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St. Joseph County approves CivicPlus contract for PDF accessibility amid concerns about unfunded mandate
Summary
County commissioners approved a CivicPlus statement of work to convert county PDFs to DOJ-accessible formats at $54,000 per year; staff said the cost is population-based and can be reassessed at renewal, while some commissioners called the mandate an unfunded burden.
St. Joseph County commissioners approved a statement of work with CivicPlus to make county website PDFs accessible to visually impaired users in compliance with Department of Justice guidance.
Brian Forteo of the Department of Structured Planning and Growth described the product as an overlay that identifies document structure for screen readers and continuously applies accessibility when documents are uploaded. "This will take care of all of our PDFs and forms that are on our website continuously as they get updated," Forteo said, explaining that the vendor's pricing is based on county population and is billed annually.
A commissioner said the service cost ($54,000 per year) represented another example of a higher-level government mandate without direct funding for counties. "This is another example of a higher government agency mandating something and no way to fund that," the commissioner said. Other commissioners and staff said the accessibility improvements are necessary and the contract can be revisited at renewal.
The board approved the CivicPlus statement of work by motion. County staff said the contract is year-to-year and could be reassessed on renewal.
Why it matters: The contract addresses federal accessibility obligations for digital content, which affect county compliance risk and service for residents who use screen readers. Commissioners flagged the cost impact on local budgets and asked that staff review pricing at the next renewal.
What comes next: Staff will finalize the statement of work with CivicPlus and the county will implement the overlay; the commission suggested revisiting the product and pricing at the next renewal period.
