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Board committee recommends NEA-approved Open Door accessibility self-assessment for grantees
Summary
The accessibility ad hoc recommended adopting the NEA‑approved 'Open Door' self‑assessment for all grantees, noting it takes roughly 1.5–2 hours to complete and that the board must balance audit requirements with applicant burden.
At a Wisconsin Arts Board meeting, the board’s accessibility ad hoc committee recommended that grantees complete an NEA‑approved accessibility self‑assessment (Open Door) as part of grant compliance to ensure recipient organizations document accessibility efforts and meet audit requirements.
Bill, an accessibility committee presenter, said the committee had reviewed two NEA‑approved assessment tools and favored Open Door because it is approved by the NEA and can be flexible for organizations of different sizes. The committee reported that Open Door has five sections and uses agreement-style responses (fully agree to not applicable).
“I would estimate that going through it would probably take an hour and a half to 2 hours to complete it,” Bill said, noting his own trial run reached about 60% completion in 45 minutes. Committee members said answers sometimes require referencing ADA technical standards — for example, whether a bathroom meets ADA measurements — and that small organizations may find some items either not applicable or requiring follow-up work.
The committee discussed audit exposure: if the board requires an accessibility self‑assessment and is audited, it must have recipient documentation on file. Committee members recommended a uniform policy that all grantees complete the self‑assessment regardless of whether their award includes state-only funds, to avoid creating a two‑tiered reporting system that would add complexity to grant administration.
The committee emphasized limiting applicant burden. Staff and committee members said they will work with board leadership (including Karen Hoffman and other staff) to refine how the self‑assessment is integrated into the application process so it does not add an onerous time burden, particularly for small organizations or for small grants.
No formal policy vote was taken; the committee asked staff to draft implementation options and report back to the board at a future meeting.
