On May 11, 2026, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) published an Interim Final Rule (IFR), under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504), extending by one year the compliance dates for certain digital accessibility requirements. 

While the IFR does not revise any other aspect of the Section 504 regulations, OCR signaled that it intends to conduct additional review of the digital accessibility requirements. In the interim, entities covered by Section 504 and their contractors providing digital services should continue to take steps toward compliance with the digital accessibility standards set out in the Section 504 regulations. Section 504 broadly applies to all recipients of federal financial assistance from HHS, including recipients who do not receive federal financial assistance other than Medicare Part B payments.

 In 2024, OCR published a final rule (Section 504 Rule) that, among other things, adopted a technical standard for digital accessibility of the web content and mobile apps that recipients provide or make available, directly or through contractual, licensing, or other arrangements. Under the Section 504 Rule, recipients are required to adhere to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), Version 2.1, Level A and AA success criteria (WCAG 2.1 AA) as the technical standard for their websites and mobile apps that are made available to the public, including those provided by private contractors. 

The Section 504 Rule includes narrow exceptions for archived web content; preexisting conventional electronic documents; content posted by a third party, such as a member of the public, where the third party is not posting due to contractual, licensing or other arrangements with a recipient; individualized documents that are password-protected; and preexisting social media posts. Reed Smith previously published a client alert discussing the digital accessibility requirements of the Section 504 Rule.

Originally, the digital accessibility compliance date for recipients with 15 or more employees was May 11, 2026. Recipients with fewer than 15 employees had an additional year, with a compliance date of May 10, 2027. The IFR extends both compliance dates, so that larger recipients are now required to comply by May 10, 2027, while smaller recipients now have until May 10, 2028. 

OCR’s extension follows another interim final rule published by the Department of Justice, extending the compliance dates for similar digital accessibility requirements applicable to state and local government entities under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Public entities have until April 2027 or April 2028 to comply with the Title II regulations, based on population size. 

In commentary to the IFR, OCR stated that HHS believes that the original compliance dates are unlikely to be met by a significant number of recipients, especially local governments and other small and medium-sized recipients of financial assistance from HHS, for various reasons beyond HHS's and recipients' control. Additionally, OCR noted the private right of action under Section 504, asserting that the risk recipients face from private lawsuits is heightened for reasons not addressed in the Section 504 Rule, namely that some recipients may be generating covered web content using generative AI that is potentially inaccessible.

OCR also stated in the commentary that it plans to engage in future rulemaking processes related to the substantive digital accessibility requirements of the Section 504 Rule and will consider issuing a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) providing members of the public with an opportunity to comment on the substance of the accessibility requirements and any proposed changes. OCR indicated that if it does not issue an NPRM or determine that the compliance deadlines should be extended again, it anticipates implementing the digital accessibility requirements of the Section 504 Rule as of the deadlines in the IFR. 

Finally, OCR affirmed that recipients have an ongoing obligation to ensure that their programs and activities offered using web content and mobile apps are accessible to individuals with disabilities in accordance with their existing Section 504 obligations.

While OCR may propose further revisions to the Section 504 Rule, recipients and their contractors providing digital services should not postpone their compliance efforts. Web content and mobile apps should be audited for accessibility, and remediation of critical accessibility barriers should be prioritized.

Reed Smith will continue to track developments related to digital accessibility. If you have any questions about the IFR or digital accessibility, please reach out to the author or other attorneys at Reed Smith.