Massachusetts has a binding statewide digital accessibility regime beyond the federal ADA Title II baseline: the EOTSS Enterprise Digital Accessibility Policy adopts WCAG 2.1 Levels A and AA (plus ATAG 2.0, PDF/UA-1, and Section 508 hardware standards) and applies to all Executive Department agencies and their vendors/contractors, governed by the Chief IT Accessibility Officer and the Digital Accessibility and Equity Governance Board created under Executive Order 614. That policy is enforced administratively (non-compliant agencies risk losing capital funding and domain requests are denied) and carries no private right of action or statutory damages. Separately, the state public-accommodation statute M.G.L. c. 272 Sec. 98 (with civil remedies under c. 151B Sec. 5, enforced by MCAD) does provide a private right of action with a criminal fine up to $2,500, a $300 minimum civil forfeiture, and attorney's fees, and has been used in website-accessibility claims against businesses, though it targets public-accommodation discrimination rather than government software procurement.

What the law requires

• Responsible agency Executive Office of Technology Services and Security (EOTSS), via the Chief IT Accessibility Officer and the Digital Accessibility and Equity Governance Board (mass.gov/info-details/enterprise-digital-accessibility-policy) (opens in new tab)
• Adopted standard WCAG 2.1 Levels A and AA for web/desktop applications, multimedia, and electronic documents; ATAG 2.0 A/AA for authoring tools; ISO 14289-1:2014 (PDF/UA-1) for PDFs; Section 508 ICT Standards Chapter 4 referenced for hardware with user interfaces.
• Who it covers EOTSS policy binds the Executive Department: all executive offices, agencies, boards, commissions, departments, divisions, councils, bureaus, and offices, plus any contractors/vendors/consultants that create, customize, or configure digital assets on the Commonwealth's behalf. Public higher education (UMass, state universities, community colleges) and local governments generally sit outside the Executive Department and are not directly bound by the EOTSS policy, but remain covered by federal ADA Title II (and the c. 272 Sec. 98 public-accommodation statute where applicable).
• Private right of action Yes (general disability-discrimination context, not procurement-specific). M.G.L. c. 272 Sec. 98 provides a private civil right of action for discrimination in places of public accommodation, enforced administratively through MCAD and in court; this has been applied to website accessibility against businesses. The EOTSS state-government digital accessibility policy itself, however, has NO private right of action and is enforced administratively.
• Statutory damages / penalties Under M.G.L. c. 272 Sec. 98: criminal fine of up to $2,500 (and/or up to one year imprisonment); civil damages as enumerated in M.G.L. c. 151B Sec. 5 with a minimum civil forfeiture of $300 and recovery of attorney's fees for a prevailing plaintiff. These apply to public-accommodation discrimination claims, not to the EOTSS state-procurement policy, which carries no statutory damages and is enforced administratively (loss of capital-funding eligibility and denial of domain requests for non-compliant digital assets).
• Exemptions EOTSS policy uses an Exception Request process administered by EOTSS (decisions reviewable and may be overridden); specific undue-burden / fundamental-alteration language was not confirmed verbatim in the official policy text reviewed. Federal ADA Title II undue-burden and fundamental-alteration defenses apply as the baseline.
• Governing authority EOTSS Enterprise Information Technology Accessibility Policy / Enterprise Digital Accessibility Policy (binding statewide IT policy, first issued 2021); Executive Order No. 614 (July 2023) establishing the Digital Accessibility and Equity Governance Board and the Chief IT Accessibility Officer. Separate state anti-discrimination statute M.G.L. c. 272 Sec. 98 (public accommodations) with civil remedies via M.G.L. c. 151B Sec. 5, enforced by the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD). Federal ADA Title II (28 CFR Part 35) also applies as a baseline.
• Compliance deadline No distinct state-specific compliance deadline confirmed; the EOTSS policy is in effect and ongoing. Federal ADA Title II web rule dates also apply (Apr 26 2027 / Apr 26 2028).

Official sources:
mass.gov/info-details/enterprise-digital-accessibility-policy (opens in new tab)
mass.gov/policy-advisory/enterprise-digital-accessibility-policy (opens in new tab)
mass.gov/executive-orders/no-614-establishing-the-digital-accessibility-and-equity-governance-board (opens in new tab)
mass.gov/orgs/digital-accessibility-and-equity-governance-board (opens in new tab)
mass.gov/digital-accessibility (opens in new tab)
malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartIV/TitleI/Chapter272/Section98 (opens in new tab)
mass.gov/info-details/overview-of-anti-discrimination-laws-enforced-by-the-mcad (opens in new tab)
mass.gov/info-details/disability-rights-in-public-accommodations (opens in new tab)

Not legal advice. Informational summary compiled from the official sources cited above, last verified 2026-06-08. Requirements change; confirm against the primary source before relying on it. Federal ADA Title II applies regardless of state law (WCAG 2.1 Level AA; compliance April 26, 2027 for entities of 50,000+ population, April 26, 2028 for smaller entities and special districts). See all states.