There’s a pattern I’ve been seeing more and more lately.
State and local government agencies now know they need their websites and electronic documents to be accessible. But when they turn to their consultants for help, they’re often met with something like:
“Accessi… what?”
The Gap No One Planned For
For years, accessibility has lived in the margins of most projects. It wasn’t explicitly included in the scope and it wasn’t enforced. So consultants did what they do. They delivered their scopes, on time and on budget.
And accessibility? It was never even discussed.
The Big Gotcha
With updates to ADA Title II requiring state and local agencies to meet WCAG 2.1 AA standards, accessibility is no longer a “nice to have.”
It’s not even just a best practice.
It’s a legal requirement.
And that changes the stakes—for everyone.
Here’s Where Contractors Are Getting Tripped Up
Here are two scenarios that I’m seeing a lot:
1. The Clause You Didn’t Realize Mattered
A lot of government contracts already include accessibility requirements. But they don’t always call them that.
For example, the State of Maryland has included a “non-visual access” clause in all of its contracts for years. Most likely, nobody knew what it meant. Not the agency, not the procurement people, and least of all the contractor.
It didn’t stand out because it didn’t say “WCAG” or “ADA” or “508.” It just seemed like some random thing the IT people stuck in there that wasn’t really important.
Now?
Agencies are enforcing it.
And suddenly that overlooked clause matters—a lot.
2. The “Comply With All Laws” Catch-All
Most government contracts include language like:
“The contractor must comply with all applicable federal, state, and local laws.”
In the past, accessibility might not have been covered by that clause.
Now it is.
Because ADA Title II has been updated to explicitly require state and local agencies to align their content with WCAG 2.1 AA, accessibility is now in scope, even if it’s never mentioned anywhere in the contract.
This Affects Your Bottom Line
A lot of consultants didn’t budget for this.
- They weren’t asked about accessibility
- They weren’t trained in it
- They didn’t realize it applied to them
So now we’re seeing teams scramble, trying to retrofit accessibility into:
- websites already built
- PDFs already published
- systems already live
That’s expensive, stressful, and completely avoidable.
Don’t Be That Person
If you’re a contractor working with state or local agencies, this is the moment to pause and take a closer look.
Review your contracts carefully:
- Don’t just search for “ADA” or “508”
- Look for language like “non-visual access”
- Pay attention to general compliance clauses
And then ask the real question:
“Am I responsible for delivering accessible content?”
Because if the answer is yes—and in many cases, it is—you need to plan accordingly.
This Is Bigger Than Compliance
Those of us who care about digital accessibility finally have the law on our side. Yay!
But this isn’t really about compliance. It’s about the people agencies serve.
It’s about whether everyone can:
- read a document
- complete a form
- access information they rely on
…regardless of disability.
Digital access is a human right.
It’s time to start treating it that way.
The Work Ahead
We’re still in the early days of this shift.
A lot of consultants are just now realizing:
- what accessibility is
- why it matters
- how it applies to their work
Which means education is the real work right now.
Not just fixing documents.
Helping people understand:
- what’s required
- what’s at stake
- how to do it right
If you’re already in this space, you’re ahead of the curve.
If you’re not?
Now is the time to get up to speed.
Because accessibility isn’t going away.
And the people who understand it—who can translate it into real, practical action—are going to be the ones everyone turns to next.
