Creating a Digital Town Square

In the 19^th and 20^th Centuries, most cities, towns, and counties were anchored by either a city hall, a county courthouse, or a town square. These town squares were the center of community activity, functioning as a communications hub which often fostered civic pride.

Due to Covid-19, we are in an era of major social and economic upheaval. Our daily lives have changed and it may be a long time before we can return to what we thought of as normal. Local governments are challenged to provide essential services to their residents increasingly in a digital world. To address these challenges, now more than ever, you need to position your website as the new digital town square, where citizens can turn for information and the services they need – safely and efficiently.

Your GovOffice website has the ability to display a variety of content integral to creating a digital town square in a Responsive Web Design. You can display your city meetings on a calendar with links to a video-feed and associated documents so residents can participate in council or board meetings virtually. Implementing an ePayment system can offer your residents an easy way to pay for services and utilities without ever leaving the house. With forms, residents can contact a staff person, sign up for an event, or even apply for a license.

Here are some key goals to make your government website function as a digital town square:

• Serve as a one-stop resource for reliable information regarding civic services, activities, local governance, and public safety

• Digitize critical services including online forms, registrations, and ePayment for services and utilities

• Ensure website accessibility for all people with disabilities by adhering to the web content accessibility guidelines and ADA standards

• Optimize your website with a Responsive Web Design so visitors can view and access information and services from any device – laptop, tablet or smartphone

• Follow web best practices for organizing site content and features to make information clear and easy to find

• Create an attractive and engaging virtual experience that builds your citizens’ civic pride

Local governments have a unique challenge, and opportunity, to connect with and serve residents online.  You can meet this opportunity by envisioning how your website can be enhanced to function as a modern, engaging and feature-rich digital town square. 

Creating Accessible PDF Documents

In a recent blog, we emphasized best practices for making your government website ADA compliant. Today we’ll highlight a common accessibility issue: Portable Document Format files or PDFs.

Many local governments use PDF files to display information online: meetings & agendas, contracts, regulations and ordinances, licensing forms, and a multitude of other forms. By putting these documents in PDFs, any changes made in the file leave a digital footprint which can be reviewed after the change is made. PDFs can be viewed online or through free software, on a number of devices including phones and tablets without the formatting issues of other document types. PDFs are also a space saver. A document that could only be read with endless scrolling down a webpage is condensed into a format that is easily stored and downloadable.

However, people with cognitive, hearing, vision and mobility disabilities may have issues accessing and interacting with PDF files. There have been numerous lawsuits and decisions on the issue of accessibility to essential PDF files. A quick Internet search will reveal lawsuits involving entities such as tax services, banks, education, and of course, municipalities. Imagine being unable to fill out a necessary tax form, mortgage paperwork, or file a permit with a city and you may understand this legal challenge.

For many disabled people, the only way to read and interact with online information and documents is by using adaptive technology like screen magnifiers or screen readers. Such devices can only work on PDF files that are properly tagged, preferably at the point when the document is created. PDF tags provide an unseen structured diagram of the PDF content that is presented to screen readers. The sole purpose is accessibility and they do not have a visible effect on the PDF file.  Failure to make these files accessible may prevent some citizens from accessing public data, and it may create a litigation risk.  While some entities have chosen to remove PDF files from their websites altogether, doing so may sacrifice transparency. Below are some other solutions for making PDF files accessible.

First, if you used Microsoft Office to build the PDF, the solution is somewhat straight forward. The links below provide simple instructions to create accessible PDFs using Microsoft’s accessibility checker to create the tags. This method does not require coding or special software experience so it can be accomplished by personnel with basic training. The accessibility checker will do most of the work for you!

• How to create accessible PDF Files
• Improve Accessibility with the Accessibility Checker 

Second, if your office has Adobe Acrobat, the following link provides a step by step guide to taking an existing document and making it accessible. This requires a slightly higher level of skill but still is easily achievable for many users.

• Making your PDFs accessible with Acrobat

The best approach for PDFs is to develop a plan for accessibility at the document’s inception. However, if you have existing PDFs on your website, the transition is relatively straightforward to implement. Making your documents accessible is of course a legal requirement in the U.S.  Equally important, it’s the right thing to do, as it enables any person, no matter their ability or disability, to access public information.

For a checklist on accessibility in PDFs and WCAG 2.0, see this from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.

Responsive Web Design and Why You Need It

How many times have you tried to browse a website on your phone or tablet only to be frustrated with a barely legible, shrunken version? You cramp your fingers to expand and focus the screen just to get something you can read and navigate. The menus are inaccessible or unwieldy. Horizontal scrolling is impossible. A layout that would look clean on a desktop is now cluttered.

Now, does this happen on your local government website as well? 

More than half of Americans use their mobile devices to access and search the Internet. That percentage continues to grow, and for good reason. Phones are nearly always connected and accessible.  Apps like Safari and Google Chrome make surfing the Web on a phone easy. Still, far too many government sites have yet to adopt what is known as Responsive Web Design (RWD).

RWD is an approach to web design that makes sites and pages render properly on a number of devices -- adapting to screen size, orientation, and platform. The navigation of these sites is smooth and seamless on any device and on any size screen.  This adaptability further helps ensure compliance with ADA and accessibility standards.

Another reason to implement RWD is the dominance of Google Search. In 2015 the search engine changed its mighty algorithms to consider a website’s mobile device “friendliness” in their rankings. A website that is difficult to view on mobile screens will rank lower on searches, thus getting less attention from those doing a cursory search.

For example, if someone is on their phone searching for vacation ideas, Google is going to rank websites that have RWD higher than those without. Now picture if the person searching is actually a corporate vice president looking for potential locations for a manufacturing facility or franchise. Without RWD, your local government website will appear old and outdated, and not effectively showcase your community. 

Updating to a responsive web design is easy, and it delivers multiple benefits.  An RWD website is “future-proofed”, meaning it will adapt to whatever size screen it is viewed on, from a wide desktop monitor to a smartwatch.  It will have readable text that doesn’t require zooming, open space for tap targets, and no irritating horizontal scrolling. You will ensure users a faster load time for your site and a consistent experience across all platforms. Visitors to your site using a mobile device will get quick access to essential information. Your website will rank higher in searches and not get lost in the Google search stampede.  It will support ADA and accessibility compliance.  And your community will be accessible to all residents and constituents, potential visitors, and possible investors.  RWD is the smart and responsible design choice. 

For more information on RWD, visit GovOffice.com/rwd

Cleaning Up Your Municipality’s Website Ala Marie Kondo

Marie Kondo is an author and organizational consultant with a popular series on Netflix. Kondo has motivated countless numbers of people to downsize and consolidate their households. But her tenets can apply to more than just cleaning the junk out of the house. It can also apply to websites. How much of the content on your website is serving a purpose, let alone sparking joy?

Tidying up a household may be a satisfying task, but it is a crucial concern for a municipality website. Unless each section and list on your municipal site is serving your constituents, compliant with ADA regulations, attracting visitors or commercial interests, what purpose does it serve?
Kondo's six principles for organizing a household are:

1. Commit yourself to tidying up.
2. Imagine your ideal lifestyle.
3. Finish discarding first.
4. Tidy by category, not location.
5. Follow the right order.
6. Find joy.

Commit yourself to tidying up
In other words, don’t go at this half-heartedly. Set up a workable plan with a definite deadline. Make sure each department in on board with this and stress that they justify the existence of each item. “We’ve always done it like this” is not a path to joy. Put in motion a plan that everyone can work with and implement it.

Imagine your ideal lifestyle
What would be the ideal for your website? What websites seem attractive and robust to you? Take that inspiration and create what you ideally want to see on the screen.

Finish discarding first
Act first by deciding what goes. Perform an exam on your site and decide what content just needs to disappear or just be archived. Once that is done you can upgrade and work closer to your ideal.

Tidy by category, not location
A common mistake in tidying up a house is going room by room. This just results in moving junk from one room to another. Instead, tidy by category. Instead of tackling the entire top menu or left sidebar, go through an entire category. Drill through your records and determine what is required. Do you really need to keep public a subcommittee meeting on picnic tables from 1998? Is there an alternative to storing this off site in an accessible manner? Follow this procedure for each category on the site. 

Follow the right order
When Kondo organizes a household she not only categorizes, she does it in a certain order. First, she works with clothes, then books/media, paperwork, miscellaneous detritus, and last, items which are sentimental. So, don’t get hung up on whether the photos from last year’s Winter Carnival should be scrolling on the main page. Start with the content that gets no page views or activity. Be careful as to what items you are required under regulations to keep active and remember that some deletions may affect the way search engines like Google use your site.

Find joy
Keep those old Winter Carnival photos up there if they make everyone smile. Marie Kondo’s most familiar guiding principle is “deciding what to keep and what to discard is whether or not something sparks joy”, This may not be quite applicable to a water treatment district website. Instead, how about civic pride. When you have cleaned up and streamlined your website, take pride in it. Find your inner Leslie Knope, not your Ron Swanson. And if those references escape you, binge a season of Parks and Recreation on a streaming site and find joy!

Adding a Website Accessibility Statement

A Quick Improvement You Can Make Today

Adding a Website Accessibility Statement to your website can immediately help identify and address shortcomings in your website and related services, as well as demonstrate your commitment to ensuring accessibility for all and ongoing improvement.  While there are many models available, below are samples of recommended elements.

Here’s a link to a tool to help construct an Accessibility Statement provided by the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), which develops standards and support materials to help you understand and implement accessibility.  Or, simply modify and use the elements below:

SAMPLE WEBSITE ACCESSIBILITY STATEMENT

Accessibility Assistance
If you have difficulty using or accessing any element of this website or on any of our online services, please feel free to contact us (add link to form or email address) and describe the issue.  We will work with you to provide the information or service you seek through a communication method that is accessible for you consistent with applicable law (for example, through telephone support).

Goal of Accessibility for All
(Name of City/County) desires to provide a positive customer experience to all citizens, and we aim to promote accessibility and inclusion. Our goal is to permit citizens to successfully gather information and utilize online services through our website and other technology platforms.
Whether you are using assistive technologies like a screen reader, a magnifier, voice recognition software, or captions for videos, our goal is to make your use of our technology a successful and enjoyable experience.

Accessibility Standards
(Name of City/County) is committed to maintaining a high level of accessibility by all web users.  Our goal is for all pages on our website to comply with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 AA, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), available at www.w3.org/TR/WCAG.

Actions
We are actively taking a variety of steps and devoting resources to further enhance the accessibility of our website and other technology.

Ongoing Effort
Although we are proud of the efforts that we have completed and that are in-progress, we at (City/County) view accessibility as an ongoing effort.

Feedback
Please contact us (add link to form or email address) if you have any feedback or suggestions as to how we could improve the accessibility of this website or our other technology.

For more examples accessibility statements, check out this one published by GovOffice client Pennington County SD. 

Making Your Site Accessible to All: Why it’s Critical for Local Government

Nearly 60 million Americans live with some type of disability.  Inaccessible websites potentially exclude 20% of your citizens from accessing online information or services.  While most local governments are aware of the importance of making their city hall or facilities accessible, most local governments have not kept pace with accessibility standards for their web presence.

Now, in an increasing trend, local governments across the country are being sued by citizens alleging their websites violate disability laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). According to a recent study, more than 1,000 such suits were filed in the first half of 2018, a 30 percent increase from 2017. This trend underscores that it’s more urgent than ever to address your website’s accessibility for disabled citizens.

The first step toward website accessibility is instituting the new standard for website design, Responsive Web Design (RWD). Responsive websites automatically resize to fit all screen sizes - from desktop PCs to tablets to smartphones - ensuring a positive user experience on any device.

Once your website has a responsive design, the GovOffice CMS is designed to enable you to implement the ADA best practices recommendations we outlined in this previous post.

Most local governments, of course, want to provide equitable access to all citizens. Making your website ADA compliant isn’t a one-time project; it’s an ongoing process, as technology changes, standards evolve and websites are updated.  That’s why we’re committed to continue providing resources and work with your team to support your accessibility goals. 

Ready to upgrade your website to RWD and get on the path to accessibility compliance? Have questions about your website and ADA? Let us know!

ADA Compliance and Your GovOffice Website

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Website Compliance Practices

Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits states and local governments from discriminating on the basis of disability in “all services, programs, and activities provided to the public.” While ADA website accessibility standards evolve over time with changes in technology, the US Department of Justice has cited Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 level AA as a key standard for ensuring accessibility for people with disabilities.

Website accessibility generally deals with how individuals with varying disabilities interact with information found on webpages. Those individuals must utilize assistive technology to enable them to navigate websites or access information contained on those sites. For example, a blind person would need to rely on a screen reader to convert the visual information on a webpage into audio.

GovOffice works to keep up with these evolving requirements and our newest design framework (LT4) was specifically developed to address accessibility of our sites. However, older custom designs eventually fall behind on ADA compliance. New designs are tested and utilize the latest standards, so updating your design every few years will help ensure your website meets the latest standards.

Additionally, as our clients manage their own content, we have several recommendations that will help comply with ADA best practices for state and local governments, including the following:

• Rely on your built-in, default design elements - e.g. font type, size, and color - to display your content. These are specifically designed and programmed with accessibility standards in mind.
• Make sure each section/page has a title. These along with lists, and other structural elements provide meaning and structure to web pages. They can also facilitate keyboard navigation within the page and improve search engine optimization.
• Avoid using tables for layout. Tables should be used for data only and should include column headers. Data cells should be associated with their appropriate headers, making it easier for screen reader users to navigate and understand the data table.
• Never use flashing features or objects on a page. Also avoid using Adobe Flash or other content that requires plugins that may not work with screen readers or mobile devices.
• Write meaningful descriptive links. Avoid using "click here" to link to an item. Links should describe the actual contents (where the link is taking you) of the link whenever possible, e.g. Contact GovOffice Training & Technical Support. Every link should make sense if the link text is read by itself.
• Make sure content is clearly written and easy to read. Write clearly, use clear fonts, and use headings and lists appropriately.
• Add descriptive alt text (image descriptions) on images to describe the image for visually impaired visitors. In the "Title" field, use descriptive text for the screen reader. Note that the screen reader will say "Image" so inserting the word "image" or "photo" before the description isn't necessary.
• Ensure that every form element (text field, checkbox, dropdown list, etc.) has a label. Also make sure the user can submit the form and recover from any errors, such as the failure to fill in all required fields.

More questions about website ADA compliance? Let us know!