ADA Title II vendor contract accessibility language

As of Nov 8, 2026

The DOJ’s tenth first step is about vendor contracts. This page quotes it and the contract approaches ADA.gov describes. It does not draft contract language or endorse any approach. Not legal advice.

Action Step 10, quoted

Source: ADA.gov, web rule first steps.

“Identify any relevant contracts with vendors and figure out if they can produce accessible content for you, or if you need to make any changes”

“Your public entity needs to make sure that any content or mobile apps a vendor or contractor provides or posts on its behalf complies with WCAG 2.1 Level AA.”

“It’s a good idea to review your existing contracts with vendors or contractors to determine whether any changes need to be made to ensure that the content they provide or post for your state or local government is accessible.”

Approaches ADA.gov describes

ADA.gov says some public entities negotiated contracts with these approaches:

• “Requiring vendors to provide detailed information about the level of accessibility of their product before signing any contracts.”
• “Asking vendors to include a warranty in their contracts stating that they comply with certain technical standards and applicable Federal and state accessibility laws.”
• “Including language in their contracts prohibiting vendors from disclaiming any accessibility warranties.”
• “Requiring vendors to provide indemnification for any breach of any accessibility warranties.”
• “Testing the accessibility of vendor products and publishing that information to help other entities identify accessible products.”

ADA.gov adds: “the Department does not recommend or endorse any particular approaches.”

Why the contract does not transfer responsibility

ADA.gov: “Your public entity can’t contract away its responsibilities under the ADA.”

Questions to ask your counsel

• Which vendor contracts cover content we provide or make available?
• Does each say which accessibility standard applies?
• Who owns the fix when a vendor page fails?

Next step

Find which content is a vendor’s on the web content vs. third-party content page, then place this step in the checklist. PDFs a vendor posts are covered in the PDF guide.