accessiBe - Title II document readiness: A strategic checklist for state and local government

Preparing your agency for April 2026

The Department of Justice’s ADA Title II rule means that for state and local government agencies, digital accessibility is now a critical mandate. Starting in April 2026, digital documents and PDFs used for government programs and services must be accessible to all members of the public. This checklist helps your agency assess its current standing and identify the steps necessary to demonstrate good-faith progress toward accessibility and compliance.

How to use this checklist

Review each section across program, communications, IT, and operations teams

Mark items that are in place, in progress, or not yet addressed

Use results to identify gaps and prioritize next steps toward April 2026 readiness

01. Audit your assets

List program materials Catalog all documents required to access government programs, applications, and enrollment services.

Identify financial forms Locate all files related to payments, billing, and financial transactions.

Review legal notices Identify documents used for official determinations, deadlines, and due-process rights.

Catalog complaint and appeal files Locate forms used for public feedback, appeals, or legal notices.

Audit public communications Gather digital versions of official policies, handbooks, and agency-wide announcements.

Categorize by usage Separate active documents used for daily services from archival files that are no longer in regular use.

02. Prioritize by impact

Focus on service-critical files Start with the documents the public must have to complete a service or participate in a program.

Address time-sensitive content Fix deadline-driven and high-volume documents first to help the largest number of people.

Standardize your rules Use the same priority system across every department so the entire agency stays aligned.

Check relevance, not age Decide what to fix based on how often a document is used today, not how old it is.

03. Standardize your content

Set document standards Establish clear rules for creating accessible Word documents, PDFs, and spreadsheets across the agency.

Provide accessible templates Offer ready-to-use templates for common forms and notices so staff don't have to start from scratch.

Review before publishing Check every file for accessibility before it is posted online or sent digitally.

Eliminate image-only PDFs Stop using scanned, "image-only" PDFs and replace them with text-based, screen-reader-friendly versions.

Normalize accessibility Treat accessible publishing as a routine part of your workflow, not an exception.

04. Remediate and prevent

Find accessibility gaps Use a clear process to identify any existing documents that do not currently conform to WCAG.

Fix essential files Remediate all service-critical documents within a documented and reasonable timeframe.

Resolve recurring errors Identify the root cause of common accessibility failures to stop them from happening again.

Assign long-term ownership Ensure that document accessibility is a permanent part of your agency's operations.

05. Secure institutional oversight

Assign clear accountability Name the departments responsible for accessibility and apply these rules to every office.

Audit third-party vendors Include accessibility requirements in software contracts and verify the accessibility of PDFs generated by outside tools.

Support staff training Provide ongoing guidance for everyone responsible for creating public-facing documents.

Track agency progress Conduct regular spot checks on high-risk files and document your good-faith efforts toward the 2026 deadline.

Enable public feedback Maintain a clear process for the public to report document barriers and resolve these issues promptly.

Eliminate "upon request" barriers Ensure required documents are accessible by design so the public doesn't have to ask for access.

A note on your path to compliance

Under ADA Title II, demonstrating a proactive and organized approach is key to mitigating legal risk. Defensibility is built on your agency’s ability to show that you have identified existing barriers, prioritized the most impactful public materials, and established repeatable processes to address them. This checklist serves as a foundation for that strategy, helping you document your good-faith efforts as you work toward the April 2026 deadline.