Session 2 - Disability Inclusion: A Journey Toward Digital Accessibility
“Discovering” documents and website content is a huge challenge for the blind and disabled. In 2021, 97.4% of analyzed web pages failed to meet one or more of the criteria from the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 Level AA, the consensus standard for digital accessibility. New approaches to accessibility are vital to making public documents and websites available to our whole population. In Colorado, House Bill 21-1110 was passed to address the issue and compel all government agencies to ensure that all digital communications, including websites, forms, documents, applications, and databases be accessible to people that have a variety of disabilities. While we had begun to remediate documents independently two years earlier, this official change in policy required a comprehensive understanding of how to identify what we had in our inventory, the resources we would need to remediate them, and how to adjust our business processes to remain in compliance going forward. This work has been a collaborative effort between the Webmaster, the Records manager, and Communications staff.
In this session, the presenters will share what they learned, the scope of work they uncovered, and the challenges and successes they experienced in order to help others prepare for this potentiality in their work. This area addresses multiple competencies and is certain to become a reality for everyone in the coming years.
Target Audiences: Federal, State/Tribal, Local, Public Institutions of Higher Learning
Focus Areas: Records Management, Technology/Tools
Presenters: Kay Dirling, Records Manager, Colorado Dept of Public Health & Environment and Scott Schroeder, Web and Data Manager, Colorado Dept of Public Health & Environment