Accessibility Resources

The GIC and DTI are working to provide Delaware state agencies and website managers with the policies, tools, training, and support needed to meet accessibility standards and deliver inclusive online experiences.

The U.S. Department of Justice requires state and local governments to ensure digital assets meet WCAG 2.1 AA standards.

Agencies should begin reviewing and remediating digital content as soon as possible, while also establishing policies to support ongoing compliance.

These are the top five non-coded accessibility errors that appear most often in government websites.
Each link below leads to resources with specifics on how to review and, if necessary, quickly address these issues on your website.

Addressing these issues significantly improves usability for screen reader users and others relying on assistive technology.

• Level Access: All state agency and municipality employees may use the Level Access Accessibility testing software. DTI has set up an online training site.
• Digital Accessibility Training Hub: Recorded videos of training provided by Level Access accessibility experts.
• Editoria11y Plug-In: A built-in WordPress accessibility tool. Focuses on content issues that the editor can easily correct.
• DTI A11y Coalition: A State of Delaware collaboration of accessibility coordinators, ADA liaisons, IT specialists, and agency partners working together to make Delaware’s digital services usable for everyone.
• Lighthouse Design System: An open-source set of reusable WordPress web components to manage design elements across varying platforms and websites. That translates into building blocks and templates that have already been researched as accessibility-compliant and tested as user-friendly.
• GIC’s Accessibility Newsletter: A look at news and events related to accessibility in civic tech.

• Run your site thru Deque aXe: This is run through Chrome Developer, but it can also be run in node.js and other places.
• Run each web page using The Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool (WAVE) which will flag accessibility errors and contrast issues – and begin fixing those (you have to do this page at a time though with WAVE). You can also download the Wave Chrome Extension so that you can use this tool behind the state firewall.
• Download the free screen reader from NVDA and use it to test your websites. This requires Windows.
• The GIC has a license with Read SpeakerOpens in new window, a web-based solution that uses text-to-audio on websites (you can see it in action by clicking the “listen” button at the top of this page – and make sure your volume is on). If your agency is interested in implementing Read Speaker, please contact us to get started.
• Test the color contrast of your site with the WebAIM Color Contrast Checker and Link Contrast Checker.

• Official W3C Web Accessibility ARIA examples – Examples and guidance to help developers build interactive components that work well with assistive technologies.
• Deque Pattern Library – A library of accessibly designed web components.
• Quick Reference Guide from WAVE – Downloadable best practices for accessibility compliance.

Accessibility is also about offering content in languages other than English. If your audience and web users speak English as a Second Language (ESL) then please consider translating your web content into their primary language. Automated translation services can be problematic – we encourage all agencies to use human translation whenever and wherever possible.

You can check out your website’s analytics to see what languages are primarily used by your web audience. View our Public Analytics Project to see many Delaware state agency’s web analytics.

The Electronic Accessibility Committee Meeting is a subcommittee under the State Council for Persons with Disabilities in the Department of Safety and Homeland Security. This subcommittee has representatives from the broader Delaware community, advocates, and those representing state agencies. These meetings are held virtually and are open to the public. The Government Information Center (GIC) and Department of Technology and Information (DTI) have voting members on the subcommittee, along with agencies like Department of Health and Social Services, and others.