This posting summarizes some detailed research into the state of government accessibility standards around the world, as of September 2011. Usually these evolve fairly slowly, although the recent Jodhan vs. Attorney General of Canada case may change that (governments don't like being successfully sued by their citizens).

This table shows government accessibility standards, and relevant legislation, in 11 countries:

CountryStandardLegislationApplies To
Australia WCAG 2 AA Disability Discrimination Act All government and non-government websites should comply with WCAG 2 AA by end of 2013
Canada

WCAG 2 AA

 Human Rights Act 1977 Common Look and Feel 2.0 required WCAG 1 up till July 2011 for all government websites. The Jodhan vs. Attorney General of Canada ruling requires the Canadian government to update the guidelines to WCAG 2, and this was implemented as the Standard on Web Accessibility on Aug 1, 2011.
EU WCAG 1 AA European Parliament Resolution (2002) 0325 Required for all EU commission websites*. Progress towards WCAG 2 is being done by the Mandate M 376 working group which started work in 2006.
France RGAA 2.2.1 (based on WCAG 2) Law No 2005-102, Article 47 Required for all French central government websites by May 2010. All other French public websites (public services, towns, public research, etc) are required to comply by May 2011.
Germany BITV 2 (based on WCAG 2) Federal Disabled Equalization Law (BGG) BITV 2 came into force on Sept 22, 2011, and is required for all government websites. It is based on WCAG 2, but not identical.
Hong Kong WCAG 1 AA   GovHK websites conform to WCAG 1 AA
Ireland WCAG 1 AA The Disability Act 2005 All government websites - Code of Practice on Accessibility of Public Services and Information Provided by Public Bodies 
Italy

Technical Rules of Law 4/2004 (based on WCAG 1 AA) 

 Law No. 4/2004 (“Stanca” Law) Required for all government websites
Japan JIS X 8341 (based on WCAG 2)   Based on WCAG 2 with provisions made for the Japanese language and input systems. Required for all local and central government websites. Commercial websites are also encouraged to use it.
New Zealand WCAG 2 AA Human Rights Amendment Act 2001 New Zealand Government Web Standards 2.0 (WCAG 2 AA) required for all government web sites.
Ontario AODA (WCAG 2 AA)   Required for all new Ontario government websites by January 2012, and existing government websites by January 2016.
Quebec SGQRI 008 (based on WCAG 2) Standards sur l'accessibilité du Web Custom made standard based on WCAG 2.0 with specifics covering websites, downloadable documents and multimedia.
United Kingdom WCAG 1 AA or
WCAG 2 AA		 Equality Act 2010 The COI standard for inclusive websites requires WCAG 1 AA or WCAG 2 AA for all UK government web sites. Other UK websites need to comply with the Equality Act and provide equal access, but this doesn't specify technical standards (although complying with at least WCAG 1 A or 2 A demonstrates that accessibility issues have been considered).
USA Section 508 (subset of WCAG 1 with a few additions) Section 508 of Rehabilitation Act US federal agencies' websites must comply with Section 508 guidelines. These are currently being updated - a draft update was released in March 2010 with another due in December 2011.

* Irony Alert: the European resolution insists web site documents should be clear and simple, but kicks off with 22 paragraphs of incomprehensible bureaucratic text. Here's an example:

whereas the internet as a part of society is an instrument for society as a whole, so it is fundamental that technologically neutral access to public information is offered for all groups in society...

 

The key takeaway from this research: adoption of WCAG 2 is progressing steadily and becoming increasingly important:

  • The Australian, French and New Zealand governments have already adopted WCAG 2.
  • The Jodhan vs. Attorney General of Canada ruling means the Canadian government is required to adopt WCAG 2.
  • UK government sites must comply with either WCAG 1 AA or WCAG 2 AA.
  • In the US, Section 508 is being refreshed to harmonize with WCAG 2.
  • The European Commission is investigating a move to WCAG 2 as a European government standard, but this is complicated by competing national standards in Germany (BITV) and Italy. 

Edit: originally published November 2010, updated November 2011.