Accessibility legislation: USA

In the United States, digital accessibility is anchored in a framework of civil rights laws that mandate equal access to electronic information and communication technology. The US relies on established statutes like the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Rehabilitation Act. These laws collectively require that websites, mobile applications, and digital services are usable by people with various disabilities, including those with visual, auditory, motor, or cognitive impairments. The legal consensus, reinforced by the Department of Justice and numerous court rulings, is that digital platforms are “places of public accommodation,” meaning that failing to provide an accessible digital experience is considered a form of illegal discrimination.

The scope of digital accessibility in the US is vast and covers nearly every entity that interacts with the public or the federal government. Under Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, all federal executive branch agencies and the US Postal Service must ensure their information technology—including internal software and public websites—is accessible. Title II of the ADA extends this requirement to all public entities at the state and local levels, encompassing everything from municipal websites and public school portals to voting information and emergency alert systems. Furthermore, Title III of the ADA applies to a wide array of private businesses such as e-commerce retailers, banks, travel services, and healthcare providers. Specialized laws like Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act also mandate that health programs receiving federal financial assistance must provide accessible digital health services and patient portals to ensure non-discriminatory care.

While the push for universal design is strong, certain narrow exemptions exist within the US legal framework to address specific technical or administrative realities. An organization may be excused from specific accessibility requirements if it can demonstrate that the necessary changes would cause an undue burden, defined as significant difficulty or expense relative to the organization’s total resources. However, this is a high legal bar and is rarely a successful defense in modern digital litigation. Other exemptions include archived web content that was created before specific compliance milestones and is kept solely for historical or research purposes without further updates. Additionally, entities are generally not held responsible for the accessibility of content posted by independent third parties, provided that the third party is not under a contractual or licensing agreement to provide a service for that entity. Some limited exemptions also exist for truly private clubs and certain religious organizations that do not receive federal funding.