The 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act (21st Century IDEA, or the IDEA Act) sets the baseline every public-facing federal website and digital service is expected to meet: accessible, consistent, secure, searchable, mobile-friendly and designed around what users need. Its original deadlines fell in 2019 and 2020, but compliance didn’t end there. OMB guidance issued in 2023 and an executive order signed in 2025 now shape what agencies are expected to do.

This guide covers what the law requires, who it applies to, how implementation has unfolded and where agencies should focus now.

What is 21st Century IDEA?

The 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act became law on December 20, 2018, as Public Law 115-336. It requires federal executive agencies to:

  1. Modernize their websites and digital services
  2. Digitize non-digital services and paper-based forms
  3. Plan to accelerate the use of electronic signatures
  4. Improve customer experience and digital service delivery
  5. Standardize their approach across agencies

The digital services requirement reaches beyond forms. Agencies have to identify public services still delivered on paper or in person, prioritize the ones whose digitization would have the greatest impact, and regularly review public-facing services so they’re available in a digital format wherever practicable. They must also keep a non-digital way to complete those services, so people who can’t use digital channels aren’t shut out.

One note on the name: 21st Century IDEA is unrelated to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which is also abbreviated IDEA and governs special education.

Who does the IDEA Act apply to?

The law applies to executive agencies as defined in 5 U.S.C. 105: the executive departments, government corporations and independent establishments. That covers the 15 cabinet departments and their components, such as the Federal Aviation Administration within the Department of Transportation, as well as independent agencies.

It doesn’t directly bind state or local governments, whose web accessibility obligations come mainly from ADA Title II and state law. For how the federal and state-facing laws differ, see Section 504 vs. ADA vs. Section 508.

The eight website requirements

Section 3 of the law sets eight criteria for any new or redesigned public-facing website, web-based form, web application or digital service. Agencies must ensure, to the greatest extent practicable, that each one is:

  1. Accessible: accessible to people with disabilities in accordance with Section 508, whose Revised 508 Standards incorporate WCAG 2.0 Level A and AA. Agencies may adopt WCAG 2.1 or 2.2 Level AA as policy, but that’s a practice choice, not the legal baseline. Section508.gov’s guide to accessible web design and development shows how the standards apply to federal websites.
  2. Consistent: consistent in appearance
  3. Unique: free of overlap with legacy websites, with legacy sites regularly reviewed, eliminated and consolidated
  4. Searchable: equipped with a search function for content intended for public use
  5. Secure: provided through an “industry standard secure connection,” which in practice means HTTPS. OMB’s 2023 guidance adds the expectation that official sites use a .gov domain.
  6. User-centered: designed around user needs, with qualitative and quantitative data informing decisions, and continually tested
  7. Customizable: able to offer users a more customized experience so they can complete transactions efficiently and accurately
  8. Mobile-friendly: fully functional and usable on common mobile devices

Two further provisions extend the reach. Any public website launched after the law took effect must comply with GSA’s federal website standards, which incorporate the U.S. Web Design System (USWDS). And intranets established after enactment should meet the same eight criteria, so internal digital services are in scope too.

How implementation has unfolded

  • December 2018: The law is enacted.
  • 2019–2020: The statutory deadlines arrive. The eight criteria apply to new and redesigned sites from June 2019, when e-signature plans are also due. Agencies review existing sites and report to Congress by December 2019, and public-facing paper forms must be digital by December 2020. The OMB guidance the law called for doesn’t arrive, and agency progress is uneven.
  • 2019–2023: Agencies report annually to OMB and the public on their progress. That reporting obligation ended with the 2023 reports.
  • September 2023: OMB issues M-23-22, Delivering a Digital-First Public Experience, the long-awaited implementation guidance. It sets out more than 100 requirements across accessibility, design, content, search, analytics, security and digital forms, and digital.gov maintains an implementation guide to it.
  • August 2025: Executive Order 14338 launches the America by Design initiative, with a National Design Studio and a Chief Design Officer. It directs agencies to prioritize their highest-impact websites, calls for USWDS updates and asks for government-wide compliance with 21st Century IDEA, with initial results due by July 4, 2026.

The statute is the durable layer. OMB memoranda and executive orders can be revised, superseded or rescinded, and the temporary organization EO 14338 created to drive America by Design is set to terminate after three years. Building to the law’s requirements holds up whichever initiative is current.

What 21st Century IDEA compliance looks like now

With the fixed deadlines behind them, agencies comply through ongoing governance rather than a one-time project. The work that matters most:

  • Know the estate. Keep a current inventory of public websites and subdomains, and retire or consolidate duplicate and legacy sites.
  • Standardize on USWDS. Meet GSA’s federal website standards and use the design system for a consistent appearance.
  • Treat accessibility as continuous. Test against the Revised 508 Standards with every release, documents included. See Section 508 PDF accessibility for the document side.
  • Finish digitizing services. Track which services and forms remain paper-based or in person, document why any can’t be digitized, and keep a non-digital route open.
  • Make content findable. Provide on-site search, structure content so search engines and AI answer engines can surface it, and review content regularly so it stays accurate. Answer engine optimization for government covers the discoverability side.
  • Measure with data. Use the Digital Analytics Program and user research to decide what to fix first, then keep testing.
  • Secure every site. Serve all public sites over HTTPS from a .gov domain.

For a page-level view of these checks, see the government website checklist.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a 21st Century IDEA deadline now?

Not a statutory one. The law’s dated requirements fell between 2019 and 2023, but its website, forms and service obligations remain in force. EO 14338 asked agencies for initial results by July 4, 2026, which is an executive-branch target rather than a date set by the law.

Does 21st Century IDEA apply to state and local governments?

No. It covers federal executive agencies. State and local governments are reached by ADA Title II and their own state laws, not by the IDEA Act.

Which WCAG version does 21st Century IDEA require?

The law requires accessibility in accordance with Section 508. The Revised 508 Standards incorporate WCAG 2.0 Level A and AA, so that’s the legal baseline. Agencies can set a higher bar, such as WCAG 2.1 or 2.2 Level AA, as policy.

Who oversees compliance?

Each agency’s Chief Information Officer, or a designee, coordinates implementation inside the agency. OMB issues government-wide guidance, and GSA publishes the federal website standards and the USWDS. Under EO 14338, agencies also consult the Chief Design Officer.