Our Commitment to Accessibility
The City of Colorado Springs is committed to making its websites accessible to the widest possible audience. We are constantly working to increase the accessibility and usability of our website. We strive to maintain conformance to W3C’s Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA as well as US. Federal Government Section 508 Guidelines.
The City of Colorado Springs will be evaluating this site on a regular basis and it will continue to evolve and improve over time as new technologies and opportunities emerge.
Quarterly Progress Reports (HB21-1110 and HB21-1454)
In accordance with Colorado HB21-1110 and HB21-1454, the City of Colorado Springs has been working diligently to ensure that all Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is fully accessible. The City of Colorado Springs has adhered to the six Core Criteria of Accessibility Planning, as established by the Colorado Office of Information Technology (OIT). The six Core Criteria, and the progress that the City of Colorado Springs has made, is outlined below.
Q3: 6/1/24 – 9/30/24 Progress-to-Date Report
Q3: 6/1/24 – 9/30/24
In accordance with HB21-1110 and HB21-1454, the City of Colorado Springs has been working diligently to ensure that all Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is fully accessible. The City of Colorado Springs has adhered to the six Core Criteria of Accessibility Planning, as established by the Colorado Office of Information Technology (OIT). The six Core Criteria, and the progress that the City of Colorado Springs has made, is outlined below.
Governance
- Began efforts to update the City of Colorado Springs’ Web Accessibility Transition Plan
- Updated the City’s Web Accessibility Public Statement
- Created an Accessibility team, consisting of the Communications department, the Web Accessibility Coordinator, the IT department, 20 Department Liaisons, the ADA Manager, and Content Creators.
- Identified at least one Liaison from each of the City’s 20 Departments, who acts as the Accessibility point person
Prioritize, Test & Remediate
- Applied for a SIPA grant & received 100 CommonLook licenses
- Launched CommonLook, a document remediation software program, to 100 users across all City Departments
- CommonLook users began remediating documents
- At the end of this Quarter, the City has remediated approximately 261 documents.
- Created a master list of all City applications
- Created a master list of all City websites
- Utilized Monsido to evaluate the City website’s accessibility, identified high-priority concerns, and successfully remediated them.
- Identified outstanding website accessibility issues & determined a plan to remediate them in the new budget year
- The coloradosprings.gov website’s current accessibility score is 83%
- Researched tools and/or processes to receive, track, and report accessibility history and trends
- Began efforts to identify all City documents & determine which can be archived
- Evaluated the time and cost of remediation:
- For preexisting documents only, it is estimated to take 6-10 years of uninterrupted full-time work. The City is currently exploring methods to manage this workload, as current staffing may not adequately support this ne
- Alternatively, for preexisting documents only, the estimated cost to hire a company to perform the remediation work is $975,000 at minimum. This is may not be compatible with the City’s current budget.
- For newly created documents, the City established procedures and resources for staff to build remediation into the document authoring process.
Skills, Training, & Hiring
- Hired a Senior Web Accessibility Coordinator
- Created a plan to launch all-staff accessibility training in October
- 90% of CommonLook users completed training provided by Allyant
- Coordinated with Department Liaisons and began discussing accessibility awareness, communicate accessibility planning priorities, and answer questions
Communications & Support
- Implemented a plan for receiving accessibility reports/requests, as well as providing a solution
- Began creating a process for reporting digital accessibility reports/requests, as well as tracking history and trends
- Created a plan to continuously communicate accessibility via the city’s intranet & offer accessibility resources
- Presented accessibility plan to CommonLook users and Department heads
- Created an accessibility process for each Department to follow when creating new documents, and communicated expectations to each Department
- Researched & identified potential vendors to assist in making large documents accessible, with the hope of launching this next budget year.
Procurement
- Established a process for purchasing accessible ICT for all new purchases going forward
- Established a process to conduct internal reviews to validate vendor compliance with WCAG 2.1 Level AA via an Accessibility Conformance Report (Voluntary Product Accessibility Template)
- The City currently has roughly 600 ICT vendors. Given the amount of time each VPAT review and follow-up takes, this work is estimated to take 2,400 hours of uninterrupted full-time work per year, or more than a standard 2080-hour work year. The City is currently exploring methods to manage this work load, as current staffing may not adequately support this need.
- Began working with City vendors on a plan for remediating accessibility issues identified in the VPAT
- Updated contract language to ensure that current and new Vendors will meet & maintain compliance with WCAG 2.1 Level AA
IT Product Roles & Responsibilities (Software Development Lifecycle)
- Identified the need to establish a plan to review internal ICT and evaluate for compliance with WCAG 2.1 Level AA
- Identified the need to establish a plan to build accessibility into the planning and development stages
Web Accessibility Transition Plan
The City of Colorado Springs is working to make its online services more accessible to persons with disabilities and assistive technology and invites the public to comment on its Web Accessibility Transition Plan. The plan outlines the steps the City has taken to assess its technology and identify barriers to accessibility, as well as plans to remove those barriers and improve access for people with disabilities to the City’s online programs and services.
On July 1, 2021, Governor Polis signed HB21-1110 which requires Colorado public agencies to meet web accessibility guidelines by July 1, 2024. The City of Colorado Springs established its Online Accessibility Policy in March 2020, requiring that web content hosted on City public websites be evaluated, prioritized, and scheduled for remediation no later than June 30, 2022. The City has also established policies and processes for procuring accessible information technology and employee training for creating accessible content that can be read by assistive technologies such as screen readers and Braille devices.
“The City has already made a lot of progress in web accessibility, and we are excited to release the transition plan and continue our efforts to improve access for residents with disabilities,” said ADA Title II Manager Rob Hernandez.
View the Web Accessibility Transition Plan
Reports
Policies, Procedures, and Guides
In March 2020, Mayor John Suthers signed Administrative Regulation 2020-02 requiring City online technology be accessible to persons with disabilities and assistive technology.
Administrative Regulation 2020-02 mandates that the City will begin the process of remediation of existing technology, procure accessible online technology, and coordinate training and policy modification efforts throughout the City via the Office of Accessibility and the Accessibility Prioritization Committee (established per Administrative Order 2020-02).
Procuring Accessible Information Technology
The City of Colorado Springs is committed to accessibility and has adopted procedures for procuring accessible information technology. For more information about the City's accessible procurement policy, please visit Accessible IT Procurement.
Report a Digital Accessibility Concern
We appreciate your patience as we continuously work to improve. Should you have problems accessing information on this website, please let us know. We also welcome your questions about this accessibility statement and comments on how to improve the site's accessibility.
Due to current technology constraints, there are some instances where we are unable to provide information in an accessible format (e.g. mapping information). We will be monitoring these sections and will develop accessible solutions as technology improves.
To comment on website accessibility, please contact us via the online form below or follow the ADA / Section 504 Grievance procedure.
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