Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Information Social Media topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
City multimedia team reports expanded social presence, flags costly federal accessibility rule
Summary
City multimedia staff told commissioners they now run 35 social accounts and hundreds of hours of local programming, and warned that a recent U.S. Department of Justice accessibility rule will significantly raise video-captioning and audio-description costs beginning in 2027.
City multimedia staff gave the City Commission an update Jan. 27 on the municipality’s social media and video operations, reporting growth in followers and program hours while warning commissioners that new federal accessibility requirements will add substantial labor and expense.
The presentation, led by James Curtis, multimedia coordinator and public information officer, and David Hawksworth, multimedia specialist, outlined metrics for Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and X as well as Channel 20 programming. Curtis said he manages the city’s public-facing social work and has overseen the creation or consolidation of numerous department accounts since July 2021. “I’ve been at this particular position since July of 20 21,” Curtis told commissioners.
The report said the city now oversees roughly 35 social accounts across four platforms and that Facebook remains the city’s largest audience, with the city’s main page reported at about 14,500 followers. Hawksworth described Channel 20’s output and reach: “In 2024, we covered 96 meetings, and that includes 11 city boards and commissions,” he said, and added that channel programming and special feature programs have pushed the city’s YouTube subscribers to roughly 919.
Why it matters: staff framed the update as more than outreach metrics. The multimedia team argued social channels help the city deliver urgent notices during storms and highlight employees — both priorities the city manager set — and also noted that the U.S. Department of Justice issued an accessibility rule last year that will apply to state and local government websites and digital communications.
Hawksworth told the commission the rule’s requirements go beyond captioning. The city likely will need more accurate (and labor-intensive) caption editing, speaker identification in captions, and a separate audio description track for videos, he said. He estimated that meeting the video captioning and audio-description components alone could require “over a thousand hours a year” of additional staff work, and said the city will need to weigh software and staffing choices as part of the 2026 budget discussions.
Commissioners asked practical questions about how to reach older residents, whether proclamations are being posted in the best places and whether social media should be used to notify closures. Curtis said the city’s proclamations are posted on YouTube and that staff post links to Facebook. Commissioners asked staff to pursue ways to increase visibility and asked for follow-up on options for posting proclamations and for clarity about which platform to use for what audience.
Next steps: Hawksworth and Curtis said they will bring a more detailed plan on digital accessibility implementation — including estimated staffing and software costs, timelines and options — to the commission later in 2025. The multimedia team also confirmed ongoing coordination with Saline County social media staff for cross-promotion and with the Salina Police and Fire departments for departmental messaging.
Ending: Commissioners praised the multimedia staff’s responsiveness and programming volume but pressed for more detail on the accessibility budget implications and for easier public discovery of city posts. The department will return with a more detailed accessibility and budget plan later this year.
