Accessibility News
Accessibility in winter
By Karen Pellegrin (she/her), TAP Manager
Baby, it’s cold outside! This time of year, government organizations release a lot of information related to inclement weather, closures, holiday hours and events. Although a lot of these communications are created quickly, make sure your seasonal information such as warming shelter location information, keeping pets safe from extreme weather, winter market events, and other important winter-related information is digitally accessible to your readers.
This means making your documents accessible through techniques such as creating proper document structure (headings, lists, etc.), providing clear color contrast, and using plain language. Before you hang the holly and mistletoe, remember that people with color blindness may struggle with red and green hues. Take a look at the How To: Accessible Web Content Guide and the Accessible Documents Toolkit.
Happy holidays from the Governor’s Office of Information Technology (OIT) and the Technology Accessibility Program (TAP) team!
Colorado’s government websites are the most accessible in the U.S.
According to a recent independent evaluation of government websites, Colorado’s government websites are the most accessible in the country. The evaluation shows that Colorado and Vermont are much further ahead than many other states, and it cites Colorado’s centralized digital service organization and its unique accessibility legislation, HB21-1110.
The evaluation is based on data collected on the Colorado.gov content management system, which includes state and local government websites. Colorado earning the top spot is a testament to the collaborative work between TAP, our state agencies, local governments, and the Statewide Internet Portal Authority (SIPA) and its vendor partner, Tyler Colorado. Together, these teams have advocated for improved digital accessibility across the state. You can read more about Colorado’s evaluation in the Government Section of the Accessibility Chapter in the Web Almanac.
Accessibility Essentials
GrackleDocs now available through SIPA
SIPA is officially offering GrackleDocs as a service partner. GrackleDocs (Grackle) is a leading software and services company dedicated to enhancing digital accessibility. At the heart of their mission lies a commitment to ensuring that digital content is easily accessible and navigable for everyone, regardless of any physical or cognitive disabilities. With their proprietary products and deep industry expertise, GrackleDocs assists organizations of all sizes in crafting and implementing enduring accessibility strategies. The goal is to empower clients to interact with content seamlessly and without barriers.
Services include:
- Digital Accessibility Training
- Grackle Form
- Grackle Publish
- Grackle Template
- Grackle Workspace, PDF, Scan, GrackleGo, and Grackle Stream
- PDF Remediation
- Web Accessibility Auditing
To learn more and submit a request for Grackle Services, visit the GrackleDocs webpage on SIPA’s website.
Accessibility and You
Making conferences accessible
By Rosa Calabrese, TAP Training Specialist
In a perfect world, all conferences and meetings would be accessible so that everyone could participate. While we are not in a perfect world, there are things that meeting organizers can do to make their events more accessible to all users. Like with any accessibility project - whether online or offline - accessibility features will typically add an additional cost, however, if considered from the start of event preparations, it will be less expensive than if added as an afterthought later.
In November, I had the opportunity to attend the accessibility conference, Accessing Higher Ground, in Denver. This conference gave me several ideas to consider regarding designing accessible events.
- The registration desk, as well as any food tables and meeting room tables, should be low tables rather than high-top tables to be accessible to wheelchair users.
- Microphones should be used to capture all speech - whether from a presenter or audience member - so that people with auditory disabilities can hear all parts of the session.
- Also, live transcriptions should be available in all sessions so that people with complete hearing loss can engage with the content. The use of microphones will help the transcribers to hear and record all content.
- A person can be assigned to carry a microphone between audience members who raise their hands to ask questions.
- Presentation materials such as slideshows should incorporate typical slideshow accessibility designs including slide numbers and a 3:1 color contrast ratio for text and background. If these materials are available to users to access, they should meet even more accessibility requirements.
- All event attendees should be respectful of the space they are in and recognize how their actions can impact someone else’s access to the conference. For example, side conversations can impact others’ hearing.
Check out the slides from my recent TAP Open Office Hours presentation (slides 4-9 especially). The W3C also provides recommendations for making events accessible.
The 12 Months of Accessibility
In the spirit of the holidays, we want to celebrate this year’s accessibility achievements and the good work we’ve all done, with a little song.
In the first month of this year, my coordinator gave to me
A plan for accessibility.
In the second month of this year, my coordinator gave to me
Two rulemaking hearings,
And a plan for accessibility.
In the third month of this year, my coordinator gave to me
Three new toolkits,
Two rulemaking hearings,
And a plan for accessibility.
In the fourth month of this year, my coordinator gave to me
Four training sessions,
Three new toolkits,
Two rulemaking hearings,
And a plan for accessibility.
In the fifth month of this year, my coordinator gave to me
Five procurement reviews!
Four training sessions,
Three new toolkits,
Two rulemaking hearings,
And a plan for accessibility.
In the sixth month of this year, my coordinator gave to me
Six captioned videos,
Five procurement reviews,
Four training sessions,
Three new toolkits,
Two rulemaking hearings,
And a plan for accessibility.
In the seventh month of this year, my coordinator gave to me
Seven document templates,
Six captioned videos,
Five procurement reviews,
Four training sessions,
Three new toolkits,
Two rulemaking hearings,
And a plan for accessibility.
In the eighth month of this year, my coordinator gave to me
Eight test reports,
Seven document templates,
Six captioned videos,
Five procurement reviews,
Four training sessions,
Three new toolkits,
Two rulemaking hearings,
And a plan for accessibility.
In the ninth month of this year, my coordinator gave to me
Nine accommodation plans,
Eight test reports,
Seven document templates,
Six captioned videos,
Five procurement reviews,
Four training sessions,
Three brand new toolkits,
Two rulemaking hearings,
And a plan for accessibility.
In the tenth month of this year, my coordinator gave to me
Ten image descriptions,
Nine accommodation plans,
Eight test reports,
Seven document templates,
Six captioned videos,
Five procurement reviews,
Four training sessions,
Three brand new toolkits,
Two rulemaking hearings,
And a plan for accessibility.
In the eleventh month of this year, my coordinator gave to me
Eleven colors contrasted,
Ten image descriptions,
Nine accommodation plans,
Eight test reports,
Seven document templates,
Six captioned videos,
Five procurement reviews,
Four training sessions,
Three brand new toolkits,
Two rulemaking hearings,
And a plan for accessibility.
In the twelfth month of this year, my coordinator gave to me
Twelve correct tab orders,
Eleven colors contrasted,
Ten image descriptions,
Nine accommodation plans,
Eight test reports,
Seven document templates,
Six captioned videos,
Five procurement reviews,
Four training sessions,
Three brand new toolkits,
Two rulemaking hearings,
And a plan for accessibility!
Thank you for the tremendous work and support you offer to our fellow Coloradans. We wish all of you a wonderful holiday and happy new year!
Notable & Quotable
“The only thing worse than not having an accessibility statement on your website is having one and not acting on its promises.”
- Sheri Byrne-Haber, multi-award winning values-based engineering, accessibility and inclusion leader