CDT Letters Address State Website Design, Accessibility

The California Department of Technology issued two Technology Letters this week, together addressing the look and feel, functionality and security of state government websites. 
 
The department issues the letters periodically, over the signature of state Chief Information Officer Amy Tong, generally to remind state IT leaders of new or existing policies or to address issues related to IT legislation.
 
This week's letters remind departments and agencies to use state-approved software and design when building websites. 
 
One of the letters says: "This policy will foster a consistent look and feel, and a common navigational framework across government, helping visitors recognize they are accessing official State of California information. This policy also promotes reasonable steps to design and develop websites that are accessible to people with disabilities and supports the adoption of usability principles that adhere to California’s usability standards for website development." 
 
To help website developers achieve that consistency, the state is rolling out https://webstandards.ca.gov/, a site that offers guidance, templates and other tools. That site replaces its predecessor, webtools.ca.gov. 
 
AB 434 requires that before July 1, 2019, "the Director and Chief Information Officer of each Agency/state entity ... post on the home page of the Agency/state entity’s internet website a signed certification that the Agency/state entity’s internet website is in compliance with specified accessibility standards," the CDT notes. "This section also requires the California Department of Technology (CDT) to create a standard form that each Agency/state entity’s Chief Information Officer shall use to determine whether the Agency/entity’s internet website is in compliance with those accessibility standards." 
 
The department also says, "Agency/state entity Chief Information Officers shall use the Department of Rehabilitation’s (DOR) Accessibility toolkit — which CDT has adopted for purposes of Government Code Section § 11546.7 — to determine whether the Agency/state entity’s internet website is in compliance with the accessibility standards specified in SAM Section 4833.2." 
 
Later this summer, all state entities will be offered "Web Accessibility Training," about which more information will be forthcoming. 
 
All CDT Technology letters are available in their entirety at https://cdt.ca.gov/technology-letters/.