Digital Accessibility
In This Section
House Bill 21-1110, Colorado Laws For Persons With Disabilities, passed by the state legislature in 2021 and amended in 2023 by Senate Bill 23-244, strengthens protections against discrimination based on disability, specifically for laws relating to government information technology accessibility. The law requires state and local public entities, including municipalities, to meet sweeping digital accessibility standards, such as offering text descriptions of images and transcriptions of video and audio content.
If municipalities did not meet the digital accessibility standards outlined by the Colorado Governor's Office of Information Technology by July 1, 2024, they could face a court order requiring compliance, monetary damages, or a fine of $3,500 if a person is subject to discrimination on the basis of disability as it relates to information technology accessibility. HB24-1454, Grace Period Noncompliance Digital Accessibility, provides a defense to claim made prior to July 2025 if the public entity proves that it has made good faith efforts towards compliance.
Under HB21-1110, municipalities are required to create a digital accessibility plan outlining accessibility standards and implementation methodology. A selection of digital accessibility plans completed by municipalities across Colorado are linked below.
- Town of Elizabeth
- City of Englewood
- City of Evans
- City of Grand Junction
- City of Greenwood Village
- City of Lakewood
- City of Longmont
- City of Manitou Springs
- Town of Mead
- Town of Parker
- City of Rifle
If your city or town would like to share its digital accessibility plan as a resource for other municipalities, please email the plan to rwoolworth@cml.org.
Digital accessibility work is expensive. Below are a few state funding opportunities available to municipalities:
- Colorado Statewide Internet Portal Authority (SIPA) Micro-Grant Program: This funding opportunity is available to local governments with a SIPA Eligible Government Entity (EGE) agreement in place working to connect residents to government by putting more information and services online.
- SIPA GOVGrants Program: This funding opportunity is available to local governments with a SIPA EGE agreement in place that are working on innovative government technology projects that improve efficiency and effectiveness of government service delivery, implement high-impact technology solutions, and support Gov. Polis' policy agenda.
- SIPA Accessibility Grants Program: This funding opportunity is available to local governments with a SIPA EGE agreement in place looking to utilize CommonLook Suite Licenses and CommonLook training to help with the digital PDF compliance outlined in HB21-1110.
Digital Accessibility Spotlight: Manitou Springs
Manitou Springs works toward compliance with HB21-1110 (Colorado Municipalities, July 2024)