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

 Accessibility Progress Report

Our goal is to ensure that all Coloradans have equal access and information to participate fully in Treasury services, programs, and activities. To that end, Treasury has outlined steps to prioritize, evaluate, remediate, and continuously improve every digital touchpoint for our services, programs, and activities. This plan is updated every quarter.

Progress to Date

The Colorado Department of Treasury has made notable progress toward meeting the requirements of HB21-1110 and related legislation. As one of its budget priorities for Fiscal Year 23-24, the Department requested and received funding for accessibility efforts.

The Department set aside $367,000 to fund an accessibility audit, website and document remediation, and training for staff.  The Department partnered with CapTech to complete a user experience and accessibility audit in January 2025. These findings will guide future remediation and training needs.

Audit Findings

CapTech executed a combination of accessibility testing and user experience research activities to identify violations of WCAG 2.2 AA standards and broader usability issues that may impact the overall efficacy of the experience. The audit uncovered the following key findings:

• Main Website: The website template mostly follows accessibility best practices. However, content issues—such as vague link text and unlabeled images—must be addressed.
• Documents: Many documents presented significant accessibility barriers due to design issues, lack of accessibility preparation in source files, and improper exporting of PDF documents.
• Third-Party Websites: The Treasury’s program websites vary in their levels of accessibility, though all need improvement. The Colorado SecureSavings Program website has the strongest accessibility, while the Unclaimed Property website presents the most significant issues.

To chart the path toward a compliant website and overall improved user experience, CapTech prepared a strategic roadmap that outlines recommended steps to remediate digital properties and improve organizational accessibility standards.

Next Steps

Building off CapTech’s findings, the Department will contract with state-approved vendors to remediate its main website and documents over the next five months. Program directors will work with third-party vendors to address critical issues and improve accessibility standards of the following program sites:

• Investor Relations website
• Property Tax Deferral Program website
• Great Colorado Payback website
• Colorado SecureSavings website

Challenges

Staffing: The Department is among the smallest in the state and has limited staff capacity to address accessibility needs. The Department lacks a dedicated IT professional and shares IT services with the Governor’s Office. The Department recently hired a communications director to lead accessibility planning and will soon add a full-time communications specialist to assist with accessible content creation.

Funding: The one-time project funding is dedicated to evaluation, remediation, and staff training. The Department will continue to measure and track the quantity and nature of requests to determine what, if any, additional funding may be necessary in the future.

Department Milestones

The Department has laid out several milestones related to digital accessibility.

Progress Report: 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. 

• Status: Completed July 2024

Internal Accessibility Committee: 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.

• Status: Completed July 2024

Contact for Accommodation Request: The Department will create a dedicated email inbox for accommodation requests.

• Status: Completed July 2024

Increasing Staff Capacity: The Department will hire one FTE that will have, among its responsibilities, ownership for web accessibility issues, guiding the Department WAC on items such as testing, remediation, policy improvements, usage metrics, and legal requirements. 

•  Status: Completed September 2024

Accessibility Audit: The Department will select and engage a vendor to complete manual and automated testing of the Department’s main websites and conduct staff training so that new content will be properly accessible from the start. 

• Status: Completed February 2025

Remediation: The Department will remediate accessibility challenges found through the accessibility audit and partner with third-party vendors to address critical issues. 

• Status: In progress; completed by July 2025

Procurement: 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. 

•  Status: In progress; completed by June 2025

Human Resources: The Department 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. 

•  Status: In progress; completed by June 2025

Technology: The Department will log an inventory of technology, prioritizing the accessibility needs, making appropriate updates, and validating through testing. 

•  Status: In progress; ongoing

Staff Training: The Department train current and incoming staff on providing accessible services and technology, creating accessible documents, and conducting accessible meetings. 

• Status: In progress; ongoing

Ongoing Planning: Treasury will incorporate accessibility requirements into its technology development stages, including design, development, user experience, and quality assurance.

Status: In progress; ongoing