Illinois accessibility requirements for government vendors
Real vendor language and a real VPAT request — and it does not touch a single Illinois city or school district.
Illinois Information Technology Accessibility Act, 30 ILCS 587 (P.A. 95-307; amended by P.A. 103-729)
01 — Standard
What the instrument actually requires
The IITAA standards published by the Illinois Department of Innovation & Technology are based on the U.S. Section 508 standards and require conformance with WCAG 2.1 Level AA; a product meeting WCAG 2.1 AA is treated as satisfying the IITAA.
Source: Illinois DoIT — IITAA procurement ↗
02 — Coverage
Who it covers, and who it does not
The Act applies to the executive, legislative and judicial branches of the State of Illinois, including departments, divisions, agencies, constitutional offices, public bodies and public universities — and it expressly excludes units of local government, school districts and community colleges.
Source: 30 ILCS 587 (Illinois General Assembly) ↗
What this means for a SLED contractor
This exclusion is the single most misquoted fact in Illinois accessibility procurement. If you are selling a permit portal to an Illinois village, a downstate county or a K–12 district, the IITAA is not what governs the deal — Title II and the buyer’s own contract language are. Bidding an IITAA package into a school district is a tell that you did not read the Act.
03 — Dates
The dates a bid calendar has to respect
P.A. 95-307 took effect August 20, 2007; the Act was most recently amended effective August 2, 2024 by P.A. 103-729, which set a comprehensive standards review beginning in 2026 and every three years after.
Source: 30 ILCS 587 (Illinois General Assembly) ↗
04 — The ask
What it asks a vendor to hand over
Solicitations and contracts carry required language: all information technology “developed or provided under this contract or procurement must comply with the applicable requirements of the Illinois Information Technology Accessibility Act (30 ILCS 587) Standards.”
Source: Illinois DoIT — IITAA procurement ↗Vendors are expected to furnish their most recent VPAT or Accessibility Conformance Report on request; Illinois accepts ACRs based on the 508, WCAG and INT editions of the VPAT template.
Source: Illinois DoIT — IITAA procurement ↗
05 — Fit
Where a dated structural scan fits here
Illinois will take a VPAT-derived ACR you prepared, which makes the useful question “what did you fill it in from?” A dated WCAG 2.1 AA structural scan covers the success criteria an automated engine can decide and marks the rest for manual review, which is the correct raw material for the WCAG edition of the template — an input to preparing the report, not the report.
BidShield ADA produces a dated WCAG 2.1 AA structural-scan record and an audit-defense log. Automated testing detects only a portion of accessibility barriers and cannot replace manual review, so nothing it produces is a WCAG conformance claim, an ADA or Section 508 compliance certification, an Accessibility Conformance Report, or a legal opinion.
06 — Depth
Go deeper
Have the record before Illinois asks for it
BidShield ADA's Contractor's Defense Bundle gives you a dated, exportable WCAG 2.1 AA structural-scan and audit-defense log for $299. Not a compliance certification — a defensible record.
Get StartedEvery claim on this page was read from the linked primary source on 2026-07-28. Statutes, rules and agency standards change; check the source before relying on any of it. This page is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Consult qualified legal counsel for guidance specific to your situation.