Stakeholders ask MassDEP about accessibility and formatting for public documents

During the office hours, an attendee identified as Miriam asked whether MassDEP will make public‑facing web documents compliant with the Department of Justice's Title II WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility standards and whether consultants and licensed site professionals (LSPs) should expect site downtime or new formatting requirements for uploads.

"It was brought to our attention about the Department of Justice's push to make kind of all publicly facing web documents in compliance with Title II requirements," Miriam said, asking whether MassDEP plans to address accessibility across its databases and how industry should prepare for potential downtime or extra work to format graphs and tables.

Brian Roden acknowledged the issue and said MassDEP is prioritizing accessibility for new documents and is coordinating with internal IT and an accessibility office. "We are trying to make documents accessible... for us the focus was on new documents that we're producing," Roden said, adding he could provide an update at future office hours or advisory committee meetings. He also noted some internal guidance exists and that the department shared a resource link in chat during the session.

Participants noted challenges converting complex content such as flow charts, tables and figures into accessible formats. Staff said they plan to address easy conversions first and continue improving compliance over time while still aiming to post drafts for comment.

Next steps: MassDEP staff offered to follow up with more details about accessibility efforts at a later office hours or advisory committee meeting and to circulate resources to help stakeholders prepare submissions.