Is Cortez's Website Ready for the ADA Title II Deadline?
Did you know the deadline already changed?
The deadline you may have written down last year is no longer the right one. A DOJ Interim Final Rule issued April 20, 2026 extended the original ADA Title II dates by one year, so Cortez now has until April 26, 2028. That extra year is exactly the window to find and fix problems before enforcement begins — the DOJ has given no signal that the date will move again.
Cortez's latest accessibility scan
Overall compliance risk: High — 2 citizen services residents with disabilities may be unable to use
⚠ Critical Service Risks
These citizen services appear to have no accessible alternative pathway — the highest-exposure findings in this scan:
- Online bill or fee payment — The only pathway we found for this service fails 3 serious accessibility checks — including: composite controls are missing required child elements for assistive tech. Residents using assistive technology may be unable to complete it.
- Permit or license application — The only pathway we found for this service fails 5 serious accessibility checks — including: aria accessibility attributes are used incorrectly and may mislead screen readers. Residents using assistive technology may be unable to complete it.
Top issues, in plain English
- critical Composite controls are missing required child elements for assistive tech (WCAG 1.3.1 · 9 pages)
- critical Accessibility attributes point at elements that don't exist (WCAG 4.1.2 · 6 pages)
- critical Delayed refresh under 20 hours must not be used (WCAG 2.2.1 · 2 pages)
- critical ARIA accessibility attributes are used incorrectly and may mislead screen readers (WCAG 4.1.2 · 1 page)
- critical ARIA attributes must conform to valid names (WCAG 4.1.2 · 1 page)
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What WCAG 2.1 Level AA means for city government websites
With 9,151 residents, Cortez falls under the DOJ's small-entity tier (under 50,000 population), which comes with the later of the two federal deadlines — but the same technical standard.
WCAG 2.1 Level AA is the technical standard the DOJ adopted for ADA Title II. In plain terms, it's a checklist that makes sure residents who use screen readers, keyboard navigation, or captions can actually use your website: text on every image, labels on every form field, enough color contrast to read, and video captions.
Smaller entities sometimes assume they're exempt. They aren't — the later deadline is the only accommodation the rule makes for size. Services like utility bill payment, permit applications, and public meeting agendas all need to work for residents with disabilities.
Cortez is a smaller community, and its website is the front door for utility bill payment, permit applications, and public meeting agendas. Under ADA Title II, that front door has to work for every resident.
Don't find out about problems from a demand letter
A11yCheck monitors Cortez's website continuously and sends a plain-English weekly digest — no technical background needed.