Website Accessibility For Governmental Organizations
It would hard to find a government-ran physical location that did not have accessible ramps and parking spots for disabled individuals. But as technology continues to grow, governments on the city, county, and state level are all increasingly moving their services online to increase efficiency.
Cutting Costs To Taxpayers Through Technology
In many cases, cutting costs to taxpayers is the most important issue to governments and creating online portals for their residents is the best way to do that. Whether scheduling a DMV appointment or signing up for civic duties, online accessibility is extremely important for governments and the people they serve.
People’s Right To Participate In Their Community
If a disabled individual can’t fill out a basic form because their local government does not provide web accessibility, that person’s rights to participate in their community, are being infringed upon.
Governments on all levels can at one stage receive a demand letter from a plaintiff’s attorney who feel this way. While it might be hard to envisage how to solve this issue, you do need to act upon it. If you receive a demand letter, it might be to claim that your organization is in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). That’s a serious allegation.
Since a website can be considered a place of public accommodation, you need to achieve the levels and standards expected. If you would like to know more of the kind of changes that you may need to make, then the DOJ often refers to the World Wide Web Consortium’ Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.