South Carolina has a binding statewide administrative accessibility policy but no digital-accessibility-specific statute. The official state portal policy (sc.gov/accessibility-policy) states South Carolina has adopted the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 and references Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, with each state agency and local government responsible for its own compliance. There is no digital-accessibility-specific private right of action or statutory fine. South Carolina's general disability civil-rights statute, the Bill of Rights for Handicapped Persons (S.C. Code Ann. Sec. 43-33-540), allows an aggrieved person to seek injunctive relief or civil damages not to exceed $5,000 in actual damages plus attorney's fees in the court of common pleas, but it covers public accommodations, public services, and housing and makes no mention of websites or information technology; its application to digital accessibility is unsettled. In practice, government and public-higher-ed web accessibility is driven by the binding federal ADA Title II baseline (WCAG 2.1 Level AA), whose compliance deadlines were extended by an April 2026 DOJ Interim Final Rule to April 26, 2027 (population 50,000+) and April 26, 2028 (under 50,000 and special districts). The operating agency and authority of the often-cited ASCIT program, and any binding statewide WCAG 2.

What the law requires

• Responsible agency SC Department of Administration, Division of Technology Operations (statewide IT function). The official statewide portal accessibility policy at sc.gov assigns compliance responsibility to each agency: 'Each state agency and local government is responsible for its own compliance with accessibility standards.' A separate program, Access South Carolina Information Technology (ASCIT), is widely cited as providing statewide IT accessibility guidance, but its operating agency and authority could not be corroborated from a primary source on this pass (the accessibility.sc.gov site returned HTTP 502 on direct fetch). (sc.gov/accessibility-policy) (opens in new tab)
• Adopted standard The official sc.gov accessibility policy states 'SC.GOV has adopted the World Wide Web Consortium's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0' and references Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act (confirmed from sc.gov/accessibility-policy). Reports that the ASCIT program recommends WCAG 2.0 / WCAG 2.1 Level A and AA could not be corroborated from a primary .gov source on this pass (accessibility.sc.gov returned HTTP 502). The binding federal ADA Title II standard is WCAG 2.1 Level AA (confirmed from ada.gov).
• Who it covers Per the official sc.gov policy, scope covers state agencies and local government, each responsible for its own compliance (confirmed from sc.gov/accessibility-policy). Coverage of public higher education and ICT procurement under any binding statewide IT-accessibility mandate could not be corroborated from a primary source. As a binding matter, state and local government and public higher ed are covered by federal ADA Title II.
• Private right of action No digital-accessibility-specific private right of action exists under South Carolina law. A GENERAL state-law private remedy for disability discrimination exists under the Bill of Rights for Handicapped Persons: S.C. Code Ann. Sec. 43-33-540 provides that 'A handicapped person aggrieved by the discrimination prohibited by this article has the right to seek injunctive relief or civil damages ... in the court of common pleas' (confirmed verbatim from scstatehouse.gov). That statute addresses public accommodations, public services, and housing and does NOT mention websites or digital/ICT content; its application to government website inaccessibility is not established. The primary enforcement route for government web accessibility is federal ADA Title II (DOJ complaint and private suit).
• Statutory damages / penalties No digital-accessibility-specific statutory damages under South Carolina law. The general SC Bill of Rights for Handicapped Persons, S.C. Code Ann. Sec. 43-33-540, caps recovery at 'civil damages, not to exceed five thousand dollars actual damages, plus his attorney's fee and costs,' in addition to injunctive relief (confirmed verbatim from scstatehouse.gov). The statewide IT accessibility policy carries no monetary penalty. Federal ADA Title II is complaint/enforcement-driven with no statutory per-violation fine against the regulated government entity.
• Exemptions The state portal accessibility policy does not codify detailed exemptions (no exemptions stated on sc.gov/accessibility-policy). The binding federal ADA Title II 2024 web rule provides exceptions (confirmed from ada.gov): archived web content; preexisting conventional electronic documents; third-party content not posted by or under contract with the government; individualized password-protected documents; and preexisting (pre-compliance-date) social media posts; plus the general undue-burden and fundamental-alteration limits.
• Governing authority Binding authority is a statewide administrative policy, not a digital-accessibility statute. The official South Carolina portal accessibility policy (sc.gov/accessibility-policy) states the state has adopted the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and references Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, with each state agency and local government responsible for its own compliance. Separately, the SC Bill of Rights for Handicapped Persons, S.C. Code Ann. Title 43, Chapter 33, Article 5 (Sec. 43-33-510 et seq.), is a GENERAL disability civil-rights statute (not digital-accessibility-specific): Sec. 43-33-520 declares equal use of public accommodations, public services, and educational facilities a civil right, and Sec. 43-33-530 prohibits discrimination 'with respect to public accommodations, public services, or housing without reasonable justification.' Article 5 contains no reference to websites, electronic, digital, or information technology (confirmed from scstatehouse.gov). Federal ADA Title II (28 CFR Part 35; 2024 DOJ web rule) is the binding digital-accessibility baseline.
• Compliance deadline No distinct state-specific statutory deadline. Federal ADA Title II dates govern, and were EXTENDED by a DOJ Interim Final Rule effective April 20, 2026: entities with total population 50,000 or more now have until April 26, 2027 (extended from April 24, 2026), and entities under 50,000 plus special district governments now have until April 26, 2028 (extended from April 26, 2027). Confirmed from ada.gov.

Official sources:
scstatehouse.gov/code/t43c033.php (opens in new tab)
sc.gov/accessibility-policy (opens in new tab)
section508.gov/manage/laws-and-policies/state/ (opens in new tab)
ada.gov/resources/2024-03-08-web-rule/ (opens in new tab)
ada.gov/assets/pdfs/2026-ifr.pdf (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.