United States of America v. Humboldt County, California - Consent Decree

L. WEB-BASED SERVICES AND PROGRAMS

40. Within three (3) months of the entry of this Consent Decree, the County will:

      a. Designate an employee as the Web Accessibility Coordinator for the County who will be responsible for coordinating the County’s compliance with the requirements of this section, Section L, of this Consent Decree.  The Web Accessibility Coordinator will have experience with the requirements of Title II of the ADA, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (“WCAG”) version 2.0 (published by the World Wide Web Consortium (“W3C”), Web Accessibility Initiative (“WAI”), available at www.w3.org/TR/WCAG) and website accessibility generally; and

      b. Retain an independent consultant (“Website Accessibility Consultant”), approved by the United States, who is knowledgeable about accessible website development, Title II of the ADA, and WCAG 2.0 to evaluate the County’s website and any proposed online services for compliance with the ADA and, at minimum, WCAG 2.0 Level A and Level AA Success Criteria and other Conformance Requirements (“WCAG 2.0 AA”), and who will be responsible for the annual website accessibility evaluation described in detail in paragraph 41(d).  The County will bear all costs and expenses of retaining and utilizing this Website Accessibility Consultant, including the costs and expenses of any staff needed by the Website Accessibility Consultant.  The County will compensate this Website Accessibility Consultant without regard to the outcome.

41. Within two (2) months of the entry of this Consent Decree, and annually thereafter, the County will:

      a. Adopt, implement, and post online a policy that its web pages will conform with WCAG 2.0 AA;

      b. Distribute the policy to all employees and contractors who design, develop, maintain, or otherwise have responsibility for its websites, or provide website content, technical support, or customer service;

      c. Provide training to website content personnel on how to conform all web content and services with, at minimum, WCAG 2.0 AA, Title II of the ADA, and the terms of this Consent Decree;

      d. Assess all existing web content and online services covered by this Consent Decree for conformance with WCAG 2.0 AA and perform automated accessibility tests of the County’s website and all of its online services, using an automated tool approved by the United States, to identify any accessibility barriers;

      e. Provide a notice, prominently and directly linked from its homepage, instructing visitors to its websites on how to request accessible information.  The link will provide several methods to request accessible information, including an accessible form to submit feedback, an email address, and a toll-free phone number  to contact personnel knowledgeable about the accessibility of the website; and

      f. Provide a notice, prominently and directly linked from its homepage, soliciting feedback from visitors to its websites on how to improve website accessibility.  The link will provide several methods to provide feedback, including an accessible form to submit feedback, an email address, and a toll-free phone number to contact personnel knowledgeable about the accessibility of the website.

42. Within twelve (12) months of the entry of this Consent Decree, the County will:

      a. Ensure that its websites and all online services, including those websites or online services provided by third parties upon which the County relies to allow members of the public to participate in or benefit from the County’s programs, services, or activities, comply with WCAG 2.0 AA, with the exception of the following categories of content:

          1. Archived web content, i.e., content maintained exclusively for reference, research, or recordkeeping, which is not altered or updated after the date of archiving, and which is organized and stored in a dedicated area or areas clearly identified as being archived;

          2. Conventional electronic documents (i.e., portable document file (PDF), word processor, presentation, spreadsheet, and database file formats) available on the County’s websites as of the entry of this Consent Decree, unless such documents are to be used by members of the public to apply for, gain access to, or participate in the County’s programs, services, or activities; and

          3. Conventional electronic documents (i.e., PDF, word processor, presentation, spreadsheet, and database file formats) or any other submissions by a third party in connection with an administrative, judicial, or legal proceeding that are available on the County’s websites; and

      b. Assess all proposed online services before they are made available to the public for conformance with WCAG 2.0 AA and perform automated accessibility tests, using an automated tool approved by the United States, to identify any accessibility barriers.