Global Accessibility Awareness Day 2024: ProudCity and local government websites

Today is Global Accessibility Awareness Day. To celebrate, ProudCity is sharing how we approach and support accessible local government websites.

GAAD and digital accessibility 💥

• “The purpose of GAAD is to get everyone talking, thinking and learning about digital access and inclusion, and the more than One Billion people with disabilities/impairments.” (GAAD)
• “Digital accessibility refers to the ability of people with disabilities/impairments to independently consume and/or interact with digital (e.g., web, mobile) applications and content.” (GAAD)

How government fares 📋

The 2024 WebAIM Million report found:

• Gov websites had an average of 20.3 homepage errors.
• “Some sectors, such as government and education, fare much better than others indicating regulation and supports have a positive impact on accessibility.”

The law (websites, PDFs) 📜

U.S. Department of Justice has new accessibility rules for local government websites and PDFs. Department of Civic Things shares what you need to know.

Requirement:

• Local gov must adhere to WCAG 2.1 Level AA guidelines

Deadlines:

• April 2026: 50,000+ pop.
• April 2027: 50,000 and under

Exceptions (must meet all four):

• Created before the compliance date
• Use solely for reference, research, or recordkeeping
• Stored in a designated archive area
• Hasn’t been changed since it was archived

Accessible PDFs📄

We advise not using PDFs (reasons why).

If you do:

• Know the do’s and don’ts.
• Make sure they’re compressed.

How ProudCity thinks about accessibility 🧠

• It’s a team sport.
• And a journey.
• Not a plugin, pop-up or one-time site scan.
• Everyone is trained on best practices.
• Product development is transparent.
• Accessibility issues are documented publicly.
• Compliance is the starting point.
• Always improving is the finish line.

ProudCity open accessibility 📖

Win or fail, open is the best approach to accessibility.

How we do this:

• Get ongoing feedback from government
• Publicly document all issues
• Prioritize and address based on resources
• Push updates to all government partners

Our done/doing ✅

Accessibility issues that are:

• Fixed
• Open

Up next 🔮

New and improved coming soon:

• ProudCity Academy courses
• ProudCity Review accessibility guidance
• Tools (alt text check, dashboard)
• Documentation

Go deeper ⛏️

• WAVE browser extensions (free)
• ProudCity Accessibility
• What is digital accessibility (and why it matters)

Thank you ❤️

This work happens with all of our government partners.

Special thanks to:

• Pacific ADA Center
• Marin County digital accessibility team
• Department of Civic Things