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City staff maps website and video changes after DOJ digital‑accessibility ruling
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Summary
City staff told the Asheville City Council a Department of Justice ruling requires broad remediation of city digital content — web pages, apps and videos — and warned of legal and operational tradeoffs including temporary removal of legacy pages and an interim replacement for the Asheville app.
Asheville City staff told the City Council on Tuesday that a Department of Justice ruling requires local governments to make web pages, apps, videos and related digital materials accessible to people with disabilities, and that the city must act quickly to avoid enforcement or private litigation.
Brad Branham, presenting the manager’s report, and Dawah Hitch, the city’s communications and public engagement director, said the rule will affect the appearance, usability and availability of city digital content and that staff are prioritizing remediation. “If we put it out digitally, it must be accessible,” Hitch said, explaining the city will create archived sections for legacy content and run remediation workflows for records that are actively used in decision-making.
The city will require better closed captioning and audio descriptions for video, and staff warned there may be a short delay between meetings and when videos appear online as staff contract for remediation services. Hitch said past videos will be listed on the city website under an archived exception and linked to YouTube with a clear “archived material” label; once remediated they may move back to the public channel.
Staff also said the current Asheville mobile app will be replaced because the existing vendor does not intend to come into compliance. An RFP for a new public‑input product is closing soon; staff described an interim, limited-capacity solution while a replacement is procured.
City legal staff and communications said the ruling creates a litigation risk because private plaintiffs and law firms may search for violations and seek attorney’s fees; staff stressed they will prioritize materials that support active programs or decisions to limit transparency losses. “We’re trying to bring us into compliance while minimizing the hit to transparency,” Branham said.
Council members asked about timelines, coordination with Buncombe County and exceptions for archival records. Hitch and Branham said the city will explore county archiving partnerships, will prioritize documents used for decision‑making, and would likely keep minutes and other official records available while running remediation workflows.
Next steps: staff said they will continue compliance scans, contract remediations, and post clearer guidance on how residents can access archived materials or request specific documents in accessible formats.
