Accessibility

Colorado House Bill 21-1110 prohibits discrimination on two standards:

1. It is discrimination to exclude an individual with a disability from participation in or being denied the benefits of services, programs, or activities provided by any Colorado government entity. 
2. It is discrimination to for any Colorado government entity to fail to develop an accessibility plan by July 1, 2022, and to fail to fully comply with accessibility standards developed by OIT by July 1, 2024.  (House Bill 24-1454, the Grace Period Bill, provided state entities with an additional year - until July 1, 2025 - with immunity from liability). 

This law relates to all technology, hardware, and software, that is both public-facing and internal-facing. This includes any technology provided by or procured by a government entity that is used by the public or used by a government entity employee. This technology includes but is not limited to websites, applications, kiosks, digital signage, documents, video, audio, and third-party tools.

There are no exemptions. All Colorado government entities are required to comply with OIT’s technology accessibility standards. Every person who contributes content to a website or application; develops or manages IT products and services; and every government entity employee who creates and shares emails, documents or presentations is responsible for making it accessible to everyone.

Noncompliance may result in the following:

• A court order requiring compliance;
• Monetary damages;
• Attorney’s fees; or
• A statutory fine of $3,500 payable to each plaintiff for each violation, who must be someone from the disability community. For example, after the July 1, 2024, deadline, if an individual tries to use a website that is not accessible, the government entity may be subject to a $3,500 statutory fine that is payable to the individual for each violation. 

Summary of HB21-1110
Plain Language Explanation of HB21-1110

2024 Update to Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act

In April of 2024, the Department of Justice published a final rule updating regulations to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The rule includes specific requirements to ensure that web content and mobile apps are accessible. 

This rule sets a specific technical standard that state and local governments must follow to meet their existing obligations under Title II of the ADA for web and mobile app accessibility. There are limited exceptions to this rule:

1. It is important that state and local governments can prioritize so they can choose the most important content—like current or commonly used information—to make accessible to people with disabilities quickly.
2. There are limited exceptions for some kinds of content that are not as frequently used or that may be particularly hard for state and local governments to address right away.
3. If an exception applies to certain content, it means that content would not have to meet WCAG 2.1, Level AA.
4. In the next section, we describe the exceptions and provide examples of how they might apply. We also give examples of when the exceptions would not apply.

State and local governments must make sure that their web content and mobile apps meet WCAG 2.1, Level AA within two or three years of when the rule was published on April 24, 2024, depending on their population.