Title II Today: Compliance & Accessibility Insights for Monday, May 12, 2025 – Volume 103
The Month’s News in Title II Compliance
Title II Today. The world’s leading ADA Title II Compliance publication.
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News
1.) Top 5 Most Clicked News Articles From Last Month
A.) The Limits Of Automation In Web Accessibility Testing — And How Experts Fill The Gaps | TechBullion.com | April 3, 2025
Luke discusses the limitations of automated web accessibility testing tools, highlighting their inability to assess context, user experience, and dynamic content issues. He emphasizes the importance of human expertise in conducting manual audits to evaluate user interactions, contextual content, and complex elements, ensuring a truly inclusive digital experience.
B.) Why Title II Still Matters | Mike Calvo | Title2.info | April 11, 2025
Mike Calvo argues that integrating Accessibility into Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives may inadvertently sideline disability concerns. He emphasizes that accessibility, governed by laws like the ADA’s Title II, addresses infrastructure and civil rights, necessitating distinct strategies and dedicated attention separate from DEI efforts.
C.) The Clock Is Ticking For Schools And Universities To Become Digitally Accessible | Inclusivity.consulting | April 3, 2025
Eve Hill outlines the approaching ADA Title II compliance deadlines requiring public schools and universities to ensure digital accessibility across websites, learning platforms, and course materials. She emphasizes the need for thorough audits, remediation guided by accessibility experts, and ongoing maintenance to meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA standards, cautioning against reliance on ineffective overlay solutions.
D.) Can Businesses Exclude Service Animals Based On The Allergies Of Others? | ADATitleIII.com | April 3, 2025
Seyfarth Shaw LLP discusses a Florida federal court case where a medical practice excluded a patient’s service dog due to a doctor’s severe allergy, emphasizing that while the ADA generally requires accommodations for service animals, they may be excluded if they pose a direct threat to others’ health and safety, provided an individualized assessment is conducted and reasonable alternatives are offered.
E.) Trump Administration Changes Course On In-Person Requirements For Social Security | NPR.org | April 10, 2025
In a policy reversal, the Trump administration is reintroducing in-person requirements for Social Security services, raising accessibility concerns for seniors and people with disabilities.
2.) When The World Looks Away, We Build Our Own | Mike Calvo | PneumaSolutions.com | May 8, 2025
Here Mike Calvo addresses the erosion of accessibility commitments across government and corporate sectors, emphasizing that accessibility is a right, not a trend, and introduces the enhanced Scribe for Documents platform, enabling blind users to independently and affordably remediate documents with improved speed, browser integration, and multilingual text-to-speech capabilities.
3.) Clair Global Puts Weight Behind Audio Accessibility Alliance | AVInteractive.com | May 8, 2025
Sound engineer Michelle Guadalupe Felix Garcia’s journey from determination to global recognition fuels Clair Global’s backing of the Audio Accessibility Alliance, which aims to address accessibility in live event and entertainment technology.
4.) Incorporating Disability, Accessibility, And Functional Needs Populations In Hospital Emergency Planning: A New York City Case | HSToday.us | May 8, 2025
The COVID-19 pandemic exposed persistent vulnerabilities in emergency healthcare planning, prompting New York City to re-evaluate strategies for populations with limited English proficiency, vision, and hearing impairments.
5.) Audits Are Not Enough: Understanding How To Fix Accessibility Issues For Good | Nira11y.com | May 5, 2025
Here Nir Horesh argues that treating accessibility as a one-time audit-and-fix project is insufficient, advocating instead for integrating accessibility into every stage of digital product development to prevent recurring issues and ensure long-term compliance with directives like the European Accessibility Act.
6.) Legal Update: April 2025 | ConvergeAccessibility.com | May 5, 2025
Here Convergeaccessibility.com reviews April 2025’s notable digital accessibility cases, including Erika Randolph’s lawsuit against Dillard’s for website inaccessibility, highlighting ongoing legal challenges in ensuring web accessibility compliance.
7.) With Disability Rights Under Attack, History Offers Hope And A Possible Playbook | NPR.org | May 5, 2024
Ari Ne’eman condemned recent derogatory remarks about autism by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., comparing them to outdated rhetoric and calling attention to the persistent stigmatization of autistic individuals in public discourse.
8.) The Role Of ICR In Making Handwritten Documents Accessible | TechFreedom.in | May 4, 2025
Here Techfreedom.in explores how Intelligent Character Recognition (ICR) enhances accessibility by converting handwritten documents into digital formats, enabling visually impaired individuals to access content through screen readers and text-to-speech tools.
9.) States Drop Constitutional Challenge To Section 504 In Texas V. Kennedy | Deque.com | May 4, 2025
Here Deque.com reports that on April 11, 2025, Texas and 16 other states withdrew their claim challenging the constitutionality of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act in the Texas v. Kennedy lawsuit, preserving critical disability rights protections while the case continues to examine the scope of recent regulatory updates.
10.) Minnesotans, Lawmakers In St. Paul Protest Federal Cuts To Disability Funding | MPRNews.org | May 4, 2025
Disability rights advocates and Minnesota lawmakers gathered at the state Capitol to protest proposed federal cuts to disability services, warning of serious threats to housing, healthcare, and education access.
11.) Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) Ideas | DennisDeacon.com | May 3, 2025
Here, Dennis Deacon offers creative ways to celebrate Global Accessibility Awareness Day, including hosting disability showcases, assistive technology demos, panel discussions, hackathons, and social media campaigns, all aimed at promoting digital inclusion and awareness.
12.) Building A More Accessible GitHub CLI | Github.blog | May 2, 2025
Here, GitHub details its efforts to enhance the accessibility of the GitHub CLI, introducing features like improved screen reader support, customizable color and contrast settings, and a new prompting experience to better serve developers with diverse needs.
13.) News: Colorado OIT Amended Rulemaking (Part 2) | ConvergeAccessibility.com | May 1, 2025
Here, Converge Accessibility’s Ken Nakata analyzes Colorado’s Office of Information Technology’s amended rulemaking, highlighting the shift from WCAG 2.0 to 2.1 standards and the implications for state agencies and vendors in meeting enhanced digital accessibility requirements.
14.) The United States Files False Claims Act Complaint Against Three National Health Insurance Companies And Three Brokers Alleging Unlawful Kickbacks And Discrimination Against Disabled Americans | Justice.gov | May 1, 2025
The United States has filed a False Claims Act lawsuit against major insurers including Aetna, Elevance Health, and Humana, along with brokers eHealth, GoHealth, and SelectQuote, alleging they exchanged illegal kickbacks for Medicare Advantage enrollments from 2016 to 2021.
15.) Focus Priming | TemperTemper.net | April 29, 2025
TemperTemper introduces the concept of ‘focus priming,’ a technique for accessibility testing where clicking near an element sets the keyboard focus starting point, allowing testers to efficiently assess the navigability of interactive components using keyboard or screen reader commands.
16.) Automated Accessibility Test Tools Find Even Less Than Expected | Linkedin.com | April 29, 2025
Robert Dodd explores the limited effectiveness of automated accessibility testing tools, revealing that many fail to detect even straightforward issues like missing accessible names, especially when ARIA roles are used instead of semantic HTML. His findings suggest that current tools may fall short of the often-cited 30%-50% coverage, calling for deeper manual review and improved tool design.
17.) Tools Of The Trade: Accessibility Without The Cost | EqualEntry.com | April 29, 2025
Here, Equal Entry shares insights from Jeremy Rivera’s A11yNYC talk, highlighting free tools like Google Lighthouse, WAVE, and Axe Developer Tools that assist developers and designers in identifying and resolving accessibility issues efficiently, emphasizing the importance of integrating accessibility early in the development process to reduce costs and enhance inclusivity.
18.) The Accessibility Clock Is Ticking For State Governments | GovTech.com | April 29, 2025
With the federal web accessibility mandate deadline approaching, state and local governments face mounting pressure to address large backlogs of inaccessible online content, as highlighted at the NASCIO Midyear Conference.
19.) Free Contrast Report Tool | Contrast.report | April 29, 2025
Open source. Crafted by Adam Chaboryk.
20.) Organizational Scaffolding for Accessible Design and Content (Video) | A11ytalks.com | April 29, 2025
Organizations need scalability and consistency in their accessibility work, aligning people, policies, and processes to integrate it across roles. This session highlights tools for product management, UX design, web development, and content creation to embed accessibility. We will explore inclusive personas, design artifacts, design systems, and content strategies to support developers and creators, with real-world examples.
21.) The Canvas Element | HeydonWorks.com | April 28, 2025
Here, Heydon Pickering critiques the HTML <canvas> element, highlighting its reliance on JavaScript and raster graphics, which can hinder accessibility and scalability, and advocates for alternatives like SVG or semantic HTML for better user experiences.
22.) Accessibility Lawsuits Expand Beyond Websites | Accessibility.com | April 28, 2025
Here Accessibility.com reports that digital accessibility lawsuits are increasingly targeting mobile apps, videos, PDFs, and virtual events, emphasizing that compliance efforts must extend beyond websites to encompass all digital touchpoints.
23.) Menu And Navigation: The Difference | SteveFrenzel.dev | April 28, 2025
Steve Frenzel clarifies the distinction between menus and navigations in web development, emphasizing that menus are collections of actions requiring JavaScript, while navigations are collections of links built with semantic HTML, each serving different purposes in user interfaces.
24.) 3 Judges Ruled Trump Overstepped With School DEI Crackdowns | NPR.org | April 26, 2025
Here, NPR reports that federal judges in Maryland, New Hampshire, and Washington, D.C., ruled that the Trump administration overstepped its authority by ordering schools to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, blocking enforcement of the directive and preserving federal funding for noncompliant districts.
25.) The Creative Power Of Constraints | Arun.is | April 26, 2025
Here, Arun Venkatesan explores how thoughtfully applied constraints can ignite creativity, using examples from architecture, design, and art to illustrate how limitations can serve as catalysts for innovation rather than hindrances.
26.) Unlocking Accessibility: Frontend Developers Discuss Semantic HTML And Accessible Code | Accessibility.blog.gov.uk | April 25, 2025
Here UK government frontend developers emphasize the importance of semantic HTML for accessibility, advocating for early integration of accessibility practices, collaboration with design teams, and the use of tested patterns to ensure dynamic content is navigable by keyboard and screen reader users.
27.) Why Care About The No-Js Experience? | GoMakeThings.com | April 24, 2025
Go Make Things emphasizes the importance of designing websites that function without JavaScript, highlighting that users may disable JavaScript for security or performance reasons, and advocating for progressive enhancement to ensure accessibility and usability across all browsing environments.
28.) Abandoning The Accessibility Consultant Career Path | Lea.codes | April 25, 2025
Here Lea Rosema reflects on her decision to leave the accessibility consulting field, citing challenges such as limited opportunities for creative expression, the repetitive nature of audits, and a misalignment with her personal and professional aspirations.
29.) I Broke The Disabled Button | RightBadCode.com | April 23, 2025
Here Homer Gaines recounts an experience where, while testing a form’s accessibility using VoiceOver, he discovered that a visually disabled button was still accessible via keyboard navigation, highlighting the importance of ensuring that disabled elements are properly implemented to prevent unintended interactions.
30.) Dangerous Accessibility Assumptions That Put Everyone At Risk | Buttondown.com | April 23, 2025
Here, Access * Ability challenges prevalent misconceptions about digital accessibility, emphasizing that accessibility is an ongoing commitment requiring proactive design, continuous testing, and organizational accountability, rather than a one-time project or reliance on automated tools.
31.) 5 Steps To Send An Accessible Docusign Envelope | Docusign.com | April 22, 2025
Here Grady Thompson outlines five steps to ensure Docusign envelopes are accessible: uploading accessible documents, adding and labeling fields with tooltips, applying validation rules, and previewing the envelope to verify usability for screen reader users and those relying on assistive technologies.
32.) FTC Approves Final Order Requiring Accessibe To Pay $1 Million | FTC.gov | April 22, 2025
The Federal Trade Commission finalized a consent order requiring AccessiBe to pay $1 million for falsely claiming its accessWidget could make any website WCAG-compliant and for misrepresenting paid endorsements as independent reviews, mandating the company to cease deceptive marketing practices and substantiate future compliance claims.
33.) Beyond Compliance: Unlocking Business Growth Through Accessibility | ScottVinkle.me | April 22, 2025
Here Scott Vinkle outlines how accessibility drives business growth by expanding market reach to over 1 billion people with disabilities, enhancing brand reputation through social responsibility, and improving user experience with intuitive design, leading to increased sales, customer loyalty, and higher conversion rates.
34.) How To Meet SC 2.5.3 Label In Name | TPGi.com | April 21, 2025
TPGi outlines best practices for complying with WCAG 2.5.3, emphasizing that accessible names for interactive controls must include the visible label text to support speech input users, and provides examples using HTML labels, aria-label, and aria-labelledby to ensure proper association and order of label text.
35.) A11y 101: 1.4.10 Reflow | Tarnoff.info | April 21, 2025
Nat Tarnoff explains WCAG Success Criterion 1.4.10 Reflow, emphasizing the importance of designing web content that adapts to various screen sizes without requiring two-dimensional scrolling, ensuring accessibility for users who rely on screen magnification or have low vision.
36.) How To Prioritize Backlog Video Content For EAA Compliance | 3PlayMedia.com | April 18, 2025
Here Sofia outlines a structured approach for audiovisual media services to achieve European Accessibility Act compliance by 2030, detailing steps such as inventorying existing content, defining prioritization criteria, allocating resources, and implementing ongoing monitoring to ensure all video materials meet accessibility standards including captions, audio descriptions, transcripts, and sign language interpretation.
37.) Fostering An Accessibility Culture | SmashingMagazine.com | April 17, 2025
Here Daniel Devesa Derksen-Staats shares insights from his experience as an accessibility engineer, emphasizing the importance of embedding accessibility habits into organizational processes to create a sustainable, user-centric culture rather than focusing solely on compliance goals.
38.) How To Write Error Messages That Actually Help Users Rather Than Frustrate Them | Piccalil.li | April 17, 2025
Here Amy Hupe offers guidance on crafting effective error messages by identifying potential user errors, writing in a human and active voice, avoiding whimsical language, providing clear next steps, and maintaining consistency to enhance user experience and trust.
39.) Mobile App Accessibility | A11y-Collective.com | April 17, 2025
Here The A11y Collective provides guidance on enhancing mobile app accessibility by integrating features like screen reader support, high-contrast visuals, and adaptable layouts, emphasizing the importance of inclusive design to improve user experience for individuals with disabilities.
40.) Inclusive Dark Mode: Designing Accessible Dark Themes For All Users | SmashingMagazine.com | April 15, 2025
Here Alex Williams offers guidance on crafting accessible dark mode interfaces by emphasizing appropriate contrast ratios, avoiding pure black backgrounds, and providing user customization options to accommodate diverse visual needs and preferences.
41.) 14 Web Performance Tips For 2025 | Sia.codes | April 15, 2025
Here Sia Karamalegos outlines 14 strategic web performance tips for 2025, focusing on improving Core Web Vitals through techniques like optimizing image delivery, reducing JavaScript payloads, and leveraging browser capabilities to enhance loading speed and user experience.
42.) The DOJ’s Withdrawal Of 11 ADA Guidance Documents: What It Means For Website And Mobile Accessibility | Accessibility.com | April 14, 2025
Here Accessibility.com explains that while the DOJ’s withdrawal of 11 ADA guidance documents removes certain clarifications, the legal obligations for digital accessibility remain unchanged, emphasizing the continued importance of adhering to standards like WCAG to ensure compliance and inclusivity.
43.) Accessible Forms: Tips And Techniques | Afixt.com | April 14, 2025
Here AFixt outlines best practices for creating accessible web forms, emphasizing semantic HTML, proper labeling, keyboard navigation, clear validation feedback, and the use of ARIA attributes to enhance usability for users with disabilities.
44.) A Majority Of Europe’s Fintech Firms Are Not Prepared For Their Accessibility Reckoning | Emerging-Europe.com | April 13, 2025
Here Emerging Europe reports that with the European Accessibility Act set to take effect on June 28, 2025, a study by TestDevLab reveals that only 31% of Europe’s top 100 fintech firms fully meet basic web accessibility standards, highlighting a significant gap in digital inclusivity within the sector.
Last Month 📅️
45.) Default Styles For H1 Elements Are Changing | Developer.mozilla.org | April 11, 2025
Browsers are phasing out user agent styles that adjusted <h1> elements’ appearance based on nesting within sectioning elements, prompting developers to explicitly define heading styles to maintain consistent rendering and avoid Lighthouse warnings.
46.) What You Need To Know As A Library To Prepare For ADA Title II Rule Changes | DigLib.org | April 10, 2025
Here the DLF Digital Accessibility Working Group compiles key resources to help libraries navigate recent ADA Title II updates, including webinars, licensing guides, and accessibility compliance tools tailored to academic institutions and digital content providers.
47.) Automated WCAG Testing Is Grrreat! | AdrianRoselli.com | April 10, 2025
Here Adrian Roselli critiques the limitations of automated WCAG testing tools, highlighting their inability to detect many accessibility issues and cautioning against overreliance on vendor claims, advocating for informed use supplemented by skilled manual evaluation.
48.) Automated Accessibility Testing: Strengths And Limits | OpenAccess.nz | April 9, 2025
Here Callum McMenamin examines the strengths and limitations of automated accessibility testing, emphasizing the importance of combining automated tools with manual and user testing to effectively identify and address accessibility barriers in digital products.
49.) What It Means To Shift Left On Accessibility And How To Do It Right | Lullabot.com | April 9, 2025
Here Matt Robison advocates for integrating accessibility considerations from the earliest stages of a project, emphasizing collaboration among strategists, designers, developers, and project managers to build inclusive digital experiences, reduce rework, and align accessibility with business goals.
50.) The ADA Now Has Regulations For Accessibility Of Web Content And Mobile Apps | TPGi.com | April 9, 2024
Here TPGi outlines the Department of Justice’s final rule under ADA Title II, mandating that state and local government digital content and mobile apps meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA standards by 2026 or 2027, depending on organization size, with specified exceptions for certain legacy and third-party content.
51.) Using ARIA Landmarks For Better Navigation | Afixt.com | April 8, 2025
Here Michael Beck explains how ARIA landmarks enhance web accessibility by enabling users of assistive technologies to navigate efficiently through key page regions, offering practical guidance on implementing roles like ‘banner’, ‘navigation’, ‘main’, and ‘contentinfo’ to improve focus management and compliance with accessibility standards.
52.) Hiding Elements That Require Javascript Without Javascript | 0xda.de | April 5, 2025
Here, 0xdade introduces a lightweight method to hide JavaScript-dependent elements from users without JavaScript by using a single CSS class and the <noscript> tag, simplifying progressive enhancement and reducing maintenance overhead.
53.) Exploring AI’s Role In Accessibility | Aquent Gymnasium | YouTube.com | April 2, 2025
Aaron Gustafson, Accessibility Innovation Strategist at Microsoft, shares how AI is improving accessibility through tools like image alt text generation, voice preservation, voice recognition, and text transformation.
54.) What’s The Difference Between WCAG, The EAA, And EN 301 549? | TPGi.com | April 1, 2025
Here Melissa Morse clarifies the distinctions between WCAG, the EAA, and EN 301 549, explaining that WCAG serves as a global benchmark for web accessibility, the EAA is a legally enforceable EU directive mandating accessibility for digital products and services by June 28, 2025, and EN 301 549 provides detailed technical requirements to help organizations demonstrate compliance with the EAA.
Deadlines For Compliance
April 24, 2026 | Title II Deadline | ADA
State and local governments with a population of 50,000 or more must ensure their websites, mobile apps, and digital documents comply with WCAG 2.1 Level AA.
April 24, 2027 | Title II Deadline | ADA
State and local governments with fewer than 50,000 people, as well as all special district governments, must achieve full compliance with WCAG 2.1 Level AA.
➜ Title II Today News Team
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Publisher: Aaron Di Blasi, PMP
Publisher Since: March 17, 2025
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In addition to serving as Publisher for Title II Today, Aaron Di Blasi also serves as Publisher for the Top Tech Tidbits, Access Information News and AI-Weekly newsletters.
As Publisher Aaron oversees the monthly distribution of Title II Today on behalf of Pneuma Solutions.
Aaron Di Blasi, PMP
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Publisher (2025-Present)
Title II Today: Compliance & Accessibility Insights
The Month’s News in Title II Compliance
Subscription Information 📰️ABOUT 🏛️Founded in 2025, Title II Today is the world’s leading ADA Title II Compliance publication that reaches over 3,000 government officials, public sector employees, educators, public school administrators, accessibility & inclusion advocates, legal & policy experts, tech & UX professionals and nonprofits & advocacy organizations, all over the world, each month. Subscribe here. Review the most recent issues here. Title II Today: Compliance & Accessibility Insights delivers essential monthly updates on ADA Title II enforcement, digital accessibility best practices, and practical compliance strategies for public sector professionals. Stay ahead of DOJ deadlines, legal risks, and accessibility innovations with expert insights, real-world case studies, and actionable guidance to ensure your government websites, documents, and mobile apps meet WCAG 2.1 standards. Title II Today is a Pneuma Solutions Publication. Publisher: Aaron Di Blasi. RELEASE SCHEDULE 📅️Title II Today is released on the 2nd Monday of each month at 6:00 AM ET. SUBSCRIBE 📧️Do you, a friend, or colleague wish to receive the Title II Today newsletter? If so, please use or pass along our free sign-up link. You can also subscribe to receive the Title II Today newsletter on the Title II Today Website. Either of these methods will provide you with an accessibly friendly and secure medium through which you can subscribe to our mailing list. Just enter your email address, click send, and begin receiving the Title II Today newsletter. It’s that easy. WEBSITE 🌐️Visit the Title II Today website online at: https://title2.info/. RSS 📡️Do you prefer RSS? Follow Title II Today via RSS today to begin receiving current news and trends in Access Information using your choice of news aggregator. THANK YOU 🙏️Thank you for reading. On behalf of all of us here at Title II Today we look forward to keeping you informed.
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