State Board of Elections Website Accessibility Practices and Procedures


Purpose

This establishes accessibility practices and procedures for web-based information and applications maintained for current use on the www.elections.ny.gov website. It does not apply to archived content. Implementation of these practices and procedures affirms New York State Board of Elections’ commitment to ensuring all people, including people with disabilities, have an equal opportunity to participate in our programs and services through web content. These practices and procedures do not replace NYS Policy NYS-P08-005.

Scope

The SBOE Website Accessibility Practices and Procedures applies to all current, public-facing SBOE content for which the Public Information Office is designated by the Board as the ‘business owner’, whether developed, maintained, or offered by the New York State Board of Elections or through a third-party contractor.

Policy Brief and Purpose

The State Board of Elections remains committed to ensuring that SBOE’s online information and services are available to all of our customers. To this end, we will make a good-faith effort to comply with NYS Policy NYS-P08-005 Accessibility of Web Based Information and Applications as well as WCAG 2.0 AA Accessibility. In our efforts to comply, we will:

  • Include accessibility as part of our mission statement.
  • Integrate accessibility into our procurement practices
  • Assess any new or substantially changed content that is introduced on the SBOE website for compliance with WCAG 2.0 AA Accessibility Standards. We will apply our accessibility knowledge and automated website accessibility testing tools. If we identify any new content not in compliance, we will work to bring it into compliance as quickly as possible.
  • Utilize automated website accessibility testing tools to perform routine scans for compliance with WCAG 2.0 AA Accessibility Standards.
  • Take measures to assure that content developed on our behalf by third-party vendors comply with NYS Policy NYS-P08-005 Accessibility of Web Based Information and Applications and WCAG 2.0 AA Accessibility Standards.
  • Provide continual trainings to ensure that all employees who write or develop programs or code supporting current, public-facing content, or who create or post final content on the SBOE’s website are familiar with this office’s accessibility policy and the requirements of NYS Policy NYS-P08-005 as well as WCAG 2.0 AA accessibility standards.
  • Seek the services of a third-party web accessibility consultant and make a good-faith effort to timely resolve any items found by the consultant to be inconsistent with WCAG 2.0 AA Accessibility Standards.
  • Provide methods for visitors to SBOE’s website to give feedback regarding how the accessibility of the website can be improved.
  • Designate an employee as Website Accessibility Coordinator, who will be responsible for ensuring that the Public Information Office complies with NYS Policy NYS-P08-005 and WCAG 2.0 AA Accessibility Standards.
  • Appoint a Committee that is tasked with monitoring the website to ensure it meets WCAG 2.0 AA Accessibility Standards.
  • Include a link to this policy on the SBOE website as well as ways to contact the Public Information Office with questions or comments about the policy and this office’s compliance efforts (link to http://www.elections.ny.gov/accessibility-practices-and-procedures)