Policy

The City and County of Denver has established this Web accessibility policy as part of its ongoing commitment to barrier-free government services. All DenverGov.org pages are subject to this policy, which establishes minimum standards for Web page accessibility.

1. The City and County of Denver endorses the guidelines of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) as the standard for accessibile Web design and compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The W3C is a consortium of over 400 organizations and individuals that researches, develops and specifies standards for the Web.
   
   
2. The City and County of Denver also endorses the guidelines outlined in the Section 508 amendment to the Federal Rehabilitation Act (29 U.S.C. § 794d). While these specific guidelines are not currently a mandate for state or local governments, they are consistent with the W3C standards and provide achievable, well-documented guidelines for implementation.
   
   
3. The City and County of Denver acknowledges that, while the Section 508 guidelines are consistent with the W3C's Priority 1 guidelines, they do omit some important Priority 2 standards that can be achieved with minimal added effort.
   
   
4. Therefore, the City and County of Denver has chosen to adopt both the Section 508 standard, specifically §1194.22 for Web-based Intranet and Internet information and applications, along with Priorities 1 and 2 of the W3C's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 1.0).
   
   
5. Furthermore, the City and County of Denver acknowledges that accessible Web content benefits a variety of people, not just people with disabilities. To enhance the overall usability of DenverGov.org, additional universal design principles will be adopted.
   
   
6. As a result, all new or revised Web pages published or hosted by the City and County of Denver after December 31, 2005, specifically on its primary Web site DenverGov.org, will strive for compliance with the guidelines and standards set forth on these pages. A revised Web page is one where significant structural redesign or a major revision of the content of a page takes place.
   
   
7. Reasonable effort must be taken to ensure that legacy Web pages come into compliance with these guidelines as the pages are revised or the content is updated. Meanwhile, upon specific request, information on legacy Web pages is to be made available to any individual needing access to such Web content, by revision or otherwise.
   
   
8. Undue administrative or financial burdens may contribute to a determination that alternative formats be used to provide the information to individuals requiring use of the information. Where compliance is not possible or may require extraordinary measures, exceptions to this policy may be granted by the City and County of Denver's Technology Services Division. Exceptions will be documented and clearly identified with a non-compliance statement, along with the name, telephone number and e-mail address of an individual to contact for assistance.