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 | Provides county elected leaders and staff with guidelines, detailed strategies, compliance checklists and best practices for IT teams and vendors.
NACo Tech Xchange | Online membership community for IT professionals and county leadership to discuss and share best practices.
National Association of Government Web Professionals Accessibility Hub | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | Includes an introduction on the WCAG 2.0 standards, frequently asked questions and tools for writers, designers, developers, managers, and policymakers
Testing and Evaluation Tools
Lighthouse — Google's built-in Chrome auditing tool
axe DevTools — Free browser extension for accessibility testing
WAVE — Web accessibility evaluation tool and AIM scoring
W3C Accessibility Maturity Model — Framework for organizational accessibility planning
Social Media
Accessible Social — Free resources sharing best practices and resources for creating accessible social media content.
Sprout Social's 10 Best Practices — Top best practices you can implement right away to ensure social media content is accessible and user friendly.