The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Rehab Act)

The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 — usually just “the Rehab Act” — was the first major federal civil rights law in the United States protecting people with disabilities. It predates the Americans with Disabilities Act by 17 years and established the legal framework that ADA later built on. More than fifty years later, the Rehab Act is still the primary disability nondiscrimination law governing the federal government, federal contractors, and any organization receiving federal financial assistance — and major 2018 and 2024 updates to its technical requirements make it newly relevant for anyone running a website, mobile app, or digital service in a federally funded program.

This guide walks through what the Rehab Act covers, how it compares to the ADA, and what its most important sections — 501, 503, 504, 505, and 508 — require in 2026, including the May 2024 HHS Section 504 rule and the 2018 Section 508 Refresh.

How the Rehab Act Defines Disability

The Rehab Act defines a person with a disability as anyone who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, has a record of such an impairment, or is regarded as having such an impairment. The definition is deliberately broad and matches the ADA’s framework. Covered impairments span physical conditions (mobility, vision, hearing, chronic illness), cognitive and learning disabilities, mental health conditions, and neurological differences.

The Act does not list specific diagnoses. Instead, coverage is established by whether an impairment substantially limits a major life activity — walking, seeing, hearing, learning, working, concentrating, communicating, caring for oneself, and similar. This functional definition means conditions with no visible markers, including mental illness and chronic pain, are fully covered when they meet the threshold. Medical documentation is one type of evidence but not the only one.

How the Rehab Act Compares to the ADA

Both laws use the same definition of disability. The difference is scope:

• Rehab Act applies to the federal government, federal contractors, and any entity that receives federal financial assistance (hospitals, Medicaid/Medicare providers, schools, state and local governments with federal grants, nonprofits with federal funding).
• ADA applies to state and local governments (Title II) and most private entities open to the public (Title III), regardless of whether they receive federal money.

In practice, most large organizations are covered by both. A hospital that accepts Medicare must comply with the Rehab Act; it must also comply with the ADA because it is a place of public accommodation. Complying with one usually puts you mostly in compliance with the other — but the technical specifics and enforcement agencies differ.

How the Rehab Act Has Changed Since 1973

The Act has been amended many times. A few of the major milestones:

• 1974 amendments — expanded the definition of “individual with a disability” beyond the original employment-handicap framing.
• 1986 — added Section 508 covering federal information technology accessibility.
• 1998 — strengthened Section 508, requiring federal agencies to make electronic and information technology accessible to employees and members of the public.
• 2017–2018 (Section 508 Refresh) — U.S. Access Board published the Revised 508 Standards, incorporating WCAG 2.0 Level A and AA as the technical standard for federal ICT. Effective January 18, 2018.
• May 2024 (HHS Section 504 Final Rule) — Department of Health and Human Services published the first major update to Section 504 regulations in decades, including WCAG 2.1 Level A and AA requirements for websites and mobile apps of HHS-funded organizations. Effective July 8, 2024, with compliance deadlines in 2026 and 2027.

Section 501: Federal Employment

Section 501 prohibits disability discrimination in federal employment and requires federal agencies to take affirmative action to employ and advance people with disabilities. Reasonable accommodations must be provided for qualified applicants and employees.

Under EEOC regulations implementing Section 501, federal agencies work toward a 12% participation goal for individuals with disabilities across the federal workforce, with a 2% sub-goal for individuals with “targeted disabilities” (paralysis, blindness, missing limbs, deafness, significant mental illness, intellectual disability, and similar). These are federal employment goals, not binding quotas — agencies must have plans and report progress, but the numbers are benchmarks rather than mandates.

Section 501 covers federal agencies only. Private employers are covered by the ADA and, if they are federal contractors, by Section 503.

Section 503: Federal Contractors

Section 503 prohibits disability discrimination by federal contractors and subcontractors and requires them to take affirmative action to employ and advance qualified individuals with disabilities. The Department of Labor’s OFCCP enforces this section.

Under current OFCCP regulations, contractors with 50+ employees and contracts of $50,000 or more have a 7% utilization goal for workers with disabilities in every job group (or across the workforce if they have fewer than 100 employees). Contractors must invite applicants to voluntarily self-identify as having a disability at pre-offer and post-offer stages, and they must collect and retain data on applications and hires.

Section 504: Federal Financial Assistance

Section 504 is the broadest and most widely invoked provision. It prohibits disability discrimination by any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance — schools, hospitals, state and local governments receiving federal grants, nonprofits with federal funding, and contractors.

Historically, Section 504 enforcement focused on physical access, reasonable accommodations, and educational services. The May 2024 HHS final rule dramatically expanded and modernized the digital-accessibility piece:

• Web and mobile app accessibility. HHS-funded organizations must ensure their websites and mobile apps conform to WCAG 2.1 Level A and AA.
• Compliance deadlines. May 11, 2026 for public entities with 15+ employees; May 10, 2027 for entities with fewer than 15 employees.
• Medical diagnostic equipment. By May 11, 2026, health providers must have at least one accessible exam table and one accessible weight scale, or 10% of each type of MDE in use, whichever is greater.
• Accessible kiosks. Self-service kiosks used in health programs must meet the U.S. Access Board’s accessibility standards.

The 2024 HHS rule affects a huge swath of healthcare — any organization that accepts Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, or grant funding from HHS’s 100+ programs. For digital accessibility specifically, it is one of the most significant federal regulatory updates in years.

Section 504 in education is enforced by the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights and covers schools, colleges, universities, and vocational programs receiving federal funds. Section 504 plans for K-12 students are the common working output of this side of the statute.

Section 505: Remedies and Attorney Fees

Section 505 makes the remedies, procedures, and rights of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 available for violations of Section 501 and Section 504 respectively. It also provides that courts may award reasonable attorney’s fees to prevailing parties in Rehab Act litigation.

In plain language: individuals with disabilities who experience discrimination covered by the Rehab Act can file formal complaints with the responsible agency, bring civil lawsuits, and recover attorney’s fees if they prevail. This right to sue and to recover fees is a major practical mechanism behind Rehab Act enforcement.

Section 508: Federal ICT Accessibility

Section 508 requires federal agencies to make their electronic and information technology accessible to people with disabilities, both employees and members of the public. The landmark update is the Section 508 Refresh, which became effective January 18, 2018 and is still the governing standard.

The Refresh replaced the original product-based standards with a functional approach and incorporated WCAG 2.0 Level A and AA as the technical standard for federal web content, software, and electronic documents. Section508.gov maintains current guidance, training, and assessment tools.

In practice, Section 508 conformance today means meeting WCAG 2.0 AA across federal websites, intranet and extranet content, software applications, operating systems, video and multimedia, self-contained closed products (kiosks, information transaction machines), desktop and portable computers, and authoring tools. Many federal agencies are moving internally toward WCAG 2.1 AA or 2.2 AA, and vendor procurement language increasingly reflects the newer versions.

Section 508 applies to federal agencies directly. It does not legally bind state governments or private companies — but state governments frequently adopt Section 508 by reference, and federal procurement language requires vendors supplying ICT to the federal government to conform. The practical reach of Section 508 is much broader than its formal scope.

How Rehab Act Enforcement Works Now

Different sections are enforced by different agencies. Knowing where to file matters:

• Section 501 (federal employment): Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for individual complaints; agency-specific EEO offices for initial processing.
• Section 503 (federal contractors): Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) at the Department of Labor.
• Section 504 (federal financial assistance): Office for Civil Rights of the funding agency — HHS OCR for healthcare, ED OCR for education, HUD FHEO for housing, DOJ for broader questions.
• Section 508 (federal ICT): Complaints filed with the agency responsible for the noncompliant ICT; civil actions available under Section 508(f).

Alongside agency enforcement, the Rehab Act supports private civil litigation. The availability of attorney’s fees under Section 505 has sustained a meaningful volume of disability-rights case law, particularly on Section 504 accommodations in K-12 education and postsecondary settings.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the Rehab Act apply to my business?

If your business is a federal contractor or subcontractor (Section 503), receives federal financial assistance of any kind (Section 504), or is a federal agency itself (Sections 501, 505, 508), yes. If none of those apply, you are likely covered by the ADA rather than the Rehab Act. Hospitals accepting Medicare, universities receiving federal student aid, and most nonprofits with federal grants are all covered.

What is the difference between Section 504 and Section 508?

Section 504 is a broad nondiscrimination provision — no program receiving federal funds may exclude or disadvantage someone because of disability. Section 508 is a narrower technical standard specifically for federal agencies’ ICT. A single organization can be subject to both: Section 504 governs the overall program, Section 508 (or the 2024 Section 504 HHS digital rule) governs the specific technical accessibility of websites and software.

What WCAG version does the Rehab Act require?

Section 508 currently requires WCAG 2.0 Level A and AA via the 2018 Refresh. The 2024 HHS Section 504 rule requires WCAG 2.1 Level A and AA for HHS-funded organizations’ websites and mobile apps. Targeting WCAG 2.2 AA is increasingly common and gives you headroom across both standards plus the 2024 DOJ ADA Title II rule, which also requires WCAG 2.1 AA.

What happens if my organization is not compliant?

Depending on the section, consequences range from administrative complaints and corrective action plans to loss of federal funding, civil penalties, and private lawsuits with attorney’s-fee exposure under Section 505. Federal funding at risk is typically the biggest practical lever — hospitals and schools lose meaningful revenue if federal compliance reviews go badly.

Bottom Line

The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 remains the foundation of disability civil rights in programs and activities connected to federal funding. The last decade has transformed the digital-accessibility requirements it imposes: Section 508 adopted WCAG 2.0 AA in 2018, and the May 2024 HHS Section 504 rule extended WCAG 2.1 AA to the vast healthcare-funding ecosystem with compliance deadlines landing in May 2026 and May 2027. If your organization touches federal funding in any form — direct contract, grant, Medicare/Medicaid, or federal student aid — Rehab Act compliance is not optional, and the accessibility of your websites, mobile apps, and digital services is now an explicit part of it.