Section 504 extends accessibility standards to federally funded healthcare providers. It also introduces enforceable requirements that directly affect hospitals, clinics, provider groups, and health systems across the country.

When done right, accessibility strengthens the patient experience, supports equitable care, and reinforces a healthcare organization’s mission. Healthcare organizations must act quickly to align internal systems, platforms, external vendors, and digital properties with this new regulatory landscape. Here are some tips to continue with the progress your team made in 2026.

What Are the Key Requirements?

Covered content must be perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust for users with disabilities, including those using screen readers, keyboard navigation, or high-contrast modes, just to name a few. WCAG 2.1 Level AA is the baseline for what HHS defines as “accessible” digital content. The updated guidelines cover all digital assets, including websites, microsite, patient portals, online forms, and third-party integrations, such as outsourced appointment scheduling systems or online bill pay portals.

While WCAG is a technical standard maintained by the W3C, not a government agency, it is referenced by HHS and DOJ as the accepted benchmark for compliance.

WCAG 2.1 remains the current legal requirement under this rule. View the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2. But Stamats follows WCAG 2.2 AA, which was released in October 2023, as a best practice to ensure clients stay ahead of evolving standards.

What Is the Compliance Timeline?

The new rule took effect on July 8, 2024, and healthcare organizations must achieve compliance by the following deadlines:

• May 11, 2027, for organizations with 15 or more employees.
• May 10, 2028, for organizations with fewer than 15 employees.

Early communication across departments is crucial, especially IT, marketing, legal, and compliance. Stamats has already helped major health systems assess and align their accessibility roadmaps with this timeline, including content, design systems, and vendor touchpoints.

What Are the Legal Consequences of Non-Compliance?

Non-compliance can result in formal investigations by the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR), based on complaints or proactive compliance audits. HHS may take enforcement actions such as requiring corrective plans or referring cases to the Department of Justice. In extreme cases, HHS may suspend or terminate federal funding to noncompliant entities. This includes Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements.

Hospitals may also face lawsuits from individuals who are denied access to services due to inaccessible websites. These claims are increasingly common and supported by existing case law under both Section 504 and Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Learn more with a Guide to Disability Rights Laws.

Inaccessible websites have led to legal judgments and out-of-court settlements for healthcare providers across the country. Over 4,000 digital accessibility lawsuits were filed in the U.S. in 2023 alone, many of which involved healthcare providers and patient-facing platforms. Learn more about ADA Site Compliance.

Lawsuits related to digital accessibility have surged over the past several years. In 2016, just 132 lawsuits were filed. That number jumped to 814 in 2017, then nearly tripled to 2,314 in 2018. In 2022, the total reached a record 4,334 lawsuits before slightly dipping to 3,862 in 2023. That’s a 2,825% increase in just seven years.

Why Is Web Accessibility So Important in Healthcare?

Accessibility also benefits aging adults, mobile users in low-contrast environments, and people with temporary impairments. Digital accessibility is a foundation for health equity and inclusion. Accessible websites help ensure that everyone can access key services and get the care they need.

Common Accessibility Gaps in Healthcare Websites

While many healthcare organizations invest in digital experience enhancements, accessibility is often an afterthought. Yet users with disabilities routinely face avoidable barriers:

• Unlabeled forms.
• Low color contrast.
• Missing image descriptions (alt text).
• Inaccessible navigation menus.
• Lack of captions on health education videos.
• Patient portals that are incompatible with screen readers.
• Appointment forms that require dragging or clicking elements that are not usable by keyboard.
• Modal windows that trap screen readers.
• PDFs that have not been made accessible.

For a patient using a screen reader or keyboard-only navigation, these gaps can make the site unusable. This creates frustration and drives traffic, and patients, elsewhere.

Key Components of Digital Accessibility Compliance

Level AA compliance addresses a broad spectrum of disabilities, including motor, visual, speech, auditory, and cognitive. WCAG 2.1 AA standards state that digital properties must be:

• Perceivable: Information must be presented in ways users can perceive (e.g., with text alternatives for images or captions for video). 
• Operable: Navigation and user interface components must be usable by individuals with different input methods (e.g., keyboard or voice control). 
• Understandable: Content and interactions must be clear and predictable to avoid confusion and cognitive overload. 
• Robust: Digital content must be compatible with current and evolving technologies, including screen readers and other assistive tools. 

Mobile Application Accessibility Requirements

Healthcare mobile apps—increasingly used for virtual visits, reminders, and patient education— must also conform to WCAG 2.1 AA and mobile accessibility best practices:

• Screen reader compatibility: Mobile apps must support iOS and Android screen readers (e.g., VoiceOver, TalkBack) for tasks like lab result viewing.
• Touch target sizing: Tap areas for buttons or checkboxes should be large enough (at least 44px by 44px) for users with limited dexterity.
• Consistent navigation: Patients should not have to relearn how to move through the app on every screen.
• Support for alternative input methods: Apps should accommodate voice control, Bluetooth switches (keyboards), and other assistive tech used by patients with motor impairments. Read about speech recognition. 

6-Step Roadmap to Achieve WCAG 2.1 AA Compliance

Stamats has helped numerous organizations uncover and resolve accessibility issues through comprehensive audits that blend automation, expert evaluation, and live user experience. Connect with Stamats to schedule an accessibility audit.

2. Develop a Strategic Plan

Following the audit, organizations must develop a strategic plan that outlines how and when accessibility issues will be addressed, and by whom. Key planning components include:

• Issue prioritization: Addressing high-risk barriers first, particularly those tied to patient care delivery or legal exposure.
• Resource allocation: Assigning developers, content editors, and project leads and ensuring appropriate budget support for vendors or tools.
• Timeline and milestone setting: Establishing phased timelines that align with major release cycles or content publishing workflows.
• Accountability frameworks: Defining team roles and tracking KPIs to ensure progress is visible and measurable.

Accessibility planning should also be integrated into broader digital strategy, aligning with patient engagement goals, digital front door investments, and EHR optimization. 

3. Technical Fixes and Content Updates

Remediation is the implementation phase, during which accessibility gaps identified in the audit are corrected across code, content, and design systems. This may involve:

• Front-end code adjustments: Updating HTML and ARIA markup, correcting tab order, and eliminating keyboard traps to meet technical compliance.
• Content improvements: Writing alt text, restructuring page headings, adding transcripts or captions, and making plain-language adjustments to increase clarity for users with cognitive disabilities or those who do not speak English as their first language. Prioritize high-traffic and high-impact areas, including scheduling, patient education content, and intake forms.
• Design revisions: Enhancing layout for focus indicators, spacing elements for mobile accessibility, and ensuring consistency across breakpoints.

4. Equip Staff for Ongoing Compliance

Incorporating accessibility training into onboarding, editorial workflows, and digital governance policies helps prevent future regressions and fosters shared responsibility. Sustainable accessibility requires culture changes that begin with training on: 

• Accessibility fundamentals: Educating staff across departments on what digital accessibility is, why it matters, and who it affects.
• Role-specific training: Providing developers with technical guidance, marketers with best practices for writing alt text and link copy, and designers with inclusive design principles.
• Policy and legal awareness: Ensuring teams understand HHS requirements under Section 504, organizational policies, and the reputational and financial risks of noncompliance.

5. Ensure Continued Accessibility

As websites and mobile apps evolve, new content and code changes can inadvertently introduce fresh barriers. Healthcare organizations must adopt an ongoing maintenance strategy that includes:

• Automated monitoring: Regular scans of critical web properties using accessibility tools to catch issues early.
• Periodic audits: Scheduled manual and user testing of key workflows (e.g., billing, referrals, and lab results access).
• User feedback mechanisms: Prominently placed accessibility contact forms or hotlines to allow patients to report barriers in real time.
• Governance integration: Such as including accessibility in QA checklists, design system documentation, and third-party vendor contracts. Accessibility efforts are much more successful in the long term when checks are built into content contributors’ and authors’ daily workflows, before anything is published.

Embedding accessibility into digital operations, from site redesigns to CMS migrations, ensures long-term compliance and continuous improvement.

6. Create an Accessibility Statement for Risk Mitigation

An accessibility statement communicates your organization’s commitment to digital inclusion. It also plays a critical role in reducing legal exposure. By informing users what to do if they encounter a digital barrier, an accessibility statement can help demonstrate a “good faith” effort toward compliance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the WCAG 2.1.

This simple, proactive measure may help reduce liability in the event of an OCR investigation or ADA complaint. It also supports a defensible position in accessibility reviews by showing transparency, responsiveness, and a clear process for issue resolution.

Healthcare websites should include an accessibility statement that is:

• Easy to find, typically in the website footer.
• Plainly written, with no legal jargon.
• Actionable, providing contact info for accessibility issues.

For example: “If you need assistance accessing any part of this site, please contact [[email protected]] or call [xxx-xxx-xxxx].”

Statements should be reviewed and updated annually as the organization’s digital accessibility efforts evolve. Research additional information on developing an accessibility statement. These statements should also be included in patient portals, mobile apps, and any other digital interfaces where patients are expected to take action.

Case Study: Houston Methodist Hospital

Houston Methodist Hospital, one of the nation’s leading healthcare systems, engaged Stamats to conduct an audit of its Sitecore CMS component library. With over 290 components in use across thousands of pages on their flagship domain, the web team recognized the need for simplification, consistency, and compliance, particularly with the Section 504 web accessibility deadline on the horizon.

The Challenge

Houston Methodist’s web presence was powered by an enterprise-grade Sitecore platform. Over time, as their content library grew, accessibility gaps occurred, and the accumulation of different components created inconsistencies in design, development, and governance. With a looming mandate to conform to WCAG 2.1 AA standards under Section 504, the digital team needed clarity on:

• Where sections, pages, and components were the highest risks, both from an accessibility and user experience perspective?
• How could governance evolve to support a more sustainable, inclusive digital presence?
• Which components should be retained, improved, or retired?

The Approach

Stamats began with a web accessibility-focused audit of four key domains, consisting of 58 pages. The audit was composed of three areas: Identify, audit, and recommend a plan for accessibility compliance.

Conducted across multiple browsers and device types, the audit covered critical accessibility factors such as:

Stamats brought a consultative lens to the audit to help Houston Methodist envision a more streamlined future state. Each audited page and component was tagged with specific recommendations to enhance digital accessibility.

Stamats also validated which components should be retained, retired, or refreshed. The team prioritized usability, accessibility, and long-term maintainability, ensuring the system would scale with evolving patient and organizational needs. Components with low contrast, poor keyboard navigation, or unclear labels were flagged for revision. Those that aligned well with accessibility best practices were fast-tracked for future builds.

The Roadmap

Following the audit, Stamats facilitated working sessions with Houston Methodist’s digital marketing teams. Together, we discussed the accessibility recommendations, which were prioritized with a 1-3 ranking. For every accessibility opportunity we surfaced, Stamats and Houston Methodist assigned a recommended owner, level of effort, and proposed changes. The roadmap also included next steps for governance:

• Establishing RACI (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed) roles.
• Updating training protocols.
• Refreshing system best practices to reflect accessibility principles.

The Outcome

This work positioned Houston Methodist for digital excellence. By treating accessibility as a strategic imperative, not just a legal requirement, the organization demonstrated its commitment to patient-centered innovation.

Digital Governance & Organizational Ownership

Cross-Departmental Collaboration

Accessibility is a shared responsibility, not an isolated initiative. Healthcare systems should implement formal collaboration models that embed accessibility into decision-making processes across teams. One proven structure is a Digital Accessibility Working Group, meeting regularly to review metrics, prioritize projects, and coordinate implementation timelines. Learn more about web accessibility initiative working groups.

Collaboration should extend to shared accessibility KPIs, such as reducing WCAG violations or remediating high-risk workflows by quarter-end. Without cross-functional collaboration, accessibility gaps often reappear during content refreshes, technology upgrades, or vendor rollouts.

Building Accessibility into Content Workflows

Accessibility must be integrated prior to content creation, not patched in after the fact. Marketing teams, web editors, and clinical content owners must be trained and equipped with the right tools. Healthcare-specific practices include:

• Embedding accessibility checks in CMS workflows before publishing new service pages, blog posts, or patient education content.
• Using accessible templates and components approved by the design system team.
• Training teams to write plain-language instructions, structure headings correctly, and use descriptive link and button labels.
• Establishing internal guidance on accessible PDFs and video captioning for patient instructions, discharge summaries, and health campaigns.

By building accessibility into the content lifecycle, healthcare systems can prevent compliance gaps before they reach the public.

Developing a Center of Excellence

Organizations with multiple digital teams or locations benefit from establishing a Digital Accessibility Center of Excellence (CoE). This team provides centralized support, education, and governance guidance across departments. Functions of a CoE include:

• Coaching teams on remediating high-risk digital experiences.
• Supporting procurement with accessibility vetting (e.g., reviewing VPATs).
• Maintaining organizational accessibility standards aligned with WCAG 2.1 AA.
• Tracking progress toward Section 504 milestones and reporting to executive leadership.

How to Handle Complaints

Under Section 504, patients and visitors have the right to report accessibility barriers, and organizations are required to respond. Healthcare teams must establish a transparent and effective complaint resolution process that includes:

• Clear reporting instructions embedded in the website and patient portal.
• A dedicated point of contact, often within Compliance or Patient Experience, for handling inquiries.
• A structured workflow for triage, resolution, and response, ideally within 5–10 business days.
• Quarterly review of complaint trends to inform governance improvements.

Procurement & Vendor Management 

• Code-level reviews of sample environments.
• Questions about the vendor’s internal accessibility QA practices and team training, as well as their process for reporting accessibility issues and the typical turnaround time for implementing fixes.
• Demonstrations with assistive technologies (e.g., screen readers, keyboard-only navigation).
• Consultation with accessibility experts such as Stamats to validate claims and identify hidden risks.

Key Questions to Ask Vendors

• What accessibility testing methods do you use (automated, manual, user testing)?
• Can you demonstrate your platform being used with assistive technologies?
• Do you have an up-to-date Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR) or VPAT?
• What is your accessibility roadmap? How often do you update it?
• How do you handle accessibility regressions or new feature rollouts?
• Will you allow third-party testing as part of the evaluation process?

Stamats can assist clients in structuring these conversations, interpreting documentation, and scoring vendors based on real-world usability, not just self-attestation. We can help healthcare systems review procurement policies, develop RFP templates, and vet vendor responses, ensuring accessibility is treated as a compliance and operational priority.

Understanding VPATs and Conformance Reporting

A Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT), also known as an Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR), provides a vendor’s self-assessment of how well their product meets accessibility standards such as WCAG 2.1 or Section 508. Read FAQs for VPAT, also known as ACR.

However, VPATs vary widely in quality. Some are outdated. Others list compliance as “supports with exceptions” without detailing user impact or timelines for remediation. Organizations should:

• Request the most recent VPAT or ACR, dated within the last 12 months.
• Look for independent validation or third-party audits of accessibility claims.
• Use experienced partners, such as Stamats, to review and interpret VPATs in the context of healthcare workflows.

9. Measuring Success

Sustaining accessibility requires more than one-time fixes. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) provide measurable values to assess the effectiveness of accessibility initiatives. Important KPIs include:

• Accessibility Error Rate: Percentage of pages with detected WCAG 2.1 AA violations.
• User Feedback: Number and nature of accessibility-related complaints or suggestions received.
• Compliance Score: Overall adherence level to accessibility standards (Read additional information about WCAG Conformance Levels).

According to the 2025 WebAIM Million report, 94.8% of home pages had detectable WCAG 2 failures, indicating the widespread nature of accessibility issues.

Tools for Monitoring Ongoing Compliance

Automated tools are essential for continuous monitoring of accessibility improvements and regressions. Automated tools are essential for continuous monitoring of accessibility improvements and regressions. Widely adopted platforms include:

• WAVE: Provides visual feedback about the accessibility of web content (reference: WAVE).
• Axe DevTools: Offers automated testing and integrates with development environments (reference: axe DevTools).
• Siteimprove: Delivers reports on accessibility issues and suggestions for remediation (reference: Siteimprove).
• Silktide: Scores websites against globally recognized standards for web accessibility (reference: Silktide).

However, these tools should not be relied on alone. Manual testing is necessary to uncover issues that automation can’t detect, such as keyboard focus traps or poorly structured headings.

Tracking User Experience Improvements

Reporting Frameworks for Leadership

What gets measured gets managed. Without a structured, continuous measurement strategy, you risk falling behind with accessibility, even with the best intentions. Stamats can you build and maintain reporting frameworks, translating audit results and tool outputs into meaningful executive insight.

Our Approach to Healthcare Website Accessibility

Stamats takes a comprehensive, standards-aligned approach to digital accessibility, grounded in real- world testing and strategic collaboration. Our accessibility audits are built to uncover compliance issues that affect usability, particularly for patients relying on assistive technologies, and to deliver clear, actionable solutions.

For healthcare organizations, we tailor our audits to the realities of clinical and patient-facing digital experiences, including websites, mobile interfaces, and microsite portals. We follow WCAG 2.2 AA standards and assess digital environments across the core principles of accessibility. Our approach includes:

• Discovery and ownership mapping: We begin by identifying stakeholders and responsibilities for each digital domain. This includes building RACI charts to clarify who owns what and streamlining accountability across teams.
• Manual and assistive technology testing: Our experts manually evaluate representative pages using leading screen readers (e.g., NVDA, VoiceOver, and TalkBack) across Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android devices. We also conduct tab-through and keyboard navigation tests to assess functionality beyond what automated tools detect.
• Automated testing and tool validation: Tools like the WAVE Accessibility Checker are used to flag WCAG 2.2 AA violations, such as heading structure, link labeling, and color contrast issues. These findings are always reviewed by a human expert before being included in our final report.
• Detailed reporting and prioritization: All audit results are delivered in a dashboard, including the error description, WCAG citation, page URL, issue type (content or development), ownership, and level of effort needed to remediate. Issues are ranked by priority (1–3) to help your team focus its efforts efficiently.
• Strategic debrief: We present our findings in a collaborative review session, aligning your internal team on next steps and timelines for remediation.

Stamats can help you turn accessibility from a risk into a strength. Contact us for an audit customized to your healthcare system by emailing [email protected].

Beyond Compliance: The Future of Accessible Healthcare

Innovations such as AI-powered diagnostic tools and virtual care platforms offer incredible promise, but only if developed accessibly from the start. For example, a remote blood pressure cuff paired with a patient portal must be navigable by patients using screen readers. Blockchain-powered records must work with assistive technology.

AI and automation tools are increasingly being used to enhance web accessibility. They can automate tasks like generating image alt text, analyzing color contrast, and providing closed captioning, thereby streamlining the process of making digital content accessible.

But AI can’t fully evaluate tone, context, or navigation logic. For example, an alt-text generator may correctly label an image as “doctor” but miss that the image is promoting a women’s health event. Stamats recommends combining automation with expert review and user testing. Inclusive design must be evaluated by people with lived experience of disability, not just algorithms.

To achieve lasting impact, accessibility must become a core organizational value, not a project with a deadline. This means leadership commitment, organization-wide training, and routine accessibility touchpoints in content and product development cycles. Accessibility starts with leadership. When executives prioritize it in daily decision-making, the rest of the organization usually follows.

This also includes building accessibility into everyday tasks, such as ensuring presentations, emails, PDFs, and Word documents are accessible before sharing them. Even small actions, like including pronouns in an email signature, can contribute to a more inclusive and welcoming environment.

Preparing for WCAG 3.0 and Beyond

The upcoming WCAG 3.0 framework will expand the definition of accessibility to focus more on user needs, outcomes, and continuous improvement. It introduces a more flexible scoring system and prioritizes functional performance indicators. Healthcare systems should begin aligning design systems and procurement strategies now to ensure long-term adaptability. Stamats is actively monitoring WCAG 3.0 developments and can advise on readiness planning.

Compliance is the floor, not the ceiling. Forward-thinking healthcare organizations are embedding accessibility into their innovation strategies, not just their checklists. By evaluating new tech through an inclusive lens and preparing for WCAG 3.0, you’re reducing legal risk and building a healthcare system that serves everyone better.

The path to accessible care starts with your website. Stamats partners with healthcare organizations to deliver accessible, strategic, and patient focused digital experiences. Whether you’re just beginning your accessibility journey or ready to lead in innovation, we’re here to help.

References

“axe DevTools.” Accessibility Developer Guide, Access for all, https://www.accessibilitydeveloper- guide.com/setup/helper-tools/browser-extensions/axe-devtools/.

“Benefits of Inclusive Design in Tech: Overview and Examples.” Fullstack Academy, 21 May 2024, https://www.fullstackacademy.com/blog/benefits-of-inclusive-design.

“WAVE Web Accessibility Evaluation Tools.” WebAIM, 2025, https://wave.webaim.org/.

ADA Site Compliance. “2023 ADA Web Accessibility Lawsuit Statistics: Full Report.” ADA Site Compliance, 30 May 2024, https://adasitecompliance.com/2023-ada-web-accessibility-lawsuitstatistics-full-report/.

Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. Website Accessibility: Enhancing Access to COVID-19 Vaccine Registration and Beyond. May 2021, https://www.astho.org/globalassets/brief/website- accessibility-enhancing-access-to-covid-19- vaccine-registration-and-beyond.pdf.

BrowserStack. “Touch Target Size.” BrowserStack Documentation, 2025, https://www.browserstack.com/docs/app-accessibility/rule-repository/rules-list/touchtarget/touch- target-size.

Bulgaru, Iolanda. “4 Healthcare Companies Sued Over ADA Website Compliance (and Why It Matters!).” Healthcare Weekly, 5 Nov. 2023, healthcareweekly.com/ada-compliance-healthcarewebsites/.

Bureau of Internet Accessibility. “Does WCAG 2.1 Require Responsive Design?” Bureau of Internet Accessibility, 18 Aug. 2022, https://www.boia.org/blog/does-wcag-2.1-requireresponsive-design.

Bureau of Internet Accessibility. “What’s the ROI of Web Accessibility?” Bureau of Internet Accessibility, 3 Jan. 2024, https://www.boia.org/blog/roi-of-web-accessibility.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Prevalence of Disabilities and Health Care Access by Disability Status and Type Among Adults.” CDC, 11 Apr. 2025, https://www.cdc.gov/disability-and- health/articles-documents/disabilities-health-careaccess.html.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Disability Impacts All of Us Infographic. National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, 15 July 2024, https://www.cdc.gov/disability-and- health/articles-documents/disability-impacts-all-of-usinfographic.html.

Clemente, Karina Aparecida Padilha, et al. “Barriers to the Access of People with Disabilities to Health Services: A Scoping Review.” Revista de Saúde Pública, vol. 56, 27 June 2022, p. 64.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9239543/.

Cleveland Clinic Canada. Accessibility Statement. Cleveland Clinic Canada, 2025, https://my.clevelandclinic.org/canada/about/website/accessibility.

Compliancy Group. Healthcare Compliance Training Programs: What Topics to Cover with Your Employees. Compliancy Group, 13 Oct. 2023, https://compliancy-group.com/healthcarecompliance- training-programs/.

Disability:IN. Accessible Technology Procurement Toolkit. Disability:IN, 2025, https://www.disabilityin.org/resource/procurement-toolkit.

eComBack. Annual 2023 ADA Website Accessibility Lawsuit Report. eComBack, 2024, www.ecomback.com/annual-2023-ada-website-accessibility-lawsuit-report.

Gada, Tina. “The Importance of Accessibility: A Comprehensive Exploration.” Forbes Technology Council, 12 Sept. 2024, https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbestechcouncil/2024/09/12/the-importance-of- accessibilitya-comprehensive-exploration/.

Gratzer, Colleen. “2024 State of Website Accessibility.” Creative Boost, 17 Apr. 2024, https://creative-boost.com/2024-state-of-website-accessibility/.

Groom Law Group. “HHS Updates Regulations Implementing Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.” Groom Law Group, 9 May 2024, https://www.groom.com/resources/hhs-updatesregulations-implementing- section-504-of-the-rehabilitation-act/.

Kim, Sujin, and Boyoung Jeon. “Decomposing Disability Inequality in Unmet Healthcare Needs and Preventable Hospitalizations: An Analysis of the Korea Health Panel.” International Journal of Public Health, vol. 68, 28 Feb. 2023, https://www.ssph-journal.org/journals/internationaljournal-of-public­ health/articles/10.3389/ijph.2023.1605312/full.

Level Access. “Screen Reader Accessibility: Empowering Every User.” Level Access, 19 Nov. 2024, https://www.levelaccess.com/blog/screen-reader-accessibility/.

QualityLogic. Case Study: Building an Accessibility Center of Excellence. QualityLogic, 2025, https://www.qualitylogic.com/knowledge-center/building-an-accessibility-center-of-excellence/.

Safe’N’Clear. “Patient Satisfaction and ADA Impact.” Safe’N’Clear, 2023, https://safenclear.com/patient- satisfaction-and-ada-impact/.

Silktide. Silktide Accessibility Toolbar. Silktide, 2025, https://silktide.com/toolbar/.

Siteimprove. “Accessibility.” Siteimprove, 2025, https://www.siteimprove.com/platform/accessibility- digital-governance/accessibility/.

Siteimprove. “Screen Reader Testing: How to Test Your Website’s Accessibility.” Siteimprove, 2025, https://www.siteimprove.com/glossary/screen-reader-testing/.

Siteimprove Editorial Team. “5 Ways to Use AI to Boost Your Site’s Accessibility.” Siteimprove, 15 Feb. 2024, https://www.siteimprove.com/blog/5-ways-to-use-ai-to-boost-your-sitesaccessibility/.

Skaistkalne, Madara. “How to Integrate Ethical and Accessibility Considerations into QA Processes.” TestDevLab, 18 Dec. 2024, https://www.testdevlab.com/blog/ethical-andaccessibility-considerations-in-qa.

U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Massachusetts. “U.S. Attorney’s Office Settles Disability Discrimination Complaint with Skilled Nursing Facility.” U.S. Department of Justice, 13 Nov. 2023, https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/us-attorneys-office-settles-disability-discriminationcomplaint- skilled-nursing-facility.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights. “Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.” HHS.gov, 7 Jan. 2025, https://www.hhs.gov/civil-rights/forindividuals/disability/section-504- rehabilitation-act-of-1973/index.html.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights. New Requirements on the Accessibility of Web Content, Mobile Apps, and Kiosks. HHS.gov, 2025, https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/new-requirements-accessibility-web-content-mobile- appskiosks.pdf.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights. Office for Civil Rights (OCR) Home.

HHS.gov, 17 Dec. 2024, https://www.hhs.gov/ocr/index.html.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 Final Rule: Section by Section Fact Sheet for Recipients of Financial Assistance from HHS. HHS.gov, 9 May 2024, https://www.hhs.gov/civil-rights/forindividuals/disability/section-504-rehabilitation-act-of­ 1973/ocr-detailed-504-factsheet/index.html.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights. Voluntary Resolution Agreement Between the United States of America, the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights and North End Rehabilitation & Healthcare Center. HHS.gov, https://www.hhs.gov/civil- rights/for-providers/complianceenforcement/agreements/north-end/index.html.

U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division. “Guidance on Web Accessibility and the ADA.” ADA.gov, 18 Mar. 2022, https://www.ada.gov/resources/web-guidance/.

U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division. Guide to Disability Rights Laws. ADA.gov, 28 Feb. 2020, https://www.ada.gov/resources/disability-rights-guide/.

U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division. Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability; Accessibility of Web Information and Services of State and Local Government Entities. Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 20 July 2023, https://www.ada.gov/assets/pdfs/web-accessibilityNPRM.pdf.ADA Archive+2.

U.S. Department of Justice. Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, As Amended. ADA.gov, https://www.ada.gov/law-and-regs/ada/.

U.S. General Services Administration. “Accessibility Conformance Report/Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT®) Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ).” Section508.gov, Updated August 2024, www.section508.gov/sell/acr‑vpat‑faq/.

U.S. General Services Administration. Authoring Meaningful Alternative Text. Section508.gov, 2025, https://www.section508.gov/create/alternative-text/.

U.S. General Services Administration. Guide to Accessible Web Design & Development. Section508.gov, 2025, https://www.section508.gov/develop/guide-accessible-web-designdevelopment/.

Unified Accessibility. Accessibility Center of Excellence. Unified Accessibility, 2025, https://www.unifiedaccessibility.com/centerofexcellence.

University of California, San Francisco. Accessibility Complaint Investigation and Resolution Process. UCSF Websites, 2025, https://websites.ucsf.edu/accessibility-complaint-investigationand-resolution-process.

WebAIM. Keyboard Accessibility. WebAIM, https://webaim.org/techniques/keyboard/.

WebAIM. The WebAIM Million: The 2025 Report on the Accessibility of the Top 1,000,000 Home Pages.

WebAIM, Feb. 2025, https://webaim.org/projects/million/.

World Health Organization. Disability. World Health Organization, n.d., www.who.int/healthtopics/disability.

World Wide Web Consortium. W3C Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 3.0. W3C, 12 Dec. 2024, https://www.w3.org/TR/wcag-3.0/.

World Wide Web Consortium. “WAI Working Groups, Task Forces and Interest Groups.” Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), n.d., www.w3.org/WAI/about/groups/. Accessed 11 June 2025.

World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Colors with Good Contrast. W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), 15 July 2024, https://www.w3.org/WAI/perspective-videos/contrast/.

World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Developing an Accessibility Statement. W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), 20 May 2025, https://www.w3.org/WAI/planning/statements/.

World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Forms Tutorial. W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), 2025, https://www.w3.org/WAI/tutorials/forms/.

World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Speech Recognition. W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), 20 May 2025, https://www.w3.org/WAI/perspective-videos/voice/.

World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Understanding Success Criterion 3.2.3: Consistent Navigation. W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), 20 May 2025, https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG21/Understanding/consistent-navigation.html.

World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Understanding Success Criterion 3.3.3: Error Suggestion. W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), 20 May 2025, https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG21/Understanding/error-suggestion.html.

World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Understanding Success Criterion 3.3.4: Error Prevention (Legal, Financial, Data). W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), 20 May 2025, https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG21/Understanding/error-prevention-legal-financial-data.html.

World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1. 6 May 2025, https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG21/.

World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2. 12 Dec. 2024, https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG22/.

“WCAG Conformance Levels: How High Should You Aim?” Level Access, 11 Dec. 2024, https://www.levelaccess.com/blog/ada-compliance-levels/.