(April 17, 2026) – As the end of April approaches, we want to ensure every Kansas Hospital Association member organization is aware of significant regulatory deadlines that directly affect your web and digital presence. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, acting under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, now requires all health care websites, patient portals and mobile applications to meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA accessibility standards. Organizations that do not meet these deadlines risk legal exposure and financial consequences. You can review the full guidance from the Department of Justice, as well as steps toward compliance. There are also requirements that address health care and apply to recipients of federal financial assistance, including hospitals and other health care providers that receive funds from programs HHS administers, such as Medicare and Medicaid.
The deadlines for Americans with Disabilities Act Title II compliance, which covers WCAG 2.1 Level AA for state and local governments (including public hospitals and public health care clinics, public schools, colleges, universities, community colleges and other state and public agencies) are:
- April 24, 2026: Deadline for state and local governments with populations of 50,000 or more.
- April 26, 2027: Deadline for state and local governments with populations of zero to 49,999 persons.
- Web Content and Mobile Apps: Recipients with 15 or more employees must comply by May 11, 2026; recipients with fewer than 15 employees must comply by May 10, 2027.
WCAG 2.1 Level AA is the technical standard that defines what it means for a website to be accessible to individuals with disabilities, including those who rely on screen readers, keyboard navigation, captions and other assistive tools. Compliance is not a one-time audit. It requires ongoing monitoring as your website content evolves.
Hospitals and health systems should ensure their websites are supported by a comprehensive package covering privacy, security and accessibility. At a minimum, that package should address:
- ADA and WCAG Compliance Monitoring: ongoing accessibility scanning and issue remediation to maintain WCAG 2.1 Level AA compliance
- Encrypted Form Submissions: HIPAA-compliant handling of all patient-facing forms and online inquiries
- Privacy-First Analytics: server-side analytics configuration that prevents unauthorized capture of protected health information
- Automated Privacy Policy and Cookie Consent Management: documentation aligned with evolving HHS and HIPAA guidance
- Access Control and Content Security: two-factor authentication, role-based permissions and hardened administrative settings
- Managed Hosting and Maintenance: monitored environments with proactive backups and security maintenance
There are several vendors who provide WCAG accessibility overlays, toolbars or widgets for websites. The vendor KHA uses is AccessiBe. It provides ongoing accessibility scanning and remediation support to help websites maintain WCAG 2.1 Level AA standards. Hospitals may want to check with their website provider to see whether a service like this can support their compliance efforts. WCAG widgets are affordable and easy to add to a website, but achieving full compliance requires additional steps, including regular monitoring and testing.
Additional resources and information have been shared with KHA member CEOs and public relations executives. We encourage all KHA member organizations to review their current website infrastructure ahead of the upcoming deadlines. Please do not hesitate to reach out to Cindy Samuelson at csamuelson@kha-net.org with any questions.
--Cindy Samuelson