Accessibility News
Last Public Rulemaking Hearing Set For May 1
By Alice Huyler, Senior Policy Advisor, OIT Rulemaking
We built a strong foundation together last year with Colorado’s accessibility laws! Thanks to your questions and suggestions over the past year, the feedback has helped us identify several adjustments that could improve the rules to make them clearer and work better for us all. You can help by sharing your feedback about draft rule changes, so please let us know your thoughts.
Remaining rulemaking schedule:
- April 2025: Review the draft of the proposed rule changes, compare them to the existing rules and send your written comments from the rulemaking webpage.
- May 1, 2025: Join the public hearing and/or share your written comments.
- Early May 2025: Adopt rule amendments. Keep an eye on your email for notification of the final adopted version. Sign up for email notices.
- May and June 2025: Updated guidance, examples, templates and tools will reflect rule amendments and your questions. The Plain Language Guide is a great place to start.
- June 30, 2025: Rule amendments become effective.
Wondering whether your voice matters? Here are just a few ways that the rules have been improved by input from voices in the disability community, state and local government entities, vendors and more.
- Ensuring that reasonable accommodations and modifications are a central aspect of digital accessibility.
- Providing clear exceptions to enable government entities to prioritize their accessibility remediation work.
- Establishing a path to compliance that focuses on embedding accessibility into the way we do things instead of depending on immediately fulfilling every technical standard for every piece of technology.
Contact the rulemaking administrator at oit_rules@state.co.us with any questions or if you would like to be included in future notices of rulemaking events. You can also find more information on the OIT Rulemaking Webpage.
OIT and CDLE Launch ASL Digital Interpreter Pilot Program
Now through July 31, visitors to Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE) workforce centers and vocational rehabilitation centers can access free, on-demand American Sign Language (ASL) interpreting services through a new state pilot program using Aira ASL.
Aira ASL is a digital tool to help deaf or hard-of-hearing individuals access in-person services instantly by connecting with a professional ASL interpreter via the free app available in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. The app connects users to a professional human ASL interpreter who facilitates communication using the caller’s phone camera and audio. Free 30-minute Aira ASL sessions at the CDLE locations mentioned above are secure, on-demand, and available with no advance reservations.
"When I worked in vocational rehabilitation, we dreamed of tools like this—innovations that could break down communication barriers instantly and open doors to opportunity,” said Lt. Governor Dianne Primavera. “This pilot isn’t just about technology—it’s about equity and accessibility. This pilot is a smart, forward-thinking solution that makes our workforce and vocational services more inclusive, and I’m proud to see Colorado leading the way in using innovation to make government work for everyone.”
Ready… Set… Apply for SIPA Grants!
The Statewide Internet Portal Authority (SIPA) Micro-Grant Program is taking applications from April 21 to May 23. Recent grant recipients have used funds for accessibility compliance including software tools like Grackle, document remediation services and website transition. Visit the Micro-Grant Program page to view the criteria, gather ideas, view previous awards and apply.
Save the Date: GAAD is May 15
Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) is on Thursday, May 15. GAAD is an annual event aimed at increasing awareness about digital access and inclusion for people with disabilities. Awareness is something we can spread year-round. The top three accessibility issues commonly faced by people with disabilities are:
- Low contrast text makes it difficult or impossible for people with low vision, cognitive disabilities or color blindness to read digital content.
- Lack of awareness about accessibility as a human right and its importance in user experience design.
- Insufficient investment in accessibility by businesses is leading to a widened disability divide.
Accessibility Essentials
Accessible Fonts - Part II
By Rosa Calabrese, TAP Senior Accessibility Trainer
Last month, we looked at the importance of using easy-to-read fonts that are accessible to people with low vision or cognitive disabilities, who may have difficulty deciphering decorative typefaces. Another aspect of using accessible fonts is the way that fonts are embedded in web pages and digital documents.
Images of text
Without alt text, images of text are inaccessible because the content cannot be accessed by screen readers. It is important to use real text whenever possible but there are exceptions to this rule (e.g., a screenshot of an application, logos, or infographics containing text). But as long as they have descriptive alt text, they can be accessible too. Note that when images have too much text-based information you may need to also provide a text version such as a transcript to convey additional meaning in the image.
Semantic meaning
Be sure to correctly embed fonts and use all letters and symbols for their intended purpose so they can be read correctly by screen readers. Screen readers rely on the underlying code to understand the meaning of content so while an asterisk may visually look similar to a bullet point, they shouldn't be used interchangeably because these two elements may be read differently by screen readers. It’s a best practice to use the official style elements when inserting lists, as well as other character or paragraph styles. Styles are typically available in the ribbon menu within word processing programs, within the WYSIWYG editor in content management systems, or coded directly into HTML in other parts of the web.
In summary, not only should fonts be visually accessible for sighted users, they must also be encoded correctly for assistive technology users.
In-Depth Accessibility
Document Tips: PDF Container Tags
By Rosa Calabrese, TAP Senior Accessibility Trainer
The Adobe Acrobat Tag Tree, which is viewable in the Accessibility tags panel of the Acrobat interface, shows all the tags that are used in a document. Tags are important because they allow document creators to organize and label different types of content so that everything that is available visually can also be accessed by screen reader users.
Tags must be placed in the correct order within the Tag Tree so that when a screen reader user listens to the document or reads it on a refreshable braille display, they will hear or read content in chronological order. Screen reader users are also able to skip between certain types of tags, but they will still be provided information in the order that it appears in the Tag Tree. For example, a screen reader user may skip to different headings or to different links throughout the document, but will still encounter the headings and links in the order they are listed in the Tag Tree.
While many types of tags used in documents are important for screen reader users, some tags are used primarily to organize portions of the Tag Tree into chunks of content. These are known as container tags as their primary purpose is to contain other tags. The main container tag is the Document element (stylized as <Document>), which is the primary container in which all other tags are stored in each document.
Other container tags such as Part (<Part>), Division (<Div>), Article (<Art>), and Section (<Sect>) can be used throughout documents to organize things like chapters, pages, side bars, and more. Certain word processing programs will export to PDF using some container tags more than others. Remediators can also add, delete, and edit all tags including container tags.
While using these tags is optional, and they will not disrupt screen reader users one way or another, they should be used consistently to ensure proper document organization and to ease navigation should the document ever need additional remediation.
See our step-by-step guide to using the Adobe Acrobat Tags Tree.
Accessibility Quick Tip
Using Metadata to Mark Archived and Archival Documents
By Karen Pellegrin, TAP Senior Manager
Did you know you can use metadata to mark your archived and archival digital documents? To mark archived documents for accessibility using metadata, embed information about the document’s purpose such as “archive”, “TitleII” and “HB21-1110”, and include accessibility features and document structure directly into the document itself. This allows screen readers and search engines to understand the document's structure and purpose, making it more accessible.
Notable & Quotable
“Disability doesn't make you exceptional, but questioning what you think you know about it does.”
- Stella Young, Australian journalist and fierce disability activist