KING COUNTY, Wash. — King County is trying to make county information and services more accessible for people with disabilities and people who speak languages other than English.
King County Executive Girmay Zahilay signed a “digital accessibility policy” on Thursday. The policy requires all new public-facing digital content and technology to be accessible to all residents starting January 1.
What does that look like? For example, if you’re a resident using a screen reader or other assistive technology, you should be able to properly read documents on county websites because they should contain the correct backend information needed to make them accessible.
Colin Wong, with the National Federation of the Blind, uses a screen reader to access information online. He is fully blind.
“It’s always a flip of a coin on how accessibility is represented, whether it’s there,” he said.
Wong says that when the Americans with Disabilities Act was first enacted, people were focused on accessibility in physical spaces. Now, as our reliance on digital communications has increased, people are facing different barriers to access.
The policy brings the county in line with federal policy. The county aims to adapt all content already uploaded by April.
The policy is also intended to improve accessibility for people who speak other languages. It asks every department to evaluate how the county can advance language access to inform future policy.
“Over the years, we’ve seen the impact of barriers due to complex terminology or the lack of timely language access services,” said Michael Itti, Executive Director of the Chinese Information and Service Center (CISC), an organization that works with immigrants. “For example, seniors who qualify for food assistance or energy assistance were unable to access services because these programs were not translated and available in their own language.”
Census data shows that in King County, just under one in three people speak a language other than English at home. About 11% of county residents reported living with a disability.
The Executive’s Office of Performance and Accountability team will monitor its implementation.
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