement. Additionally, the lack of a defined standard and vague definition of “disability” made it difficult to enforce.

Following the passage of this bill, it is now a state civil rights violation for a government agency in Colorado to exclude someone with a disability from accessing or receiving services on account of an accessibility issue with one of its digital offerings.

The Governor’s Office of Information Technology (OIT) is tasked with all of the following:

• Define a standard. (WCAG 2.1 level AA)
• Receive and review accessibility plans from state agencies
• Work with agencies to create an implementation methodology
• Provide resources, training, and tools to help state governments adopt the standards.

However, the implementation portion still falls on those bodies.

There are two major deadlines to be aware of. Agencies were first directed to develop an accessibility plan by July 1, 2022. They were then allotted two years to integrate the standard, such that failing to comply by July 1, 2024 was considered and would be treated as discrimination.

Note that on April 15, a bill was introduced in general assembly (hb24-1454) which pushes the deadline forward one year for entities that have demonstrated a “good faith effort toward compliance.” It was finalized on May 23, 2024, making the revised deadline July 1, 2025.

European Accessibility Act (EAA)

Adopted in 2019, the European Accessibility Act provides guidance toward the creation of accessibility legislation among each of the EU’s member states, with an end goal of ensuring digital products and services are usable by the estimated 80 million people with disabilities living there.

Each country was directed to codify the directive into national law by June of 2022. Now, businesses covered by the act have until June 2025 to become compliant with the standards set out in laws governing the country in which they operate.

The EAA casts a wide net – any company that sells goods or services in the EU market must follow the accessibility regulations of each member state they operate in, regardless of where the business is headquartered. This includes websites, mobile apps, electronic documents, e-books, and more.

The penalties are varied, depending on the context, severity, number of employees, number of impacted customers, and regulatory environment in the nation(s) where the business is conducted. The directive states that “Penalties shall take into account the extent of the non-compliance, including its seriousness, and the number of units of non-complying products or services concerned, as well as the number of persons affected.” Consequences could include, but are not limited to:

• Legal action from individuals and advocacy organizations
• Fines (amounts are left up to the member states). The EAA simply states that these must be “effective, proportionate, and dissuasive”
• Imprisonment (currently in Ireland) for individuals in certain positions
• Loss of customers
• Reputational damage
• Inability to contract with or provide services to governmental authorities

For large multinational businesses with complex digital ecosystems across Europe, the time to initiate comprehensive accessibility remediation is now. With strict enforcement mechanisms and penalties for non-compliance, companies cannot afford to be caught unprepared when the 2025 deadline arrives.

What’s Next?

Ensuring your digital properties comply with the latest rules and regulations can be challenging. Laws are drafted and passed, but frequently, enforcement doesn’t begin immediately, making timing feel like a moving target. Building or remediating a compliant digital space can sometimes feel confusing, stressful, and downright impossible.

But it doesn’t have to be.

Accessibility is not just a fundamental human right. Time and time again, it has been proven to pay massive dividends including improved search engine rankings, a wider customer base, and additional business opportunities.

Compliance is not only better for the community at large, it protects your bottom line. Don’t know where to start?

Let’s talk!