Portsmouth VA Implements AudioEye Accessibility Solution for Website

PORTSMOUTH, Va., March 8, 2018 (Newswire.com) - In the past, digital administrators responsible for the maintenance of an organization’s website had to manually comb through text, pictures, links and other elements to ensure all content met the standards of accessibility for persons with disabilities. Today, the City of Portsmouth has implemented AudioEye, an industry-leading software that enables both public and private sector entities to make their content more user-friendly through technology. The AudioEye platform monitors websites based on WCAG 2.0 Accessibility Standards and provides automation corrections and user-defined standards.

With the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990, businesses, federal, local and state governments have made major changes in how business is conducted, so that people with varying kinds of disabilities can easily access buildings, streets, public transportation, office workstations, etc. In 2010, the Department of Justice (DOJ) set standards for Accessible Design which mandates that all electronic and information technology be accessible to people with disabilities. “The city has always worked diligently to ensure that its website was accessible to everyone, especially our citizens,” said Daniel Jones, chief information officer for the City of Portsmouth. “The 2018 refresh of Section 508 of the ADA provided an opportunity for the city’s leaders to ask what else could be done to ensure accessibility.

The city has always worked diligently to ensure that its website was accessible to everyone, especially our citizens. The 2018 refresh of Section 508 of the ADA provided an opportunity for the city's leaders to ask what else could be done to ensure accessibility.

Daniel Jones, Chief Information Officer, City of Portsmouth

“While we were monitoring the conversations regarding ADA compliance impacting federal websites, we reached out to our CivicPlus account manager to ask if there was an integrated solution that could be incorporated into our current platform.” AudioEye was the answer. It provides enhanced ADA-related digital accessibility to its local government website design clients that utilize the CivicEngage® content management system (CMS). For the City of Portsmouth, improving website accessibility is not just about complying with laws and mandates. It is all about doing what is best for citizens and other users. “We feel that because Section 508 currently applies to only federal websites and not local government websites is no reason to not make improvements that better serve our citizens. AudioEye’s solution may be our last line of defense, but it is still our job to follow compliance best practices, and that is exactly what we intend to do.”

Phase three of the AudioEye implementation will be complete in a couple of months. In the meantime, anyone accessing the city’s website can utilize AudioEye’s tools to make the site more accommodating. For more information about the project, please contact Daniel Jones at 757-393-8871 or via email jonesd@portsmouthva.gov.

Source: City of Portsmouth, VA

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