2026-05-17 · 6 min read

Florida Special Districts and ADA Website Compliance: What the DOJ Title II Rule Requires

# Florida Special Districts and ADA Website Compliance: What the DOJ Title II Rule Requires

Florida has over 1,600 special districts — independent governmental entities created to provide specific services within defined geographic boundaries. Water management districts, transit authorities, port authorities, housing authorities, and community redevelopment agencies are all political subdivisions of the state, and many are independently covered by the DOJ Title II web accessibility rule.

If you manage IT or compliance for a Florida special district, this post explains whether and when the WCAG 2.1 Level AA requirement applies to your entity.

What Makes a Special District Covered

The DOJ Title II Final Rule applies to "public entities" — any state or local government or any department, agency, special purpose district, or other instrumentality of a state or states or local government.

The phrase "special purpose district" is explicit. A Florida special district that meets the population threshold is covered by the rule.

The population threshold: Entities serving jurisdictions of 50,000 or more must comply by April 26, 2027. Entities serving under 50,000 must comply by April 26, 2028.

"Population" refers to the population of the entity's service area, not the number of staff or users of the website. A water management district that serves a multi-county region covering 2 million people is a large-population entity even if it has 500 employees.

Major Florida Special Districts and the Compliance Picture

Water Management Districts

Florida has five water management districts, each covering multiple counties:

South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) — Covers 16 counties from Orlando south to the Keys, serving approximately 9 million residents. sfwmd.gov and public-facing portals for permitting, water use, flood control information, and public records. The SFWMD's jurisdiction population is well above 50,000. April 2027 deadline applies.

St. Johns River Water Management District (SJRWMD) — Covers 18 counties in northeast and east-central Florida, serving approximately 4 million residents. sjrwmd.com and public-facing portals for permits, regulatory records, and water resource information. April 2027 deadline applies.

Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD / Swiftmud) — Covers 16 counties in west-central Florida including Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Pasco. swfwmd.state.fl.us and permitting portals. April 2027 deadline applies.

Northwest Florida Water Management District (NWFWMD) — Covers 16 counties in northwest Florida including Escambia, Leon, and Okaloosa. nwfwater.com and public-facing resources. Population threshold: Leon County alone is 290,000, so the district's service area population is well above 50,000. April 2027 deadline applies.

Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD) — Covers 15 counties in north-central Florida. suwanneeriverwater.org. Population of service area may approach the threshold — entities in this range should conduct their own analysis.

Water management district websites are particularly compliance-relevant because they publish large volumes of technical regulatory content — permit applications, water quality reports, GIS data, and environmental impact documents — that must be accessible to citizens filing or researching permits.

Transit Authorities

Florida's regional transit authorities operate public-facing digital services that are essential infrastructure for riders with disabilities:

Miami-Dade Transit — Part of Miami-Dade County government; covered under county compliance.

Broward County Transit (BCT) — Part of Broward County government; covered under county compliance.

Palm Tran (Palm Beach County) — Part of Palm Beach County government; covered under county compliance.

HART (Hillsborough Area Regional Transit) — Independent transit authority serving Hillsborough County. hart.org, trip planner, schedule information, and rider communications. HART serves a population well above 50,000. April 2027 deadline applies.

PSTA (Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority) — Independent transit authority serving Pinellas County. psta.net and public-facing rider information. Covered by April 2027 deadline.

LYNX (Central Florida Regional Transportation Authority) — Serves Orange, Osceola, and Seminole counties. golynx.com and public-facing trip planner and schedule information. Population served: approximately 2 million. April 2027 deadline applies.

JTA (Jacksonville Transportation Authority) — Independent authority serving Duval County. jtafla.com and public-facing transit information and service portals. Covered by April 2027 deadline.

SunRail — Regional commuter rail operated by the Florida Department of Transportation. Public-facing schedules, ticketing, and station information. Covered under Florida state government.

Transit authority websites are high-stakes accessibility compliance environments. The riders most likely to encounter other accessibility barriers — residents who are blind, have cognitive disabilities, or have motor impairments — also disproportionately rely on transit. Inaccessible transit information directly affects daily life for this population.

Port Authorities

Florida's port authorities are independent special districts with public-facing web presences:

Port Miami (Miami-Dade Seaport Department) — Part of Miami-Dade County government. Covered under county compliance.

Port Everglades (Broward County) — Part of Broward County government. Covered under county compliance.

Port of Tampa Bay — Independent port authority serving Hillsborough County. portofTampaBay.com and public-facing cargo, cruise, and regulatory information. Covered by April 2027 deadline.

JAXPORT (Jacksonville Port Authority) — Independent port authority. jaxport.com and public-facing cargo information, business portals, and public records. Covered by April 2027 deadline.

Port Canaveral — Independent authority serving Brevard County. portcanaveral.com and public-facing portals. Covered by April 2027 deadline.

Port authority websites frequently have PDF-heavy content — regulatory filings, tariff schedules, vessel arrival reports, environmental documents — that must be accessible.

Community Redevelopment Agencies (CRAs)

Florida's Community Redevelopment Agencies are often set up as entities of their parent government (city or county). Their public-facing websites, documents, and meeting materials are covered either as part of the parent government's compliance or as independent entities, depending on how they're structured. CRA websites frequently publish plan documents, meeting agendas, and grant application information in PDF format.

Housing Authorities

Public housing authorities that receive federal funding are also subject to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (which has its own web accessibility requirements for federally-funded entities) and to Title II. Housing authority websites that publish application portals, waitlist information, and resident resources are covered by both frameworks.

What Covered Special Districts Must Do

The WCAG 2.1 Level AA compliance obligation is the same regardless of whether an entity is a county government, a transit authority, a water management district, or a port authority. All public-facing web content and mobile apps must conform to the standard.

A defensible special district compliance program includes:

1. A WCAG 2.1 Level AA audit — Professional assessment using automated tools and manual testing (NVDA + VoiceOver). Automated tools alone detect approximately 57% of failures and are not sufficient for defensible documentation.

2. A remediation plan — Documented with responsible parties and target completion dates by finding severity. Critical failures within 90 days, major failures within 6 months.

3. An accessibility statement — Published on the district's public website, naming the standard (WCAG 2.1 Level AA), the auditor, known limitations, and a resident contact mechanism.

4. Sustainable practices — New content, new documents, new platform procurements must meet the standard going forward.

The Parallax WCAG Audit

The Parallax WCAG audit from Morton Technology Consulting is a fixed-fee ($9,500) professional WCAG 2.1 Level AA audit designed for Florida government entities — including special districts — operating under the April 2027 deadline.

For transit authorities, water management districts, and port authorities: a scoping conversation determines whether 200 pages covers the primary public-facing content or whether a more targeted scope (focusing on permitting portals, trip planners, or document libraries) makes better use of the audit.

Deliverables: full WCAG 2.1 AA findings report with severity ratings, remediation roadmap, and DOJ-compliant accessibility statement draft.

See the sample audit report — a completed WCAG 2.1 AA assessment of a Florida government website.

Contact: [email protected]

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*Morton Technology Consulting LLC, Tallahassee, FL. Government and special district WCAG compliance audits for the April 2027 deadline.*

Morton Technology Consulting LLC — WCAG 2.1 AA audits for Florida government agencies. Parallax audit → · WCAG Readiness Kit → · All posts →