Title II archived content exception: archive, keep or fix your PDFs

Most of a public PDF library is history. Agendas, minutes, budgets and reports pile up for years, and much of it is kept for the record. The Title II web rule lets you leave a lot of that history as it is, as long as you sort it carefully. Archived files must meet four conditions. Older files that nobody uses to get a service can stay as preexisting documents. Files people still rely on, and anything you post or update after your compliance date, need to meet WCAG 2.1 AA. As of October 2026, that date is April 26, 2027 for governments serving 50,000 or more people and April 26, 2028 for smaller governments and special districts. This guide walks through each decision with a table by document type. Confirm your own decisions with counsel.

Start with the "currently used" test

The first question for any file is whether people use it now. The preexisting documents exception in 28 CFR 35.201(b) ends for any document that is "currently used to apply for, gain access to, or participate in" your services, programs or activities. The archive exception has a similar limit, because archived content must be kept "exclusively for reference, research, or recordkeeping."

Ask these questions about each file.

• Does anyone need it to apply for, register for, or request something?
• Does it tell people how, when or where to take part in a meeting, program, election or hearing?
• Does it state current rules, fees, deadlines or eligibility?
• Is it linked from an active page, a form or a current process?

A yes to any of them means the file is in use, so plan to fix it. DOJ's compliance guide gives two examples. A business license application posted in 2020 that people still use after the compliance date is covered. So is a PDF with up-to-date instructions for scheduling an event in a county park, even if someone has placed it in an archive section.

The four archive conditions as a checklist

The archive exception, defined in 28 CFR 35.104, applies only when all four conditions are true.

DOJ's guide shows how each condition plays out. A 1998 water quality report kept unchanged in an archive section for research qualifies, and so do handwritten notes from the same project that are scanned and posted with it. A 2021 COVID-19 spreadsheet that is edited and reposted in the archive does not, because it changed after it was archived.

If any condition fails, the archive exception does not apply. The preexisting documents exception may still cover a file that was on your site before your compliance date.

The date in condition 1 is your entity's compliance date, and the April 2026 interim final rule moved it a year later. Confirm with counsel how the new date applies to your files, particularly while a lawsuit challenging the extension is pending.

Archive or keep as preexisting

The two exceptions overlap, and the differences matter when you sort.

If you plan to move old files into an archive area, doing it before your compliance date avoids questions about whether a moved file was newly posted. A preexisting document can stay where it is. It falls out of the exception if people start relying on it again or if you update it.

Decision table by document type

These are typical decisions. Your facts decide, and counsel should confirm the patterns you adopt.

How to set up an archive area

• Make it a dedicated place. Use one section, or a few, with "Archive" in the page title, heading and navigation label.
• Explain it on the page. Say that the content is kept for reference and how to request an accessible copy. DOJ's guide recommends telling the public "in prominent places on your website" how to ask for accessible versions of content that falls under an exception.
• Keep current material out. Forms, current instructions and anything people need to act on belong elsewhere.
• Freeze the files. If a file needs a correction, treat the corrected version as new content and make it accessible.
• Keep an index. A spreadsheet listing each file, its original date, the date you archived it, and the reason is enough.
• Avoid presenting archived files as current. Linking them from active pages invites people to rely on them.

When someone asks for an archived document

The exceptions leave in place your duty to communicate effectively with people with disabilities under 28 CFR 35.160. DOJ's guide says that even when content does not have to meet WCAG 2.1 AA, "you would likely still need to provide the content to a person with a disability who needs it in a format that is accessible to them."

A simple process works.

1. Acknowledge the request and ask what format works for the person.
2. Respond in a timely way. The regulation says auxiliary aids and services must be provided "in accessible formats, in a timely manner, and in such a way as to protect the privacy and independence of the individual." A document needed before a hearing date needs a faster path.
3. Provide a format that works, such as a remediated PDF, an accessible Word or web version, or another format the person asks for. The regulation tells you to give "primary consideration" to the person's request.
4. Log the request, your response and the dates.

Posting the remediated copy in place of the original helps the next person who needs it. If requests arrive steadily, set aside a budget for on-demand remediation. Ockem Proof charges per document, which keeps a single request easy to price, and our cost guide compares the options.

Taking files down is a legitimate option

The rule applies to web content you provide or make available. A file you take down is no longer content you provide. For many old files, such as expired notices, past event flyers and superseded drafts, removal is the simplest decision. Check three things first.

• Posting laws. State open-meetings, budget or public notice laws may require some documents to stay online for a set time.
• Records retention. See the next section.
• Who still needs it. If removing a file would leave people without information they rely on, fix it instead.

Taking a file offline does not end its retention period

Removing a PDF from your website is a publishing decision. How long you keep the record is set by your records retention schedule, and in many states that schedule applies whatever the format. The New York State Archives, for example, says its schedules "generally apply to records regardless of the format or media in which they exist, including electronic records." It also says records used in an audit or legal action must be kept until the audit or action ends.

Before you take files down, work through this list.

• Confirm with your records manager or clerk which schedule applies.
• Keep the official copy in your records system for its full retention period.
• Make sure the website copy is not the only copy.
• Note in your inventory where each record now lives.

Questions to settle with counsel

• How the April 2026 change to your compliance date affects which files count as preexisting or archivable.
• Whether document types such as agenda packets or codes are "currently used" in your programs.
• Which state posting and retention laws apply before you remove files.
• How a ruling in the pending National Federation of the Blind lawsuit would affect your dates.
• Whether the HHS Section 504 rule also applies, if you receive HHS funding.

Where to start

Start by counting. Our free PDF inventory tool crawls your site and counts the PDFs it finds using file metadata only. For the full rule and its dates, read Title II and PDFs. For what fixing involves check by check, see which checks software can fix and the WCAG coverage map.

Questions

This guide explains the rules in plain language. It isn’t legal advice. Check how they apply to your organization with counsel.