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City staff outline DOJ web‑accessibility rule and WCAG compliance effort; KOBAC invited to help
Summary
City staff described work to implement the Department of Justice’s web accessibility obligations via WCAG standards, said compliance is required by the April 24, 2026 date, and invited KOBAC members and subject-matter experts to support testing and guidance.
City staff updated the Accessibility Advisory Committee on work to comply with the U.S. Department of Justice’s web and digital accessibility rule and the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). Cassandra and committee members described a multi‑year effort to make websites and mobile apps meet technical accessibility standards and to put processes in place for reasonable modifications where digital access remains insufficient.
Cassandra said the city expects the effort to continue beyond the compliance date of April 24, 2026, and emphasized that WCAG is a technical, detailed standard that touches content structure, semantic markup, link labeling, table semantics and other code‑level practices. Liz Diether Martin, who has professional experience building accessible digital materials, described WCAG as “a life’s work” and said it benefits all users, not only people with disabilities.
Staff asked KOBAC members with web‑accessibility expertise to serve as subject‑matter advisors and to help review materials and testing protocols. Cassandra said the city will coordinate with internal DEI staff and external experts and expects some tasks to stretch into late 2025 or 2026; she also invited committee volunteers for a planning committee and community mixer to support collaboration.
Why it matters: The rule changes require local governments to treat digital presence as a core access point for program services and information, and the city’s plan includes both code-level remediation and processes to accept reasonable modification requests when needed. Committee members emphasized that accessible digital design benefits all users and recommended staff share clear ways for volunteers to contribute.
No formal action was taken; staff requested KOBAC expertise and volunteers to join planning and review efforts.
