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The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) states that "no qualified individual with a disability shall, by reason of such disability, be excluded from participation in or be denied the benefits of services, programs, or activities of a public entity, or be subjected to discrimination by any such entity." 42 U.S.C. 12132. However, many public entities' (i.e., State and local governments') websites and mobile apps fail to incorporate or activate features that enable users with disabilities to access the public entity’s services, programs, and activities.  The Department published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) proposing to amend its title II ADA regulation to provide technical standards to assist public entities in complying with their existing obligations to make their websites and mobile apps accessible to individuals with disabilities. 

The NPRM was published on August 4, 2023, and the public comment period closed on October 3, 2023. The NPRM included more than 60 questions for public input. The Department also published a fact sheet describing the NPRM's proposed requirements in plain language to help ensure that members of the public understood the rule and had an opportunity to provide feedback.

The Department received approximately 345 comments from members of the public including individuals with disabilities, public entities, disability advocacy groups, members of the accessible technology industry, web developers, and many others. In addition, the Department attended three listening sessions with various stakeholders while the public comment period was open, with a cumulative total of more than 500 attendees. Those sessions provided important opportunities to receive the information that members of the public wanted to share about the proposed rule through additional avenues.  The Department has issued a final regulation on this topic informed by the feedback received from members of the public.