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Accessibility Progress Report

Accessibility Progress Report in Compliance with 24-34-802, C.R.S.

 

Colorado Department of the Treasury 

Web Accessibility Plan

July 1, 2024

 

The Treasury Department is committed to providing equitable access to all Coloradans. Our ongoing accessibility effort works towards the day when all Treasury services, programs, and activities are accessible, providing equal access to information and services to all Coloradans.

To that end, Treasury has a plan to prioritize, evaluate, remediate and continuously improve every digital touchpoint within our services, programs, and activities. This plan will be updated on a quarterly basis.

 

Accessibility Maturity

The Department is between the launch and integration phase, with launch reflecting that planning has been initiated and some activities have been undertaken. A roadmap is in the process of being completed. 

Treasury made strong initial progress in its efforts toward meeting the requirements of HB21-1110 and related legislation. As one of its budget priorities for FY 24, it requested and received funding for this priority.

A budget of $367,000 for use in accessibility, evaluation[KL1] , remediation, addressing a backlog of issues, assessing skill sets of those creating content, and determining best practices to ensure accessibility is part of its ongoing processes. The Department is planning to deploy these funds within the first six months of FY 25.

In addition, Treasury has undertaken, as required, review of its digital presentation. 

All but three of its web presentations have exceeded the statutorily required 88.2 percent score on SiteImprove. Three programs – CLIMBER, SecureSavings, and Unclaimed Property – all score at least 93 percent when reviewed by SiteImprove, with Unclaimed Property scoring 99 percent. The remaining programs tested however – Investments, Bondlink, the department’s internal intranet, and the General Department website, are all below 88.2 percent, which the Department plans in the first six months of FY 25.

Treasury has been in discussion with potential vendors to address evaluation and remediation needs, but has yet to select a vendor or vendors to provide these services. Treasury plans to select a vendor within the first quarter of FY 25.

Challenges

Treasury lacks a dedicated IT professional on staff, with IT services shared with the Governor’s Office. Additionally, the Department, due to being understaffed, has been challenged in terms of having an FTE with full ownership to direct accessibility planning. The most recent FTE involved in addressing accessibility issues pursuant to HB21-1110 ceased working on the plan in March of 2024 and the department is still in the process of hiring a replacement. The Department anticipates hiring a replacement by September of 2024.

The funds mentioned above are designed for remediation, addressing a backlog of issues, and providing direction for moving the Department forward. Although[KL2]  Treasury has an accommodations plan in[KL3] [KL4]  place, they are not necessarily planned for use in accommodation of needs. At this point, Treasury is unclear how strong the need will be for specific accommodation, or how much of a financial burden that will put on the Department. The Department plans to measure and track the quantity and nature of requests to determine what, if any, additional funding may be necessary in the future.

Department Priorities

The Department has a number of priorities, among them:

  • The Department will create and post on front-facing webpages a progress report that is updated quarterly and demonstrates concrete and specific efforts toward compliance with OIT rules

         Goal: July 2024 and Ongoing

 

  • Creating a formal Department Web Accessibility Committee (WAC) that will oversee the process and engage with internal stakeholders and external partners to ensure that short term and long term planning for accommodations and modifications are addressed. The WAC will work with the new FTE, as described below, to define an accessibility roadmap with a timeline, goals, roles, responsibilities, and policies

         Goal: July 2024

 

  • Adding a dedicated electronic mailbox for accommodation requests

         Goal: July 2024

 

  • Hiring FTE that will have, among its responsibilities, ownership for web accessibility issues, providing guidance to the Department WAC on items such as testing, remediation, policy improvements, usage metrics, and legal requirements

         Goal: September 2024

 

  • Selecting and engaging a vendor to aggressively pursue manual testing, remediation of backlogged items, and as well, assessing and advising on staff skill strength so that new items will be properly accessible from the start

         Goal: October 2024

 

  • Remediating accessibility challenges to its digital footprint found through manual testing and raising the Siteimprove scores of other programs to a higher level by the end of FY 25

         Goal: June 2025

 

  • The Department will create a process to integrate accessibility criteria across its solicitation, evaluation, and contract processes to improve the accessibility of its service offerings

         Goal: June 2025

 

  • Treasury will include accessibility skills in its job description and hiring process, move forward with department-wide accessibility training, set accessibility goals, and track progress through performance evaluations

         Goal: June 2025

 

  • The Department is in the process of creating an inventory of technology, prioritizing the accessible needs of the technology, updating technology for accessibility, and validating through testing

         Goal: Ongoing

 

  • The Department will add training for current and incoming staff on providing accessible services and technology, creating accessible documents, and conducting accessible meetings

         Goal: Ongoing

 

  • Treasury will incorporate accessibility requirements into its technology development stages including design, development, user experience, and quality assurance

         Goal: Ongoing