Website accessibility for municipalities
The ADA Title II web rule gives towns a date to make their websites, documents and online forms accessible. We're a small software studio in central New Jersey. We check your site page by page against WCAG 2.1 AA, fix what we find or rebuild where it makes more sense, and hand you a report you keep.
The rule in brief
The Justice Department's rule sets one standard for every state and local government website and two deadlines. The legal questions belong to your attorney. These are the facts the rule states.
April 26, 2027
Towns and other public entities with a total population of 50,000 or more
April 26, 2028
Towns under 50,000, and special district governments
Most New Jersey municipalities fall here. The extension is being challenged in court, so the dates could still change.
Dates checked on 1 November 2026 against the Justice Department's interim final rule in the Federal Register of April 20, 2026 (WCAG 2.1 Level AA).
The problem
Most town websites were built before anyone asked these questions. If a few of these sound familiar, start with the pages residents use most, like paying a bill, finding a meeting or applying for a permit.
“We keep hearing about a federal deadline for our website, and nobody can tell us what it means for us.”
A plain walk-through of the rule, which date applies to your town, and what on your site falls under it, with the legal calls left to your attorney.
“The homepage slideshow and the big buttons are pictures with no description.”
Text descriptions on images that carry meaning, real text on buttons, and a slideshow people can pause or skip.
“Agendas, minutes and ordinances go up as scanned PDFs.”
New documents published as web pages or properly tagged PDFs, and a list of the older files residents still use, so you can decide what to fix first.
“The permit forms and the bill payment page don't work with a keyboard.”
Forms with labels, a sensible tab order and error messages a screen reader announces. If a vendor runs the page, you get a written list of what to ask them to fix.
“Our web vendor says the site is accessible but has never shown us anything.”
A report you keep, listing each issue by page and the WCAG rule it breaks, so you can check any claim, including ours.
“We fix things and a month later a new post breaks it again.”
An editor that asks for image descriptions and keeps headings in order, plus a short session with the staff who post updates.
What people ask for
Each card leads to the full service page. The Websites page has a live sample site you can switch between phone and desktop.
How we work
Senova was founded by Rob La Gravenis, who writes the code. Automated scanners find some problems. The rest takes a person going through each page with a keyboard and a screen reader.
More than a scan
We run automated checks, then go through the pages residents use most with a keyboard and a screen reader.
A report you keep
Each issue listed by page with the WCAG rule it breaks and what was done about it, dated, so you can show your work.
Documents too
Agendas, minutes and notices as web pages or tagged PDFs, with a plan for the older files people still open.
Stays fixed
An editor that asks for image descriptions and keeps headings in order, and a short session with the staff who post.
Based in central New Jersey
Close enough to sit down with your clerk or administrator, and reachable by phone the rest of the time.
In the town's name
Code, content, hosting and the domain sit on the town's accounts, so a change of vendor or administration doesn't lock you out.
Our work
There's no municipal work to show here yet. These are our own projects. This site's target is WCAG 2.2 AA, which includes everything in 2.1 AA, and the film has captions and a full transcript.
Process
The same four steps whether it's a check of your current site or a new one.
Step 1: Tell us what you need
Fill in the two-minute brief or book a short call. Plain words are fine; you don't need a spec.
Step 2: Get a fixed quote
A written scope, a fixed price and a dated plan. Free, with no obligation to go ahead.
Step 3: We build, you review weekly
A private preview link that grows every week. You click through it and tell us what to change.
Step 4: Launch and look after
We go live on accounts in your name, with optional ongoing help if you want it.
Your quote
Every town gets its own written quote before any work starts, usually after one call about how many pages, documents and forms you have and who updates them.
The scope
What we'll build, page by page or screen by screen, and what's out of scope, in plain words.
A fixed price
One price for the agreed scope. It only changes if the scope does, and only with your OK.
A dated timeline
When the first preview arrives, when each part lands and when you go live.
What you'll own
The code, the design and every account, in your name from day one.
Running costs, itemised
Hosting, email and any other services listed one by one, paid to each provider at cost.
FAQ
It depends on population. Under the Justice Department's April 2026 extension, a public entity with a total population of 50,000 or more has until April 26, 2027, and one under 50,000 has until April 26, 2028, as do special district governments. Population is the Census Bureau's count for your jurisdiction. Most New Jersey municipalities are under 50,000, but check yours. The extension is being challenged in court, so we check the dates again before every quote.