Streamline Blog

The Department of Justice has issued new website accessibility guidelines that will significantly impact special districts nationwide. Here are the 5 biggest takeaways:

Many districts are not currently using a .gov domain, or they don't realize they can get one. However, we are starting to see more and more districts setting up their website with a .gov. Some states are even pushing for it, like AB 1637 in California, which could mandate the use of a .gov by districts. If history has shown us anything, it's that California often sets the tone for districts across the country. So if .gov domains become a requirement in California, other states could follow suit (note: a .gov domain is not currently required for districts in any state).

By the end of 2023, more than 10% of districts were affected by a website ADA claim. This rapid increase is startling, and we want to help you stay informed and prepared for any risks facing special districts.

As of January 1, 2022, governing bodies in Oregon are now required to make meetings accessible remotely and provide the opportunity for members of the public to remotely submit oral and written testimony.

Streamline has always stood for holding ourselves and our community accountable to good governance and transparency to the public. We don’t just help you build a website. We provide much-needed guidance on the laws and regulations that affect how you should (and in some cases, must!) communicate with your community and stakeholders online.

So, you’ve tested your site for WCAG 2.1 AA compliance, and while you’re well on your way, you still have some areas of your site that aren’t quite up to modern standards. Perhaps some of those supporting board materials from third parties are wrecking your score and keeping you up at night, or your website developer is taking forever to fix those items identified in your last monthly scan…

Many states have begun adopting legislation requiring transparency, and this can feel like a chore to comply with, but there are a lot of benefits for Districts that embrace transparency.

California legislators are pushing for additional transparency requirements for local government agencies. Their latest bid, Senate Bill 931, will require our districts to provide a copy of the full agenda packet via mail or email to anyone who requests it. Sounds like a great idea on the surface, doesn’t it? Of course, we agree that the public has the right to know what their elected officials are doing when it comes to official district business, but there are numerous problems with this proposed bill.

Creating websites that are accessible to visitors with disabilities can be challenging, especially for developers building one-off / standalone sites. Most websites that were built even a year ago are likely not accessible, and many of the content management systems out there aren't accessible out-of-the-box, so to speak. If your website partner wasn't specifically told to build your website in an accessible way, it's likely that your site may have a few issues. Accessible websites aren't easy to build! If you're wondering if your site is accessible, you can get an idea by using an automated scanner. Automated testing won't catch every potential issue, but it will check the basics (and the most obvious), giving you an overall idea of how you're doing. (If you need 100% comprehensive testing, have it done by professionals using assistive devices.) So how do you test your site yourself?

We get so many questions about the new California special district website requirements going into effect Jan. 2020 that I thought a blog post was in order. Hopefully this helps make sense of the legal requirements on the horizon!