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First U.S. state to enact a hard-edged digital accessibility statute with deadlines and damages — focused on state and local government, not the private sector.
Statute: Colorado HB 21-1110 (Cross-Government Standards for Accessible Tech)
$3,500 per violation per affected individual + actual damages, costs, and attorneys' fees.
Colorado OIT Technology Accessibility Rules — incorporates WCAG 2.1 Level AA.
Federal ADA still applies in addition to Colorado state law.
HB 21-1110, passed in 2021, requires every state agency, public university, and political subdivision to adopt accessibility standards published by the Office of Information Technology and to make all digital products and services compliant. The original July 1, 2024 deadline was extended to July 1, 2025, with limited statutory grace through July 2026. Damages of $3,500 per violation per disabled person are available on top of injunctive relief and attorneys' fees.
State agencies, public institutions of higher education, public school districts, counties, municipalities, special districts. Private businesses are not directly covered, but vendors that contract with the state must produce accessible products.
Any 'information and communication technology' the entity uses to deliver services to the public — websites, mobile apps, internal HRIS systems used by employees with disabilities, kiosks, learning management systems, and digital documents.
An aggrieved individual may bring a civil action against a state-government entity in district court. The Colorado Civil Rights Division also has parallel investigative authority.
HB 21-1110 served as the template for the federal DOJ Title II web rule. Colorado public bodies and their vendors are de-facto already operating under a regime very similar to the federal one — Colorado vendors have a head start.
Whatever the local statute says, the technical baseline is WCAG 2.1 AA. A 60-second axe-core scan will tell you where you stand.
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