Alt Tags

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The Sad State Of Accessibility On Municipal Websites

I created my first government website in 1995. In those days the Woody Allen quote was pretty much accurate: 80% of success was just showing up. Having a web site earned a city bragging rights, even if the site was nothing more than a home page with a few links.

As the decade progressed and web authoring tools became commonplace, most cities advanced to the point where they had at least a token web presence. While the sites were primitive when compared to commercial websites, local government saw the Internet as revolutionary. Suddenly there was this great tool that could be used to quickly disseminate all kinds of information to the community. Best of all, the medium was relatively cheap. There was incredible excitement about this new high tech, cost effective information delivery method.

Needless to say, accessibility was not a consideration in the early days of the web. As we discovered in our recent survey of municipal web accessibility, it’s not much of a consideration today, either, despite the pressing needs of each agency’s constituency. Of the 408 California cities we tested, 91% failed to achieve Section 508 compliance. The numbers were nearly as bad for the WCAG guidelines, with 89% of the sites failing to achieve WCAG’s Priority 1.
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The Invisible Web: A Survey Of Municipal Web Accessibility

Alt Tags recently conducted a series of accessibility tests on 408 municipal websites throughout the state of California. Ninety-one percent of the sites tested failed Section 508 compliance. Eight-Nine percent did not pass WCAG Priority 1. While not surprising, our findings were not encouraging. It appears that web accessibility is not yet on the radar of most municipalities.

Our complete report details our findings and recommendations for municipalities wishing to improve the accessibility of their websites. We’re presenting our report in a PDF format and encouraging readers to pass this on to interested parties in hopes that we can raise awareness of this important issue.

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Double Your Trouble

Both Section 508 and the WCAG state that, as a last resort, a separate, accessible website must be provided. As a last resort. Meaning a second site is created if you absolutely cannot achieve accessibility in any other manner.

Wow. If you have to create a mirror site, it makes me ask just what, exactly, is going on with your site in the first place? The sheer amount of effort required to make a site so inaccessible that a second site is required boggles my mind. I can only imagine the effort and maintenance going into this endeavor.

Yet, many developers and their clients immediately assume a second site is the first and best option. After what I can only assume is a quick perusal of the guidelines, it is determined that two sites are better than one.

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Why Local Government Should Comply with Section 508

Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act applies to United States federal government websites and to the sites of those who do business with the federal government. State and local governments have frequently voluntarily adopted these standards, and a few have made Section 508 standards official policy (some have gone even further and adopted additional provisions of the WCAG). For those agencies not required to comply, it’s just common sense that they should.

While federal and state agencies have put much effort into egovernment, local agencies still lag behind. This is due to budget constraints, lack of staff, and different priorities. I think some agencies hope this Internet thing is a fad that will go away before they have to worry about it.

The bad news is the Internet is going to stick around — and residents and businesses are expecting their local government to provide the same level of service they get from federal and state agencies. This is a contrast to the past where the most responsive government was local. There is something disconcerting about the fact that the IRS website is easy-to-use while I can’t figure out how to pay a parking ticket in my city. The good news is that meeting constituent expectations can save time, money, and effort.

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Accessibility and Public Accommodation

This article from the Christian Science Monitor brings up a rather interesting question about states meeting ADA requirements. The article specifically addresses the need for accessibility in public accommodations — physical buildings. The conclusion drawn in the article is that states should meet Federal standards.

Many states and local governments do voluntarily comply with the provisions of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. They recognize that when it comes to their websites, maximum accessiblity by constituents is critical. With the trend toward e-government applications — which save both constituents and government staff time and money — access is doubly important. For these government agencies, accessibility makes good business sense. What I find perplexing is that commercial entities don’t feel the same way.

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