Eight laws.
One technical standard.
Accessibility law is written in different places, enforced by different bodies, and names different versions of the same guidelines. Almost all of it is assessed against WCAG — and WCAG conformance is cumulative, so the technical bar underneath every framework below is covered by one audit at the top level.
Every date read from the primary source · Not legal advice
Three dates worth knowing.
Two of these moved in 2026 and most pages on this subject have not caught up.
ADA Title II compliance dates
The Department of Justice's final rule of 24 April 2024 set WCAG 2.1 Level AA for state and local government web content. An interim final rule published 20 April 2026 extended the compliance dates to 26 April 2027 for entities serving 50,000 or more people, and 26 April 2028 for smaller entities and special districts.
EN 301 549 moves to WCAG 2.2 AA
V4.1.1 was published in September 2026 and takes the web, document and software clauses to WCAG 2.2 Level AA. The version cited in the Official Journal today is still V3.2.1, at 2.1 AA; the V4.1.1 citation is scheduled for 30 November 2026. If you already test at 2.2, nothing changes for you on that date.
The EAA is in force
Directive (EU) 2019/882 has applied to services provided to consumers in the EU since 28 June 2025, with e-commerce named explicitly at Article 2(2)(f). It is a market-access rule rather than a territory one, so a business outside the EU selling to EU consumers is inside its scope.
What each one asks for.
Pick a framework for what it is, who it binds, the technical bar it points to, and — separately — what a scan does not settle about it.
International · W3C
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.2
The technical standard every law below points at. Published by the World Wide Web Consortium as a Recommendation in October 2023, it defines what an accessible page actually is: perceivable, operable, understandable and robust, broken into testable success criteria at three levels.
- Who it binds
- Nobody, directly — WCAG is not legislation. It matters because it is the yardstick the regulations, the courts and the procurement standards all borrow.
- The technical bar
- Levels A, AA and AAA. Version 2.2 adds nine success criteria to 2.1 and retires 4.1.1 Parsing. Conformance is cumulative: content that meets 2.2 Level AA also meets 2.1 AA and 2.0 AA.
What our scan covers
WCAG 2.2 · A, AA and AAA
Tested automatically against WCAG 2.2 A, AA and AAA, with every finding named, ranked and tied to the criterion it fails.
What it does not settle
Roughly a fifth to a third of the success criteria can be decided by a machine at all. Your report says which ones were tested and which were not.
United States
Americans with Disabilities Act
Title III makes it unlawful to discriminate on the basis of disability in places of public accommodation, which US courts have applied to commercial websites. Title II covers state and local government and now has a written technical rule.
- Who it binds
- Title III: private businesses serving the public. Title II: state and local governments and the vendors supplying their web content.
- The technical bar
- For private sites there is no codified technical standard — WCAG is what plaintiffs, settlements and consent decrees use in practice. For Title II, the Department of Justice's final rule published 24 April 2024 sets WCAG 2.1 Level AA. An interim final rule published 20 April 2026 moved the compliance dates to 26 April 2027 for entities serving 50,000 or more people, and 26 April 2028 for smaller entities and special districts.
What our scan covers
WCAG 2.1 AA for Title II · no codified bar for Title III
Tested automatically against WCAG 2.2 A, AA and AAA, with every finding named, ranked and tied to the criterion it fails.
What it does not settle
No scan and no vendor can tell you whether a particular site is covered by Title II or Title III. That is a question for your counsel.
US federal
Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act
The procurement rule for the US federal government: information and communication technology bought, built or used by a federal agency has to be accessible, and vendors have to be able to show it.
- Who it binds
- Federal agencies, and any company selling ICT to one. This is why an ACR against the VPAT template gets asked for in federal RFPs.
- The technical bar
- The 2017 refresh incorporates WCAG 2.0 Level A and AA by reference for web content. Testing at WCAG 2.2 covers it, because 2.2 contains 2.0.
What our scan covers
WCAG 2.0 A and AA, by reference
Tested automatically against WCAG 2.2 A, AA and AAA, with every finding named, ranked and tied to the criterion it fails.
What it does not settle
An ACR is a disclosure document, not a pass. It is only as good as the testing behind it, and the judgment rows still need a person.
Europe
European standard for ICT accessibility
The harmonised European standard that turns broad accessibility law into testable requirements. If an EU public body or a large EU buyer asks how your product is assessed, this is the document they mean.
- Who it binds
- EU public-sector procurement, and in practice any supplier answering an EU accessibility question — including under the EAA.
- The technical bar
- The version cited in the Official Journal today is V3.2.1, which incorporates WCAG 2.1 Level AA. V4.1.1 was published in September 2026 and moves the web, document and software clauses to WCAG 2.2 Level AA; its citation in the Official Journal is scheduled for 30 November 2026.
What our scan covers
WCAG 2.1 AA today · 2.2 AA from the V4.1.1 citation
Tested automatically against WCAG 2.2 A, AA and AAA, with every finding named, ranked and tied to the criterion it fails.
What it does not settle
Nothing changes for you here on 30 November 2026 — we already test at 2.2. But the standard also covers hardware, documents and support services, which a web scan does not touch.
European Union
European Accessibility Act
Directive (EU) 2019/882. It sets common accessibility requirements for a defined list of consumer products and services sold in the EU, and it names e-commerce explicitly. It is a market-access rule, not a territory rule — a business outside the EU selling to EU consumers is inside its scope.
- Who it binds
- Services provided to consumers in the EU from 28 June 2025, e-commerce among them. Microenterprises providing services — fewer than 10 people and turnover or balance-sheet total not above €2 million — are exempted from the service requirements.
- The technical bar
- The directive deliberately names no technical solution. Conformity is presumed through harmonised standards, which in practice means EN 301 549, and so WCAG.
What our scan covers
In force since 28 June 2025 · met via EN 301 549
Tested automatically against WCAG 2.2 A, AA and AAA, with every finding named, ranked and tied to the criterion it fails.
What it does not settle
The EAA also carries documentation duties and is enforced through each member state's own transposing law, where the penalties are set. A scan does not produce that paperwork.
Ontario, Canada
Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act
Ontario's accessibility regime. The web requirement sits in the Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation, O. Reg. 191/11, and unlike most accessibility law it names a version, a level and a date.
- Who it binds
- Designated public sector organisations and large organisations — 50 or more employees in Ontario.
- The technical bar
- Section 14(4): by 1 January 2021, all internet websites and web content must conform with WCAG 2.0 Level AA, other than success criterion 1.2.4 Captions (Live) and 1.2.5 Audio Descriptions (Pre-recorded).
What our scan covers
WCAG 2.0 AA since 1 January 2021
Tested automatically against WCAG 2.2 A, AA and AAA, with every finding named, ranked and tied to the criterion it fails.
What it does not settle
AODA also requires filing an accessibility compliance report with the province on a set cycle. That is a filing obligation, and no scan discharges it.
Canada, federal
Accessible Canada Act
Canada's federal accessibility law, in force since 2019. Its duties are as much procedural as technical: publish an accessibility plan, run a feedback process, and report progress on a schedule.
- Who it binds
- Federally regulated organisations — banking, telecommunications, interprovincial transport, Crown corporations and the federal public service.
- The technical bar
- The Act does not itself codify a web standard. The technical yardstick used in practice is EN 301 549, and so WCAG at Level AA.
What our scan covers
EN 301 549 / WCAG AA in practice
Tested automatically against WCAG 2.2 A, AA and AAA, with every finding named, ranked and tied to the criterion it fails.
What it does not settle
The plan, the feedback process and the progress reports are the substance of ACA compliance. A scan produces evidence for them; it does not write them.
Australia
Disability Discrimination Act 1992
Australia's anti-discrimination statute. It makes it unlawful to discriminate in the provision of goods, services and facilities, and the Australian Human Rights Commission's long-standing web guidance applies that to websites.
- Who it binds
- Effectively any organisation providing goods or services to the public in Australia. Complaints go to the Australian Human Rights Commission.
- The technical bar
- No codified technical standard for the private sector; WCAG is the benchmark the guidance points to. The Australian Government's own digital standards require WCAG 2.1 Level AA for federal services.
What our scan covers
WCAG as the stated benchmark
Tested automatically against WCAG 2.2 A, AA and AAA, with every finding named, ranked and tied to the criterion it fails.
What it does not settle
Because the duty is framed as non-discrimination rather than as a technical rule, conformance is evidence rather than a defence. Your counsel decides what it is worth.
AdaChecked reports where your site stands against WCAG. It does not certify compliance with any law, and nothing here is legal advice.
Questions about scope.
Test against the top of the stack.
It covers the rest.
Scan any site against WCAG 2.2 A, AA and AAA and get every finding mapped to the criterion it fails. Free plan, no card, nothing installed on your site.