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County to add annual accessibility service for public website; $15,000 annual cost noted
Summary
Communications staff recommended a roughly $15,000 annual subscription to bring public-facing county websites into compliance with WCAG 2.2 accessibility guidelines; county staff explained the tool operates per URL and includes AI fixes plus expert review.
Spokane County administrative and communications staff told commissioners on Oct. 6 they plan to incorporate an annual subscription (approximately $15,000) to make public-facing county web content compliant with accessibility standards.
Why it matters: County web accessibility affects public access to county services and compliance with accessibility law and best practices. The tool will be used to ensure pages are reachable by screen readers, keyboard navigation and other assistive technologies.
What staff said: Communications staff said the subscription will help the county meet requirements under accessibility guidance (presented in the meeting as "PAC 2.2," and described here using the more widely recognized Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, WCAG 2.2). Staff explained the vendor’s tool operates at two levels: an AI layer that can automatically remediate some code-level issues and a human expert review that generates a customized checklist for manual refinements with the vendor (CivicPlus was identified as the site vendor). The subscription is billed per URL; the county’s primary spokanecounty.gov site was discussed and staff noted separate event or fair pages that link off the main site may require separate subscriptions.
Budget and next steps: Communications staff said the $15,000 cost is already included in the materials and operations (M&O) budget line for 2026. Staff said they will work with other departments to provide the accessibility checklist and help coordinate any additional per-URL work required by stand-alone pages.
Limits: The presentation did not report a formal procurement decision beyond embedding the subscription in the requested M&O budget; final adoption will follow the county’s normal budget process.
