Rule explainer · Checked against eCFR and ADA.gov on
Which posted PDFs do you have to fix for the ADA Title II web rule? Sort them before you ask for a quote
Some PDFs posted before your compliance date may qualify for an exception from the web rule's WCAG 2.1 AA requirements. Start by identifying documents people currently use to apply for, gain access to, or participate in your services, programs or activities, and documents you post on or after that date. Check the applicable exceptions before deciding which files to include in a quote. Other ADA duties continue even when an exception applies.
This page walks through a way to sort your files, using the rule's own words. For your date (April 26, 2027 at 50,000 people or more; April 26, 2028 below that and for special districts), see ADA Title II web rule: your compliance date after the April 2026 extension.
This is a reading of the published rule and the Justice Department's guidance, not legal advice.
The short answer
A PDF posted before your compliance date doesn't have to meet WCAG 2.1 AA, unless people currently use it to apply for, gain access to, or participate in one of your services, programs or activities. That is 28 CFR 35.201(b):
"Conventional electronic documents that are available as part of a public entity's web content or mobile apps before the date the public entity is required to comply with this subpart, unless such documents are currently used to apply for, gain access to, or participate in the public entity's services, programs, or activities."
"Conventional electronic documents" means PDFs, word-processor files, slide decks and spreadsheets (35.104).
So the question for each old file is not "is it old?" but "does anyone still use it to do something with us?"
Sort your PDFs into four piles
These piles are our planning interpretation of the rule, not categories named in the regulation. The table addresses the web rule's WCAG requirements; it does not remove other ADA duties. An applicable exception can change the result for a particular file.
| Pile | What goes in it | Fix by your date? | Rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Still in use | Applications, permit and license forms, fee schedules people pay from, current agendas and packets, program rules, bid documents for open solicitations, anything a page tells people to download to take part | Usually yes, unless another applicable exception covers the file | 35.201(b), the "unless" clause |
| 2. New | Documents posted or replaced on or after your compliance date that do not qualify for another applicable exception | Yes, from that date | 35.200(b), subject to 35.201 |
| 3. Old and not in use | Past minutes, past newsletters, old reports and studies, closed bids, posted before your date and not used to apply for or take part in anything | Exempt from 35.200 while 35.201(b) applies; other ADA duties continue | 35.201(b) |
| 4. Properly archived | Old content kept only for reference, research or recordkeeping, never edited after archiving, stored in an area clearly labelled as archived | Exempt from 35.200 while the archived-content definition is met; other ADA duties continue | 35.201(a) and the definition in 35.104 |
The Justice Department's own example for pile 1: a state posted a business license application as a PDF in 2020, and people still use it. "The exception would not apply to the application and it would usually need to meet WCAG 2.1, Level AA." (ADA.gov fact sheet)
ADA.gov's First Steps guide says past council minutes, past event announcements and scans of old records would probably qualify for the preexisting-document exception if posted before the compliance date and not currently used to apply for, gain access to, or participate in the entity's services, programs or activities. (ADA.gov, First Steps)
Three things that can change the answer for a file
Editing it after your date. A preexisting document is one that was posted before your date. Replace it with a revised version afterwards and the new file is new content. For archived content the rule says so outright: it must not be "altered or updated after the date of archiving" (35.104).
Moving it into a folder called "Archive". That alone doesn't qualify it. All four parts of the definition must hold: created before your date (or a copy of older paper), kept only for reference, research or recordkeeping, not changed since, and stored in a dedicated, clearly labelled archive area (35.104). ADA.gov: "Just putting content into an archive isn't enough to make the content qualify for this exception."
Someone asking. These exceptions do not remove existing ADA duties, including effective communication. A request for an accessible version may require an accessible response even when the file qualifies for an exception; the appropriate response depends on the circumstances and applicable ADA requirements. The ADA.gov fact sheet: "even when web content or content in mobile apps does not have to meet WCAG 2.1, Level AA, a state or local government would likely still need to provide the content to a person with a disability who needs it in a format that is accessible to them."
"A vendor sends us the PDF. Is it still ours?"
Usually, yes. The third-party exception covers content a third party posts on its own, "unless the third party is posting due to contractual, licensing, or other arrangements with the public entity" (35.201(c)). And the rule's main requirement covers content you provide "directly or through contractual, licensing, or other arrangements" (35.200(b)). A consultant's report you post, an engineer's plan set attached to an agenda, or a contractor-run permit portal remains within the rule's scope. Hiring a vendor does not itself create an exception; assess any otherwise applicable exception before deciding what must meet WCAG 2.1 AA. Write it into the contract (see what to put in the purchase order).
Two narrower exceptions are rarely the big piles: documents about one specific person, their property or account that are password-protected or otherwise secured (35.201(d)), and social media posts from before your date (35.201(e)).
How to turn the sort into a quote request
- Export the list. Most content systems can list every PDF with its URL, page title and last-modified date. A crawl works too.
- Mark the date. Put documents posted or replaced on or after your compliance date in pile 2 for review, then check whether another exception applies.
- Mark use, page by page. For each remaining file, ask whether a page tells people to use it to apply for, gain access to, or participate in a service, program or activity. As a planning judgment, treat agendas and packets for upcoming meetings as pile 1 when people use them to participate; assess the particular file's use.
- Keep reference material identifiable. If you choose to archive a file, check all four parts of the archived-content definition. Moving a preexisting PDF into an archive is not required to use the separate preexisting-document exception. Give readers a way to request an accessible version and name who answers.
- Count pages, not files. Note scanned files and fillable forms separately, and ask for separate prices; the Washington contract has distinct document categories and form add-ons (price ranges).
- Request a quote for the files your review identifies as needing remediation, plus a per-page price for future files and accessible versions requested later.
What we can do with pile 1
Tagged PDFs for public documents
USD 4 per page
We add the structure a screen reader follows to PDFs your organization already posts: headings, lists, tables, image descriptions and reading order. Every page looks exactly as it did. Each file comes back with a check report you can verify.
- Minimum USD 100 for each order.
- A first order: USD 400 at most, for up to 100 pages. We agree the file list and the price in writing before any work.
- Qualifying files are typed (born-digital), at most 35 pages per file, with fonts embedded; no scanned pages, fillable forms, maps/drawings, or signed/locked files.
- Nothing is paid up front: we invoice after delivery. Pay by card, purchasing card or purchase order.
- If your staff find a problem in a file’s structure within 30 days of delivery, we fix it free. If we can’t fix it, you pay nothing for that file.
- One free file per organization.
- We don’t say whether a file complies with any law or standard.
Get one file tagged free Prices, a before and after, and how to order
Is any of this changing?
Both the dates and the exceptions come from interim and final rules the Justice Department can still revise. The April 20, 2026 interim final rule moved only the dates (91 FR 20902) and says it does not alter the rule's other provisions. Our reading is that the old-document cutoff moves with the compliance date, because 35.201(b) keys the exception to that date. The National Federation of the Blind filed a court challenge to the extension on May 21, 2026 (complaint; docket copy, No. 1:26-cv-02007, D. Md.). It asks the court to set aside both the Justice Department's extension and the matching HHS Section 504 extension. In the docket copy we read on November 5, 2026, the court has not ruled; we say nothing about the outcome. We will update this page if the dates or exceptions change.
How we checked
We read 28 CFR 35.104, 35.200 and 35.201 in the eCFR (point-in-time version for November 1, 2026) and the Justice Department's fact sheet and First Steps guide on ADA.gov on November 5, 2026; every quotation above is copied from those pages. For the court challenge we read the complaint as filed (the copy posted by the plaintiff's counsel) and the Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse copy of the docket, last updated November 4, 2026, on November 5, 2026; we did not read the court's own PACER docket. The questions this page answers are ones coordinators asked in public webinars and FAQs in 2025 and 2026.
Prepared by CyberNative AI LLC, an AI-run company, using AI agents.