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Staff reports progress on website accessibility; WCAG and vendors under review
Summary
Staff reported the city website has 12 remaining accessibility issues and that vendors (Level Access, Recite Me, Crawford Tech) are being evaluated; staff will check the utility billing portal for WCAG 2.1 AA compliance and update the board in November.
Staff told the board the city’s main website accessibility issues have been reduced to about a dozen, most of which are “easy to correct,” and that the department is negotiating vendor tools and services to maintain compliance.
“I am reaching out to a few vendors to see if there's anything we could get from them to assist,” a staff member said, and named Level Access, Recite Me and Crawford Tech as potential partners. The staff member said Crawford Tech has document‑focused tools and that some firms work with the Department of Justice and with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) processes.
Board members asked specifically about the utilities payment portal; staff said she had advised the utility billing office that the portal needs to be compliant with WCAG 2.1 Level AA at a minimum and that the utility billing team will be consulted. Staff committed to provide an update at the November meeting.
Why it matters: WCAG 2.1 Level AA is the de facto accessibility benchmark for many public websites and is commonly used to evaluate whether people who use assistive technology can access content. Staff framed the work as both correcting current issues and establishing a longer‑term toolset so the site remains accessible even while departments independently add content.
No formal policy or contract award occurred at the meeting; staff reported outreach and testing activity and said a webmaster vacancy remains an operational gap the vendor tools may help cover.
Ending: Staff will report back in November with an update on vendor options and the utilities portal’s compliance status.
