The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced a one-year extension for healthcare organizations and other federally funded entities to comply with updated digital accessibility standards under under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504), a move that immediately drew attention across the disability rights and healthcare sectors.
Under the revised timeline:
- Recipients with 15 or more employees will now have until May 11, 2027, to comply.
- Recipients with fewer than 15 employees will now have until May 10, 2028, to comply.
This action responds to concerns that a significant number of recipients of federal financial assistance, such as community health centers, large and small hospitals, and primary care centers, among other recipients, would not be able to meet the upcoming deadlines and extends the timeline for compliance with the standards of WCAG 2.1 AA. This extension also aligns Section 504 requirements with those in the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) parallel rulemaking for Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, ensuring consistency for entities covered by both laws. OCR enforces laws that prohibit disability discrimination, including Section 504.
“We have heard about the challenges our funding recipients face in meeting the original deadline,” said Paula M. Stannard, Director of the Office for Civil Rights. “We believe that this extension provides necessary flexibility, ensuring that recipients have the time to comply with accessibility standards and aligns our rules with those of our partners at DOJ. At the same time, we remind recipients of their legal obligation to ensure that their programs and activities are accessible to persons with disabilities. Equal access to health and human services is a top priority for OCR.”
The Department’s Section 504 rule, published on May 9, 2024, set standards for web content and mobile application accessibility, among a range of other provisions, to prohibit discrimination against individuals with disabilities. The provisions setting forth specific accessibility standards provided two years for recipients with 15 or more employees and three years for smaller recipients to comply. With the first deadline of May 11, 2026, fast approaching, HHS received reports that some recipients faced significant burdens that would prevent timely compliance.
The IFR provides recipients with the necessary time to ensure their web content and mobile apps are fully accessible without facing the risk of noncompliance with the regulation. This approach allows for a more orderly implementation of these important protections while HHS considers if additional rulemaking is needed.
The rule extends the compliance dates for recipients to conform web content and mobile applications to specific accessibility standards by one year. Doing so does not impose new obligations on recipients and maintains the current level of accessibility for individuals with disabilities. Recipients are required to ensure that the web content and mobile apps they provide or make available are readily accessible to, and usable by, people with disabilities.
