Explore nine accessibility regulations, who they apply to, and the standards they reference. See where LatchKey can help and where human expertise is needed.
90-day review cadence · Summaries for orientation, not legal advice.
A starting point, not legal advice
These summaries explain each law’s requirements. They do not determine whether your website meets them. For advice about your situation, speak with a lawyer.
What each summary covers
Each entry starts with the requirement, then explains who it applies to, the technical standard it references, and what LatchKey can and cannot show for that law. Some laws name no technical standard; their summaries say so.
All nine at a glance
Compare the essentials, then select a law to read its full requirements and limitations.
Nine accessibility regulations, their jurisdictions, audiences, referenced standards and status. Reviewed 8 September 2026.
That people with disabilities get full and equal enjoyment of the goods and services on offer, which includes communicating with them effectively. The duty is written as non-discrimination rather than as a list of technical criteria, which is why the practical question is almost always “measured against what?”.
Who it applies to
Private businesses in the United States that operate a place of public accommodation (shops, restaurants, hotels, clinics, banks, cinemas) and, on most courts’ reading, the websites through which those businesses serve their customers. Courts still disagree about a website with no physical premises behind it.
Standard referenced
The ADA itself does not name a technical standard for private websites; courts have generally referred to WCAG. The Department of Justice has published no web rule for Title III, so there is no regulatory deadline attached to it, and consent decrees and settlement agreements have generally referenced WCAG 2.0 or 2.1 Level AA.
Where LatchKey fits, and where it does not
We test against WCAG 2.2 Level AA and publish which rules ran and which did not, which is the kind of dated record this conversation tends to ask for. Whether a particular site meets the statute is a question for a court, and no scan answers it.
ADA Title II
42 U.S.C. §§ 12131–12134 · final rule 24 April 2024, compliance dates extended by interim final rule 20 April 2026 (28 C.F.R. part 35)
WCAG 2.1 Level AA
Extended dates: 26 April 2027 and 26 April 2028
What it requires
Title II of the ADA requires state and local government websites to conform to WCAG 2.1 Level AA. The Department of Justice published that final rule on 24 April 2024 and extended its compliance dates by interim final rule in April 2026. As they stand now, they are 26 April 2027 for public entities serving populations of 50,000 or more, and 26 April 2028 for smaller entities and special district governments, a year later than the rule as published.
Who it applies to
State and local government in the United States (cities, counties, public school districts, public universities, transit agencies, public hospitals) and the web content and mobile apps they offer the public.
Standard referenced
WCAG 2.1 Level AA, named in the rule itself rather than left to case law, which makes this one of the few web obligations with both a standard and a date written down.
Where LatchKey fits, and where it does not
Our checks target WCAG 2.2 Level AA and every finding cites its success criterion by number, so a result maps back onto the 2.1 criteria the rule names. Automated checks reach roughly one third of those criteria; the rest is a person’s work, and the coverage table names the rules that were never run.
Section 508 requires federal agencies to make their electronic content accessible, and incorporates WCAG 2.0 Level AA by reference. Because it works through procurement rather than a dated rule, there is no future deadline: it applies whenever an agency buys, builds or maintains covered technology.
Who it applies to
United States federal agencies, and in practice anyone selling information and communications technology to one. The obligation sits on the agency; it reaches a vendor through what the agency’s procurement asks for.
Standard referenced
WCAG 2.0 Level AA, incorporated by reference into the Revised 508 Standards, alongside the standards’ own functional performance criteria for hardware and software.
Where LatchKey fits, and where it does not
What a federal buyer asks for is an Accessibility Conformance Report, usually written on the VPAT template, and that is human work rather than a scan output. Automated results feed it, they do not constitute it. Our Services page carries the editions we produce and their published prices.
Unruh Civil Rights Act
Cal. Civ. Code §§ 51, 52
Follows the ADA
In force
What it requires
Equal access to accommodations, advantages, facilities, privileges and services regardless of disability. The mechanic that matters online is the link to federal law: a violation of the ADA is treated as a violation of Unruh without a separate showing of intent.
Who it applies to
Business establishments in California, which state courts have read broadly. It sits on top of the federal duty rather than replacing it.
Standard referenced
None of its own. It inherits whatever standard applies under the ADA, which for websites means the case law described under Title III above. Enforcement is mainly by private action, and § 52 sets minimum statutory damages of $4,000 per violation plus attorney’s fees.
Where LatchKey fits, and where it does not
Because Unruh follows the ADA, the answer here is the Title III answer: WCAG 2.2 AA-based testing, a published coverage table, and no verdict from us about your site. We do not indemnify you or pay legal fees.
Colorado HB21-1110
C.R.S. § 24-34-802, as amended by HB24-1454 · rules at 8 C.C.R. 1501-11
WCAG 2.1 Level AA
Rules in effect since 1 July 2024
What it requires
That a covered agency’s websites and digital products follow the technology accessibility standards adopted by rule by the state’s Office of Information Technology, which are WCAG 2.1 Level AA at 8 C.C.R. 1501-11. The rules took effect on 1 July 2024, and the 2024 amendment added a route for an agency working to a documented remediation plan.
Who it applies to
Colorado state agencies and local government. This is a public-sector law: a private business in Colorado is not covered by it, though it may well be covered by the ADA and should read Title III above instead.
Standard referenced
WCAG 2.1 Level AA, adopted by rule rather than written into the statute, so the operative text is the rule, and the rule can change without the statute changing. On enforcement, section 24-34-802 provides for statutory damages of $3,500 per violation alongside injunctive relief.
Where LatchKey fits, and where it does not
In practice the same as Title II: WCAG 2.2-based automated checks with criterion numbers you can map onto the 2.1 rule, a coverage table, and human services for the criteria automation cannot reach. A remediation plan is a document about your organisation’s own work. We can supply evidence that goes into one, not the plan itself.
European Union
1 regulation
European Accessibility Act
Directive (EU) 2019/882 · harmonised standard EN 301 549
EN 301 549 (references WCAG 2.1 AA)
Applies from 28 June 2025
What it requires
The European Accessibility Act requires covered products and services to meet the accessibility requirements in EN 301 549. It has applied since 28 June 2025. Penalties, enforcement and exemptions are set nationally, so the text that governs you is your own country’s implementing law rather than the directive on its own.
Who it applies to
Businesses placing certain products and services on the European Union market: e-commerce, consumer banking, e-books, transport and telecommunications services among them. Each member state transposes the directive into its own law, and the transpositions differ, including on which microenterprises are exempt.
Standard referenced
EN 301 549, the harmonised European standard for ICT, which references WCAG 2.1 Level AA for web content and adds requirements web content alone does not cover.
Where LatchKey fits, and where it does not
Web content is one clause of EN 301 549. The standard also covers hardware, documents, support services and real-time communication, none of which a page scan can see. We can speak to the web-content criteria automation reaches and name the rest, and our audit and VPAT work covers the EN 301 549 edition.
United Kingdom
1 regulation
UK Equality Act 2010
Equality Act 2010 (Great Britain) · public sector: S.I. 2018/952
No standard named in the Act
In force
What it requires
A duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people, and it is an anticipatory duty: you are expected to think about access in advance rather than wait for someone to ask. What counts as reasonable depends on the service, its size and its resources, which is why the Act sets no single technical bar.
Who it applies to
Service providers and employers in Great Britain. Northern Ireland has separate but comparable legislation, and the public sector has an additional set of regulations of its own.
Standard referenced
The Act names no technical standard and sets no WCAG deadline, and it would be misleading to present WCAG 2.1 AA as a legal threshold for the UK private sector. Public sector bodies are separately covered by the 2018 accessibility regulations, which do point at WCAG 2.1 Level AA through EN 301 549, whose dates have passed (23 September 2020 for websites and 23 June 2021 for mobile apps) and which require an accessibility statement in a prescribed form.
Where LatchKey fits, and where it does not
WCAG is the yardstick most UK organisations use for the digital part of an anticipatory duty, and our reports document what was checked, when, and what was not. Whether a given adjustment was reasonable is a judgement about your service, not an output of a scanner. The prescribed public-sector statement has a required form, and ours is not written to that template.
Canada
1 regulation
AODA
Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 · Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation, O. Reg. 191/11, s. 14
WCAG 2.0 Level AA
In force since 1 January 2021
What it requires
AODA requires designated organisations in Ontario to conform to WCAG 2.0 Level AA. The web requirement in section 14 of the Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation excludes live captions and pre-recorded audio description, and has been in force since 1 January 2021. Designated organisations also file periodic accessibility reports with the province, the next of them due 31 December 2026.
Who it applies to
Designated organisations in Ontario: the public sector, and private and non-profit organisations with 50 or more employees. Federally regulated organisations in Canada answer instead to the Accessible Canada Act, which is a separate regime with its own plan-and-report cycle.
Standard referenced
WCAG 2.0 Level AA, with the two exclusions the regulation names written into the requirement itself.
Where LatchKey fits, and where it does not
Ontario points at WCAG 2.0, an older version than the one we test against, and our findings cite criterion numbers precisely so a 2.2-based result can be read against a 2.0 obligation. The provincial filing is yours to make: we do not file on your behalf.
Israel
1 regulation
Israeli Standard IS 5568
IS 5568 · Equal Rights for Persons with Disabilities (Service Accessibility) Regulations, 2013
WCAG 2.0 Level AA, with local provisions
Date passed 26 October 2017
What it requires
That a public-facing website meet IS 5568, the Israeli standard built on WCAG 2.0 Level AA, and that the organisation publish an accessibility statement naming an accessibility coordinator. The date for that passed on 26 October 2017, so it is an existing obligation rather than an upcoming one.
Who it applies to
Organisations that provide services to the public in Israel through a website, under the 2013 service accessibility regulations.
Standard referenced
IS 5568, based on WCAG 2.0 Level AA with Israel-specific provisions, including the requirement to publish a statement and name a person responsible.
Where LatchKey fits, and where it does not
Widget plans include a published accessibility statement for your site, and our checks target WCAG 2.2 Level AA. This regime expects a statement in a particular form and a named coordinator inside your organisation. We cannot appoint that person, and a generated statement is a starting point for the filing rather than the filing itself.
Compliance is a legal determination, not a product feature.
A court or a regulator decides whether a particular site meets a particular law. Software cannot confer that, and a vendor who tells you otherwise is selling something they are not able to deliver. What we can do is narrower and checkable: run WCAG 2.2 AA-based checks, label every fix deterministic, inferred or declined, and publish a table naming the rules that ran and the rules that did not.
Not legal advice. These pages describe what each law asks of an organisation, and what our product can and cannot show you. Whether a specific website meets a specific legal standard is decided by a court or a regulator, never by a vendor, and never by a scan. We do not indemnify you or pay legal fees. For your own situation, ask a lawyer.
Something here out of date?
Legal-ops reviews all nine entries at least every 90 days. The last review was 8 September 2026. If you spot an error, let us know so we can correct it and update the review date.