Primary Department: Universal Services
Primary Department Head/Elected Official: Sindhu Menon, Executive Director & CIO
Secondary Department: County Administration
Secondary Department Head/Elected Official: Erica Lee Carter, County Administrator
Regular or Supplemental RCA: Regular RCA
Type of Request: Transmittal
Project ID (if applicable): 210317
Vendor/Entity Legal Name (if applicable): Protiviti
MWBE Contracted Goal (if applicable): 0%
MWBE Current Participation (if applicable): 0%
Justification for 0% MWBE Participation Goal: N/A - Goal not applicable to request
Grant Indirect Costs Rate (if applicable): N/A
Justification for 0% Grant Indirect Costs Rate (if applicable): N/A - Not a grant item
Request Summary (Agenda Caption):
title
Transmittal by Universal Services of an update on the status of the Harris County Website Accessibility Project, including current progress, remediation efforts, and completion of the Accessibility Disability Act (ADA)/Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 compliance across County websites.
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Background and Discussion:
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) published its final rule in April 2024 establishing specific state and local government accessibility standards to comply with ADA.gov-mandated website accessibility guidelines, specifically the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA. The rule sets a compliance deadline of April 24, 2026, for counties with a total population of 50,000 people or more.
Harris County Universal Services, in partnership with the Website Accessibility Compliance vendor, Protiviti, and County departments, launched the Website Accessibility Compliance Project to remediate accessibility across Harris County's digital presence to be compliant with ADA and WCAG standards. The initiative included assessing County websites, identifying accessibility barriers, and coordinating remediation efforts across website development and document content. Through t...
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