Is Lewiston's Website Ready for the ADA Title II Deadline?
Did you know the deadline already changed?
Here's something many local officials missed: the original compliance deadline has already moved once. On April 20, 2026, the Department of Justice issued an Interim Final Rule pushing each deadline back a full year — which means Lewiston's date is now April 26, 2028. A one-time extension is a grace period, not a reprieve. There is no indication another one is coming.
Lewiston's latest accessibility scan
Overall compliance risk: High — 1 citizen service residents with disabilities may be unable to use
⚠ Critical Service Risk
These citizen services appear to have no accessible alternative pathway — the highest-exposure findings in this scan:
- Permit or license application — The only pathway we found for this service fails 3 serious accessibility checks — including: keyboard focus can land on elements hidden from screen readers. Residents using assistive technology may be unable to complete it.
Top issues, in plain English
- critical Buttons have no accessible name — assistive tech users can't tell what they do (WCAG 4.1.2 · 4 pages)
- critical Dropdown menus have no label — users can't tell what they're choosing (WCAG 4.1.2 · 2 pages)
- critical ARIA accessibility attributes are used incorrectly and may mislead screen readers (WCAG 4.1.2 · 1 page)
- serious Keyboard focus can land on elements hidden from screen readers (WCAG 4.1.2 · 99 pages)
- serious Text is too low-contrast against its background to read comfortably (WCAG 1.4.3 · 99 pages)
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What WCAG 2.1 Level AA means for city government websites
With 1,971 residents, Lewiston 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.
The rule points to WCAG 2.1 Level AA — a widely used technical checklist. Stripped of jargon, it asks simple questions: can a blind resident using a screen reader pay a bill on your site? Can someone who can't use a mouse complete a form with just a keyboard? Is the text readable against its background?
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.
Lewiston is a small 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 Lewiston's website continuously and sends a plain-English weekly digest — no technical background needed.