Why accessibility matters in healthcare
A large share of patients are older adults, and many live with vision, hearing, motor or cognitive disabilities. For them an online booking form or a patient portal is not a convenience: it is the alternative to asking someone else for help with private health matters.
An accessible site means patients can find your hours and location, read about services, book or request an appointment and fill in forms on their own, on any device.
The HHS Section 504 web rule
In 2024 the US Department of Health and Human Services updated its Section 504 rule. Recipients of HHS federal financial assistance, such as many hospitals, health systems and providers that receive Medicaid or other HHS funds, have to make their websites and mobile apps meet WCAG 2.1 level AA.
In 2026 HHS moved the compliance dates with an interim final rule:
| Organization size | Compliance date |
|---|---|
| 15 or more employees | May 11, 2027 |
| Fewer than 15 employees | May 11, 2028 |
Whether and how the rule applies to your organization is a question for your counsel. Rules and dates can change, so check the current HHS guidance. The technical part is the same either way: find the issues, fix them, and keep new content accessible.
The pages that matter most
- Appointment booking. Date pickers that only work with a mouse, time slots shown only by color, buttons without names.
- Patient intake and contact forms. Missing labels, required fields marked only with a red asterisk, error messages a screen reader never announces.
- Locations, hours and insurance. Information inside images, maps without a text address, low contrast tables.
- Patient instructions and forms as PDFs. Scanned documents that can not be read by assistive technology.
- Chat, cookie and popup widgets that cover the page and can not be closed with a keyboard.
Issues we often find on healthcare sites
- Form fields without labels in booking and contact forms, often from third party widgets.
- Icon buttons without names: menu toggles, close buttons on popups, slider arrows.
- Low contrast text in soft brand palettes: light teal, mint and gray on white.
- Images without alt text, including photos of staff and images that contain text.
- Missing page language on landing pages and multilingual sites.
What a free check covers
Our checker scans your home page on desktop and mobile against WCAG 2.2 level A and AA, which includes everything in 2.1 AA, and emails you a private report with issues sorted by severity. It never logs in, submits forms or touches patient data.
An automated scan finds only part of the issues. Booking flows, patient portals and PDFs need manual testing with a keyboard and a screen reader, which is part of a full audit.
Last updated October 18, 2026. This page is general information, not legal advice.