ADA Laws in Montana

What Montana Property Owners and Businesses Need to Know About ADA Compliance Right Now

Montana finds itself in an odd position when it comes to disability law. On one hand, the state just joined a lawsuit that could weaken federal protections for disabled people. On the other, cities like Missoula and public universities like UM are racing to meet an April 2026 deadline for website accessibility. If you own a business, manage a building, or run a website for a Montana organization, you need to understand both sides of that coin.

Here's what's happening with ADA enforcement in Montana, where the state stands on disability rights, and what you actually need to do before the deadlines hit.

The lawsuit Montana joined: what it means

On January 23, 2026, Montana signed onto a lawsuit led by Texas challenging Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act . The other states are Alaska, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, and South Dakota. They're going after a rule published by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services about something called the integration mandate.

The integration mandate comes from the 1999 Supreme Court case Olmstead v. L.C. It says people with disabilities have the right to receive services in the community rather than being forced into institutions. The HHS rule basically repeated what the court already said: state and local governments that get HHS funding have to serve disabled people in the most integrated setting appropriate. The rule also says you can violate Section 504 by putting disabled people at serious risk of unnecessary institutionalization.

The states want the court to block the entire rule. They're asking the judge to stop HHS from telling states they can't take actions that put people at risk of being institutionalized .

Here's what that means practically. If the states win, it could get harder for disabled Montanans to enforce their right to live in their own homes and communities rather than nursing homes or institutions. The disability community has been pretty clear about opposing this lawsuit. The Arc of the United States, the Bazelon Center, and Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund all put out statements calling on people in these nine states to urge their attorneys general to drop it .

Montana's attorney general hasn't commented publicly on why the state joined. But if you're a disabled person in Montana who relies on community-based services, or a family member of someone who does, this lawsuit is something to watch.

The April 2026 digital deadline nobody can ignore

While Montana's lawyers are fighting in court to limit some disability protections, the University of Montana and cities like Missoula are scrambling to meet new federal digital accessibility rules that took effect in April 2024 and have a compliance deadline of April 24, 2026 .

The Department of Justice issued a final rule under Title II of the ADA requiring all state and local government digital content to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. Specifically, WCAG 2.1, Level AA. That's the technical standard.

The University of Montana has been working on this since 2014, when they adopted their own Digital Accessibility policy. But the new rule makes it federal law. UM's Accessible Technology Services team has been holding meetings with faculty and staff. They're pointing people to tools like the ones listed on the Cascade Support page and reminding everyone that it's not just the main website. It's academic course content. It's third-party platforms. It's everything .

At an October 2025 training session, UM's digital accessibility coordinator walked through what this looks day to day. Images need alt text. Videos need captions. Color contrast has to meet specific ratios. The website has to work with keyboard navigation only. If you're a professor posting a PDF of a journal article, that PDF has to be accessible. If you're using a third-party tool for quizzes, that tool has to be accessible.

The Missoula chapter of the National Federation of the Blind published an op-ed in the Missoulian in October 2025 making the case for why this matters locally . They pointed out that parents with disabilities need accessible communication from their kids' schools. Those emails, calendar updates, lunch menus, bus schedules all of it has to work with screen readers. A blind parent can't help with homework if the school's online portal doesn't work with their assistive technology.

The NFB also pushed back against national education organizations asking the DOJ to delay the deadline. They said these rules aren't just bureaucracy. They're about breaking down barriers that have existed for years.

Missoula's deadline is April 24, 2026, same as UM's. The city's IT department has been auditing city websites and working with department heads to get content updated.

The two deadlines you need to know

The DOJ rule has different deadlines based on population size. If your entity serves 50,000 people or more, you need to be compliant by April 24, 2026 . In Montana, that includes Billings, Missoula, Great Falls, Bozeman, and Butte .

If your entity serves fewer than 50,000 people, you have until April 26, 2027 . That covers most of Montana's 56 counties, 129 cities and towns, 400 school districts, and 650 special districts like water, fire, and library districts .

Here's the thing that catches people. The rule applies to any entity that gets federal funding or is part of state or local government. That means your small town's website has to meet the same technical standards as the City of Billings. You just have an extra year to do it.

The Montana State Library's training materials make clear that the ADA covers access to information, not just physical buildings . Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act already required federal agencies to make their electronic and information technology accessible. Now the ADA Title II rule extends similar requirements to state and local governments.

What the physical requirements still are

The digital stuff is getting all the attention because of the deadline. But the physical requirements for buildings haven't gone away.

In Montana, the Administrative Rules of Montana (ARM) incorporate federal ADA standards . If you own a commercial building, you still need accessible entrances with doorways at least 32 inches clear width. Thresholds can't be more than half an inch high. If your entrance isn't level with the parking lot, you need a ramp or lift.

Restrooms need at least one accessible stall with proper grab bar placement. Turning space has to be 60 inches diameter or a T-shaped turn space. Sinks need knee clearance underneath.

Parking is where a lot of small businesses mess up. Accessible spaces need to be 8 feet wide with a 5-foot access aisle. The access aisle is critical. It's where someone with a disability deploys a lift or gets out of a van. If you just paint a space blue and call it accessible, you're not compliant.

For lots with 1 to 25 total spaces, you need one accessible space. For 26 to 50 spaces, you need two. The math changes as the lot gets bigger.

Montana's geography creates an extra layer here. The state has 1,235 government entities spread across 147,000 square miles . If you're in a remote part of eastern Montana, you might not have a local contractor who knows ADA specs. You might be doing the work yourself. The rules still apply.

The Yellowstone County case: what $29,000 looks like

There haven't been many ADA lawsuits in Montana compared to places like California or New York. But they happen.

In 2023, Yellowstone County paid $29,000 to settle Peterson v. Yellowstone County . That's the only documented case in recent years that made the public record. The details are sparse, but it involved website accessibility issues. The county settled rather than litigate.

If you're thinking "I'm in a small town, nobody's going to sue me," the Yellowstone County case suggests otherwise. Billings is Montana's largest city, but it's still not a major litigation hub. The lawsuit happened anyway.

The ADA QuickScan analysis points out that Montana's low litigation volume creates a strategic opportunity . Early adopters can get compliant before enforcement ramps up. The alternative is waiting until you get a demand letter and then paying emergency rates for fixes plus whatever settlement the plaintiff's lawyer demands.

Who actually has to worry about this

If you're a private business in Montana that doesn't contract with the government, the new Title II rule doesn't directly apply to you. You're covered by Title III of the ADA, which prohibits discrimination in places of public accommodation. Title III doesn't have a specific website rule the way Title II now does.

But here's the practical reality. Plaintiffs' lawyers in Title III website cases have been using WCAG 2.1 as the standard for years . They point to the DOJ's Title II rule as evidence that this is what the government considers accessible. If your site doesn't meet WCAG 2.1 AA, you're a target.

If you're a business that contracts with government entities in Montana, the rule applies to you directly. If the City of Missoula hires you to run a program and your website is how people access that program, your site has to meet the same standards . Government procurement officers are starting to add accessibility requirements to contracts. If you can't certify compliance, you might lose the bid.

Public universities like UM are already doing this. Their procurement contracts for software and hardware require accessibility compliance . If you want to sell to UM, you need to show your product works with assistive technology.

The rural reality

Montana has 400 school districts and 650 special districts . A lot of those are in places where the nearest web developer is two hours away and the IT person is a high school computer teacher who does it part time.

The rural nature of the state creates real challenges. If you're a special district serving a remote area, you might not have dedicated IT staff at all. You might have a clerk who updates the website when they have time. That clerk probably doesn't know what WCAG 2.1 Level AA means.

The Montana State Library offers training through its ASPeN system . They have continuing education events and resources. But it's voluntary. There's no state-level enforcement mechanism pushing local governments to get ready.

The University of Montana's rural disability research program has been studying this . They've found that digital barriers create a disproportionate impact in frontier areas because people rely on websites for services they can't get locally. If you're 100 miles from the nearest social services office, the website is how you apply for benefits. If that website doesn't work with your screen reader, you're cut off.

What compliance actually costs

Nobody likes to talk about money, but this stuff isn't free.

For a small city or county, a basic website audit runs a few thousand dollars. Fixing the issues depends on how bad things are. If your site was built on an old platform with poor coding, you might be looking at a rebuild. That's tens of thousands.

The ADA QuickScan guide suggests that emergency fixes cost three to five times more than planned compliance . If you wait until you get a lawsuit, you're paying for the fixes plus legal fees plus whatever settlement the plaintiff demands.

The University of Montana has been working on accessibility for a decade. They have dedicated staff, training programs, and enterprise tools like YuJa for captioning. Most small governments don't have those resources.

There's also the ongoing cost. Accessibility isn't a one-time thing. Every time someone posts a new PDF or adds a video, it needs to be accessible. That means training staff and building review processes. For a small town with a part-time clerk, that's a lot to ask.

The things that trip people up

PDFs are a huge problem. The UM Cascade Support page explicitly says to avoid PDFs unless they're forms that need to be filled out and printed . The reason is that PDFs are often just images of paper. Screen readers can't read them. If you must use PDFs, they need to be tagged properly with headings, alt text for images, and readable text.

Color contrast is another one. WCAG 2.1 AA requires contrast ratios of at least 4.5:1 for normal text. Light gray on white looks nice but fails the test. Dark gray on white usually passes.

Link text matters. "Click here" tells a screen reader user nothing about where the link goes. "Apply for benefits" tells them exactly what to expect.

Forms need proper labeling. If a screen reader user tabs into a form field, they need to hear what information goes there. Fields without labels are unusable.

Resources that actually exist

The University of Montana has a webhelp email address for employees who need help with their websites . If you're not at UM, you can still look at their public resources. They've posted requirements and checklists.

The Great Plains ADA Center covers Montana. They do training and technical assistance at no cost. If you have questions about what the law requires, they're a good place to start.

The Job Accommodation Network does free consulting on workplace accommodations. If you're an employer trying to figure out how to accommodate an employee with a disability, they can walk you through options.

Disability Rights Montana is the protection and advocacy organization for the state. They track legislation and do policy work. If you want to know what's happening with disability rights in Montana, they're the ones to watch.

The Montana State Library offers continuing education through ASPeN . They cover accessibility topics occasionally. It's worth checking their calendar.

The National Federation of the Blind has a Missoula chapter . They can tell you what actually works and what doesn't from the perspective of blind users. Their email is missoulachapter@nfbofmt.org.

The bottom line

Montana is in an odd spot. The state just joined a lawsuit that could weaken disability protections, while its largest city and public university are racing to meet new digital accessibility deadlines. If you're a business owner or government official in Montana, you need to figure out which side of that you're on.

The April 2026 deadline for large entities is real. The City of Missoula will be non-compliant on April 25, 2026 if their website doesn't work with screen readers and keyboard navigation. The University of Montana will be in violation if their course content isn't accessible. The DOJ can enforce that.

For private businesses, the risk is lawsuits. The Yellowstone County case shows it can happen here. The settlement was $29,000, which is less than a big verdict but more than most small businesses want to pay.

The physical stuff still matters. Parking, entrances, restrooms it's all in the rules. Montana's Administrative Rules incorporate federal standards . If you're building or renovating, build it right the first time.

The rural nature of Montana makes compliance harder but not optional. Small towns with no IT staff have to figure out how to make their websites accessible. School districts with limited budgets have to caption their videos. There's no exemption for being remote.

The lawsuit Montana joined might change some of this if the states win. But that's a long shot, and it would take years to litigate. The April 2026 deadline is coming whether the lawsuit succeeds or not.