Web Accessibility Tools

With federal compliance deadlines approaching for all local and state governments to meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1) per a final Department of Justice Rule, now is the time to focus on making sure all residents can access and digest your web and mobile application content. 

Whether your county is just getting started or maintaining your digital accessibility plans, these tools, guides, testing sites and trainings can help.

National 

The National Association of Counties’ Digital Accessibility and ADA Compliance Guide(opens in a new tab) | Provides county elected leaders and staff with guidelines, detailed strategies, compliance checklists and best practices for IT teams and vendors.

NACo Tech Xchange(opens in a new tab) | Online membership community for IT professionals and county leadership to discuss and share best practices. 

National Association of Government Web Professionals Accessibility Hub(opens in a new tab) | Comprehensive collection of tools, trainings and practical examples of how other governments have responded to new requirements. 

South Carolina

Able South Carolina’s Able Access(opens in a new tab) | Provides services and consultations to help your organization improve digital accessibility. This includes testing and assessments. 

Background on the Rule and Standards

Department of Justice (DOJ) Web Rule Fact Sheet(opens in a new tab) | The 2024 final rule includes requirements about how to ensure web content and mobile apps are accessible to people with disabilities.

Americans With Disabilities Act Web Content Compliance Guide(opens in a new tab) | This guide from DOJ is for state and local governments to help ensure web content and apps are accessible.

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0(opens in a new tab) | Includes an introduction on the WCAG 2.0 standards, frequently asked questions and tools(opens in a new tab) for writers, designers, developers, managers, and policymakers 

Testing and Evaluation Tools

Lighthouse(opens in a new tab) — Google's built-in Chrome auditing tool 

axe DevTools(opens in a new tab) — Free browser extension for accessibility testing

WAVE(opens in a new tab) — Web accessibility evaluation tool and AIM scoring

W3C Accessibility Maturity Model(opens in a new tab) — Framework for organizational accessibility planning

Social Media

Accessible Social (opens in a new tab)— Free resources sharing best practices and resources for creating accessible social media content.

Sprout Social's 10 Best Practices (opens in a new tab)— Top best practices you can implement right away to ensure social media content is accessible and user friendly.