There Is Now A Date On This

The deadline moved. The duty didn't.

One of the four rules has a date attached. Practices that move early get the payoff now — a website every patient can use and book — and treat the deadline as the backstop it is. Here is the date, who it reaches, and why headcount is not the question.

An empty exam lane with a chair and phoropter, ready for the next patient.
Both dates land while this lane is still booking patients. The dates moved back a year. The duty never paused.
Short answer

Is there a legal deadline for website accessibility in healthcare?

Yes — for practices that take federal health care money, which for most means Medicare or Medicaid. A federal rule published in May 2024 gives websites and apps a deadline: May 11, 2027 if you have 15 or more employees, and May 10, 2028 if you have fewer. Whether your particular practice is covered is a legal question for your own lawyer.

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  • May 11, 2027 — if you have 15 or more employees
  • May 10, 2028 — if you have fewer than 15
  • The rule names one version of the accessibility standard; we build to the newer one, which covers it
  • Whether it covers you depends on taking federal health care money
  • Today · September 2026The rule is already finalIt was published in 2024. What is ahead is the compliance date, not the decision.
  • May 11, 2027Practices with 15 or more staffWebsites and mobile apps must meet the published accessibility standard.
  • May 10, 2028Practices with fewer than 15 staffSame standard, one year later.
Staff count is the whole practice, not the web team.
The Dates

Two deadlines, and your staff count decides which one.

There is only one thing to work out. Fifteen or more people puts your practice on the 2027 date; fewer than fifteen puts you on 2028. Both point at the same standard, so the work itself does not change — only how long you have to do it.

If you have 15 or more employees
—days left
Your website must meet the standard by May 11, 2027
If you have fewer than 15
—days left
Your website must meet the standard by May 10, 2028

It already took effect.

Health and Human Services published the rule in May 2024 and it took effect that July. For the first time, it set an actual technical standard for the websites and apps of anyone taking federal health care money.

Headcount sets your date — not whether you're covered.

The 15-employee line decides when you have to comply, not whether. A practice with eight staff that takes Medicaid is covered. It just has until 2028. The government has said Medicare Part B payments alone are enough to bring you in — and its own analysis of the rule estimates 92% of doctors take federal health care money.

The extension bought time — and it is being contested.

In May 2026 the government pushed both dates back a year, after providers said they could not make them. The duty itself never paused, the government still enforces it, and the law also lets a patient sue you directly. On top of that, the extension was challenged in federal court on May 21, 2026, with the plaintiffs asking for the original dates back. No ruling yet — but the original date for larger practices, May 11, 2026, has already passed. Where the rules stand →

Two things we won’t blur about the rule
Two things we won't blur. First, the rule names one version of the accessibility standard. It also allows anything that does the same job or better. That is why we build to the newer version — it covers everything in the one they name, so you are not redoing this work when they update the reference. Second, whether your practice actually takes federal health care money is a legal question, and this rule defines that more narrowly than some other health laws do. Most practices that bill Medicare or Medicaid will be covered. Check your own status with a healthcare lawyer. We can tell you how your website measures up. We cannot tell you what the law requires of you.
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Questions, Answered

More on this page’s topic

Which accessibility standard does the federal rule name?
It names WCAG 2.1 Level AA. That is the national rulebook for making a website usable by people with disabilities. We build to WCAG 2.2 AA, the newer version, which includes every check in 2.1 AA. So meeting ours also meets theirs.
Does the Section 504 deadline apply to my practice?
It depends on whether your practice takes federal health care money. For most practices that means Medicare or Medicaid. That is a legal question about your specific practice, and this rule defines it more narrowly than some other health laws do. Ask your lawyer, not a scanner.
What if my practice is not covered by Section 504?
The ADA still covers the website of any business open to the public. That risk has no deadline attached — it starts whenever somebody complains. These federal dates simply add a firm deadline on top for the practices they cover. They are not what created the duty in the first place.
Is there an actual deadline, or just lawsuit risk?
Both, and they are different things. Being sued is a risk — it may or may not happen. A deadline is a date. The federal rule sets an accessibility standard for the website of anyone taking federal health care money, which reaches practices paid through Medicare and Medicaid. Your headcount sets your date, not whether the rule reaches you. A five-person practice taking Medicaid is covered, it just gets longer. Whether your practice counts is a legal question for your own lawyer.
We don't take Medicare or Medicaid. Does the deadline apply to us?

The Section 504 dates apply to practices that receive federal health-care money. If you take none at all, that rule's date may not reach you — but the ADA still does, and it has no date because it already applies. The patient case for an accessible site is the same either way.

The Date Is Fixed. Your Start Date Isn’t.

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