MMA hosts webinar on digital accessibility

An MMA webinar on Jan. 14 covered what municipalities need to know about digital accessibility.

Panelists were Adam Gojanovich, accessibility training coordinator, and Mindy Johnson, documents and communications accessibility coordinator, from the Commonwealth’s Accessibility Center for Consulting, Education and Support Services (ACCESS) team.

Gojanovich describes digital accessibility as “ensuring that the digital world offers equal access for everyone,” including municipal content management systems, websites, applications, emails, and social media.

In April 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice updated Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which requires public entities to ensure that web content and mobile apps are accessible based on the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) A and AA standards. Municipalities with a total population of 50,000 or more must meet the standards by April 24, 2026. Smaller communities have until April 2027.

Any documents placed in archives, such as those kept only for public record and reference, do not need to be made accessible until requested.

Gojanovich said digital accessibility work requires effort across multiple departments, and no single person can handle it alone. He recommended that municipalities begin by creating an inventory of all the content they produce to help prioritize their starting point.

The ACCESS team shared resources for municipalities to use as they prepare for the new rules, including their accessibility training resource center and their office hours.

Adrienne Pomeroy, ADA coordinator for the city of Somerville, moderated 25 minutes of questions and answers, addressing inquiries regarding how to label archived documents, how artificial intelligence impacts digital accessibility, and prior social media posts.

 

Accessibility Awareness for Municipalities and Schools
Accessibility training resource center