What Does My Website, the Department of Justice, and Accessibility Have to do With an Emergency.pdf

Weathering the Storm 2024, Marion Illinois, Michele Butcher-Jones speaks on getting websites for government agencies into WCAG 2.1 compliance.

1. Michele Jones
What Does My Website, the
Department of Justice, and Accessibility
Have to do With an Emergency
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2. Who is Michele
Jones?
President of 13Core ,LLC
Core Contributor to the
WordPress Project
Building & Maintaining
websites since 2010
Cambria Firefighter
Member of SPARC and
Williamson County EMA
WordPress Expert
Keynote Speaker
Digital Marketing Maven
Business Consultant & Coach

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3. Contents
What is website accessibility?
What does the DoJ have to do
with my website
What are the new rules?
What do we have to do?
01
02
03
04
05
Who can help?
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4. What is
website
accessibily?
01
Website accessibility simply means that a website is built in
a way that people with disabilities can still access and use
the site with their assistive devices.
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5. Alt-texts
Alt-texts give your images a description that can be read through text to speech for people who can
not see the images.

Only images that are only used for a decorative option for the website can be exempt from needing
alt-texts.
Your images need them!
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6. Example of Alt Text for an Image on WordPress
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7. Color Contrast
Adequate contrast between text and its background enhances readability for everyone and is
essential for users who have low vision or color blindness.
Opposite directions on a color wheel are best
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8. The difference between good and bad color contrasting
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9. Captions
Captions for videos and audio content are critical for making multimedia accessible to
people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing and can also make content easier to understand
for a much broader range of users.
Your multimedia needs captions!
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10. Captions on Videos can make or break some watchers.
Some people without hearing loss use captioning.
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11. Keyboard Accessibility
Ensure all site functionality is accessible via keyboard for users who rely on keyboard
navigation instead of a mouse.
Know your headings standards
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12. Proper headings (like writing a paper) make it easier
for text to speech and keyboard navigation much easier
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13. Interative Elements
Make interactive elements like buttons and links easy to spot and use. This is an important
consideration for users of keyboard navigation, as well as for those with visual and
cognitive disabilities.
Make interactive elements easily identifiable
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14. Examples of accessible and inaccessible elements
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15. Democracize Fonts
Choose readable font styles and sizes to ensure all users can easily understand text.
Use accessible font styles and sizes
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16. Always use easy to read fonts and a
minimum of 16px font size
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17. Anchor and ARIA those texts!
Anchor text
The text that appears in the link. Screen readers read the anchor text by default.
Aria text
A label that can be used to replace or supplement the anchor text for a link. Aria text can
be used to provide more descriptive information for users, especially those who are
visually impaired or use screen readers.

Make your links as descriptive as possible
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18. Anchor texts and the use of ARIA texts assist text to
speech readers tell the user where the links go to
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19. All Things Compatible
Ensure your website works smoothly with assistive technologies like screen readers,
magnification software, and speech recognition software.
Ensure compatibility with assistive technologies.
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20. Here is some popular accessibility tech that people use
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21. Accessible Forms
Proper labeling and focus states for form fields ensure that all visitors, including those
who use screen readers, can complete forms easily.
Provide accessible form fields on your website
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22. Forms can be one of the hardest items to make
accessible
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23. Build with Accessibility in Mind
Design your website to be fully accessible on mobile devices, benefiting users of touch
navigation and smaller screens.
Design for desktop AND mobile accessibility
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24. The easiest way to be accessible is to design your site
with accessibility in mind
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25. What does the
Department of
Justice have to
do with it?
02
The Federal Register published the Department of Justice’s
(Department) final rule updating its regulations for Title II of the
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The final rule has specific
requirements about how to ensure that web content and mobile
applications (apps) are accessible to people with disabilities.
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26. April 8, 2024
[CRT Docket No. 144; AG Order No. 5919-2024] RIN 1190-AA79

SUMMARY: The Department of Justice (“Department”) issues its final rule revising the regulation
implementing title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) to establish specific requirements,
including the adoption of specific technical standards, for making accessible the services, programs, and
activities offered by State and local government entities to the public through the web and mobile
applications (“apps”).

DATES: Effective date: This rule is effective June 24, 2024.
The world wide web changed for anyone receiving any type of government funding
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27. This final rule marks the Justice
Department’s latest effort to ensure
that no person is denied access to
government services, programs, or
activities because of a disability.
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland"
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28. How long do
State and
Local Entities
have to
comply with
the new rule?
0 to 49,999 Persons
50,000 or more Persons
Special District Governments
•April 26, 2027
•April 26, 2027
•April 24, 2026
The population numbers are
based on the size of community
you serve.
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29. What exactly
are the new
rules?
03
Requirement: The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
(WCAG) Version 2.1, Level AA is the technical standard for
state and local governments’ web content and mobile apps.

30. There are 3
main
requirements
to become
compliant

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
(WCAG) Version 2.1, Level AA is the technical
standard for state & local governments’ web
content and mobile apps.

State & Local Governments’
mobile apps usually needs to
meet WCAG 2.1, Level AA

State & Local Governments’ web
content usually needs to meet
WCAG 2.1, Level AA
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31. ●State and local election offices

●Public hospitals and public healthcare clinics

●Public parks and recreations programs

●Public libraries

●Public transit agencies

●Ambulance/EMS/Flight medic services

●Emergency Management Services
Who has to follow these new guidelines?
●State and local government office that
provide benefits and/or social
services, like food assistance, health
insurance, or employment services

●Public schools, community colleges,
and public universities

●State and local police departments

●State and local fire departments

●State and local courts
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32. There are
some
exceptions
Archived Web Content
Pre Existing electronic
documents (PDFs)
Third Party Content
Password Protected Docs
At the moment, there are these
expectations but at any time the
Department of Justice could remove
these expectations.
Pre Existing Social Media
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33. What happens if we fail to
meet the deadline?
Minor Infractions
If it is minor enough that it does not
affect the site’s performance, it is okay.
You can be Fined
After the due date, the Department of
Justice can fine you for non-compliance.
You can be sued
This has already become the next
“ambulance chasing lawsuits.
Overlays Won’t Help You
Services like Acessible that gives your
site an overlay does not fix the issue
and you can be sued over it.
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34. What do we
have to do to
become
compliant?
04
The good news is, you still have time!
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35. Accessibility
Compliance Timeline
Run an
Accessibility
Audit
01
Schedule a time to review
with an accessibility expert
02
ADA Expert
makes a quote
to remediate
your website
03
Ongoing reviews
and fixes when
needed
05
ADA Expert remediates
your website
04
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36. Free Audits (or Free Trials)
•https://13core.com/weathering-the-storm-2024

•https://www.equalweb.com/10420/11678/Accessibi
lity_Auditing

•https://wave.webaim.org/

•https://accessibe.com/accessscan

•https://www.audioeye.com/free-website-accessibilit
y-checker/

•https://www.acquia.com/products/monsido
Places to
run an
Accessibility
Audit
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37. Who can help
us get
compliant?
05
There are many companies that can help you remediate
your website. (There might be a shameless plug coming as
well.
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38. When looking for an Accessibility Expert
Review Ask Questions
•Ask to see previous
work
•Ask about their
warranty
•How does their own
website stand up to
the competition?
You get what
you pay for
•Trust your site with a
dependable company
Add a little bit of body text
Don’t fall
victim to ads
•Overlays are bandaids
•If they say they are one
and done, they are
lying
•Buzzwords will get you
nowhere fast
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39. My Only Shameless Plug
Not only do we do accessibility remediation, but we also can handle website design, development,
hosting, maintenance, support, SEO, Local SEO, Social Media Management, Content/Blog writing,
Pay Per Click Advertising, eCommerce setups, Google Workspace, Teamwork Project setups, and
much more.
We can get your website compliant, while handling all
of your online needs.
mlb.pw/wts2024

40. Where to find more information
●ADA.gov
●Section508.gov
●Digital.gov
●DesignSystem.digital.gov/documentation/accessibility
●Justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-issues-web-accessibility-
guidance-under-americans-disabilities-act
●govtech.com/analytics/designing-accessible-government-websit
es.html
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41. Questions?
Copies of my slides can be found at
https://mlb.pw/wts2024
https://13core.com
[email protected]
[phone]
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42. The emergency telephone number used in many
countries. When you dial 911, you are connected to a
trained dispatcher who can send emergency
responders to assist with various urgent situations.
911

43. Peak hours
for 911 calls
Elaborate on the featured statistic.
Morning
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur
adipiscing elit. Praesent maximus sagittis
nunc, in commodo nisl posuere eget.
Elaborate on the featured statistic.
Midday
Elaborate on the featured statistic.
Night

44. Emergencies
according to
their severity
Critical
Urgent but not
Life-Threatening
•Large-Scale Natural Disasters
•Active Shooter
•Hostage Situations
•Property Crime
•Dangerous Situations
•Major Vehicle Accidents
•Chemical Spills

45. Types of
Emergencies
02
Elaborate on what you want to discuss.

46. Emergency
Procedure
Elaborate on what you want to discuss.
02

47. Keep Calm
Find a secure location
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet,
consectetur adipiscing elit.
Praesent maximus sagittis
nunc, in commodo nisl posuere
eget. Sed eget suscipit massa.
Morbi ultricies commodo ipsum
ac commodo. Integer sed magna
ac massa consequat eleifend.

Fusce aliquam, justo eu auctor
sollicitudin, tortor arcu sagittis.
What to
do in an
emergency
Elaborate on what
you want to discuss.

48. Got any questions?
123 Anywhere St., Any City,ST 12345
[email protected]
reallygreatsite.com
@reallygreatsiteThank
You!
123-456-7890

49. Resource Page
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