Northglenn moves to upgrade city website to meet state digital-accessibility standards; mobile mockup requested

Director of Communications Diana Wilson told the council the city must update its website to comply with state digital-accessibility requirements and that the current contractor can deliver an updated design under existing contract terms for a reasonable cost. Wilson said the work will focus on visual redesign and technical accessibility improvements rather than a full site-architecture overhaul.

Wilson outlined key drivers: state accessibility laws and WCAG 2.0 AA standards, a need to improve color contrast and on-page accessibility features, and an overdue visual refresh (best practice every three to five years). Graphic designer John Issel presented mockups showing a greener, rounded aesthetic intended to reflect the new Civic Campus and the city’s branding palette; the design places a prominent search bar in the hero area and adds an accessibility control (widget) to allow users to adjust fonts and contrast.

Council members prioritized seeing the mobile design. “We are a mobile-first society now… I would love to see that,” Council member Burns said. Staff committed to providing a mobile mockup before implementation and to phasing in PDF accessibility and other back-end changes. Wilson said the target for the update was end of the first quarter (quarter dates to be finalized) and that the city clerk will later evaluate integrated municipal website platforms (e.g., CivicPlus, Granicus) and may pursue a broader RFP in the future to consolidate document management, e-newsletters and other modules.

Direction and next steps: staff will proceed with the accessibility-driven redesign under the current contract caveat, produce and circulate a mobile mockup to the council, and begin steps to remediate noncompliant PDFs and other accessibility gaps. No formal vote was taken; councilmembers expressed support for the project and asked staff to return with mobile views.