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Polk County approves remediation service after audit finds only 13 of 922 documents accessible
Summary
An accessibility audit found only 13 of 922 county documents met WCAG 2.1 AA standards; the commissioners approved a vendor solution (DocAccess via CivicPlus) to convert documents automatically, with initial no-cost service through July, a prorated fee for July–September, and an annual cost beginning in October of $10,400.
Polk County commissioners approved a contract to remediate website and document accessibility after an audit showed the county’s posted documents largely fail to meet federal accessibility standards.
A county official briefed the court on an audit from the county's web provider showing that only 13 of 922 assessed documents are fully accessible to people who rely on assistive technologies. The official said the U.S. Department of Justice updated Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act and requires state and local government websites and posted documents to meet WCAG 2.1 AA standards; counties with populations of 50,000 or more must comply by April 24, 2026.
The county presented a vendor proposal (DocAccess integrated with CivicPlus) that would automatically convert existing and future posted documents into accessible formats. The official said automatic remediation was necessary because staff capacity is insufficient to manually bring 922 documents into compliance.
Meeting discussion included program costs and funding sources. The vendor would begin service at no cost through July, charge a prorated $677 for July through September, and bill $10,400 annually beginning in October; approving the contract before March would avoid one-time domain fees of at least $2,500. Commissioners approved using contingency or the general fund to cover the unbudgeted expense and carried a motion to accept the service.
The court also directed staff to add an accessibility statement to the meeting agenda and to move forward with contracting so the county can meet the stated DOJ/WCAG compliance timeline.
