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Board approves Civic Plus website upgrade to meet accessibility and modernize county portal
Summary
Wythe County authorized staff to proceed with a Civic Plus website project. Staff said the current site is outdated and does not meet accessibility guidelines; the board approved staff’s recommendation by voice vote.
Wythe County supervisors voted on Feb. 25 to authorize county staff to proceed with a Civic Plus website upgrade intended to modernize the county’s public portal and bring it into compliance with accessibility guidelines.
Deputy county staff (identified in the agenda packet as the staff member presenting the proposal) described the current county website as old and only cosmetically updated since about 2012. The presenter told the board the county’s site is not fully compliant with accessibility features that will be required by law for public sites and said the Civic Plus product would automatically enforce many accessibility standards and make the site mobile‑friendly.
Staff said the vendor is already under contract with the county for municipal code codification and recommended continuing with Civic Plus for the website. "It is expensive but I think it is our front window into the county," the presenter said, noting the site’s role for residents, prospective relocators and during emergencies.
Board action: The board approved staff’s recommendation to proceed with Civic Plus. The motion was made and seconded on the record; a voice vote indicated approval. No amount for the full multi‑year contract was discussed on the record during this segment; staff said the project was budgeted and within the proposed budget for the fiscal year.
Why it matters: County officials said upgrading the site will improve accessibility for residents who use assistive technologies, make official documents and ordinances easier to find, and reduce reliance on social media for official county communications. Staff noted Grayson County is implementing the same vendor and that the county must meet compliance requirements by 2027.
Clarifying details: Staff said the current site was built circa 2012 and had only a minor cosmetic update; the county’s timeline for full accessibility compliance is 2027, and the vendor’s platform would prevent publication of content that fails automatic accessibility checks.
