State of Colorado Accessibility Newsletter: July 2022

Reminder: TAP Open Office Hours for state agency employees will be hosted by Dylan Marcy for July & August. Dylan will provide accessibility-related resources and deliver announcements while the TAP team focuses on growth and providing more services and assistance to its agency partners.

Celebrating a Major Milestone for Accessibility!

Thank you to the state agency teams for all your hard work and commitment to providing equal access to your agency’s services. Completing your IT Accessibility Adoption Plans by the July 1 deadline is a huge milestone for the state and for Coloradans with disabilities.

But our work is far from over. The Technology Accessibility Program (TAP) team is proud to announce Karen Pelligrin as the new TAP program manager. In the coming weeks Karen will be adding to the program team in order to provide agencies more support. We'll update you in August with plans for phase two of state accessibility planning and implementation. We’re here to support you as you work to meet the July 1, 2024 compliance deadline.

Note: Only state agencies are required to have an IT Accessibility Adoption Plan submitted. Local governments are not required to submit their plans to OIT, and are only required to comply with the July 1, 2024 implementation deadline.

Accessibility & Philanthropy in the Arts

By Elise Collins, Colorado Creative Industries (OEDIT)

This month Colorado Creative Industries’ Accessibility Corner is focusing on the intersection of accessibility and philanthropy in the arts. Whether you are a funding organization or an artist/arts organization applying for funding, Accessibility & Philanthropy in the Arts has useful actionable guidelines on accessibility best practices. Learn more about participatory grant-making and legal guidelines that may affect you today!

Featured Artist

If you enjoy adventure travel, making new friends, and artistic expression, check out the Accessibility Corner’s featured artist - The Wayfaring Band! This Denver-based nonprofit has adventure travel trips for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). Learn more about their social leadership program and artist-in-residency opportunities in CCI’s Wayfaring Band Blog Post!

TAP is proud to collaborate with agencies across the state of Colorado. In addition to this month’s article from Colorado Creative Industries (CCI), further editions of the CCI Accessibility Corner Blog will be featured in our Resources section at the bottom of this newsletter. If you or your agency would like to collaborate with TAP on a newsletter article, please email OIT_Accessibility@state.co.us!

July is Disability Pride Month!

By Dylan Marcy

July is a month of celebration for the disabled community. Although individuals with disabilities may think and feel differently about how their disabilities impact their daily lives, Disability Pride Month is a unique opportunity to come together and celebrate a community and communal identity rooted in shared experiences.

Disability Pride Month is celebrated in July because the Americans with Disabilities Act (or ADA), was signed into law on July 26, 1990. It prohibits many types of discrimination against people with disabilities, and while there is still a long way to go in achieving its goals, the ADA is widely celebrated as a pivot towards a more equitable United States of America.

As someone with a disability, I noted early on that the deadlines specified in HB 21-1110 (for the state agency IT Accessibility Adoption Plan and its implementation) also occur in July. I’m proud to be an employee of a state that takes an interest in the participation of a historically underserved community and is taking tangible steps to make its services accessible for all.

Accessibility Resources

• Accessibility Fundamentals Overview, W3C
• OIT’s Accessibility Guide
• TS-OEA-002: Technology Accessibility for Web Content and Applications, (PDF)
• The following links are DIY testing tools for use in your everyday work. These tools are not a substitute for automated and manual testing but will help in making websites and documentation accessible from the beginning.
  • Websites: WAVE Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool, WebAIM
  • Websites: Siteimprove Browser Extensions (Chrome and Firefox), Siteimprove
  • Websites: Selecting Web Accessibility Evaluation Tools, W3C
  • Keyboard accessibility: Follow the Keyboard Accessibility guide, WebAIM
  • Color: Color Contrast Checker, WebAIM
  • Visual Impairment: Straw test, HCB University

Please note that the Accessibility Open Office Hours (for state government only) have changed and will meet on Thursdays from 9-10 a.m. We will no longer meet on Tuesdays.