Implements industry-leading integrated digital accessibility remediation solution.
MANHATTAN, KS — The County of Humboldt, California has launched a website enhancement that leverages the most advanced digital accessibility remediation technology to ensure equitable access to local information, news, and resources for all constituents. The new, integrated accessibility enhancements enable the website’s content to be consumable by individuals with visual, auditory, and other sensory disabilities both with or without the use of assistive technology devices. The website’s accessibility technology is made possible through the County’s use of CivicPlus’ CivicEngage® website design and hosting solution and AudioEye Inc., CivicPlus’ exclusive accessibility remediation solution provider.
When the County of Humboldt committed to enhancing its website accessibility functionality, its goal was to choose a solution provider that could help it meet its content delivery goals.
“IT has several internal goals,” said Jim Storm, IT Division Director for the Humboldt County Information Technology Division. “Strive to keep current with technology, ensure reliable systems, and provide excellent customer service. With CivicPlus our website is optimized for efficiency, and we have a collocated geographically diverse data center and 24-7-365 support. We also wanted to be a leader among California Counties in web accessibility. When CivicPlus presented the opportunity to be one of its first clients to work with AudioEye, we tested its accessibility tools and features and realized AudioEye could help us get to the next level with its commitment to accessibility and digital inclusion.”
AudioEye offers industry-leading software that monitors websites as they grow, automatically fixing issues to ensure accessibility for individuals using a range of assistive technology. The County of Humboldt has integrated AudioEye’s Ally Toolbar directly into its CivicEngage website. The Ally Toolbar is a proprietary assistive tool that allows users to customize and enhance their website engagement experience. It allows for a variety of content display customization options and offers considerations including a dyslexic font, adjustments to color contrast, font size and navigation, keyboard controls, a player that reads site content aloud, and the ability to use voice commands to navigate pages.
The County of Humboldt’s website enhancements meet the latest Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 A and AA and those accessibility compliance requirements established under the Section 508 refresh of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). While city and county governments are not mandated to comply with the latest regulations of Section 508 of the ADA, Humboldt County’s leadership felt it was important to exceed the local government requirements to make its digital content accessible by all constituents.
“At the county, we strive to provide resources and services for the entire community, so making sure our content is accessible is a top priority,” said Michael Tjoelker, Web Accessibility Coordinator and Webmaster for the County of Humboldt. “There are members of our community with physical, mental, and/or technical differences who may be unable to access certain content; such as seeing images, hearing videos, or reading text. When digital content is accessible, it ensures there are multiple ways to access the same information, page structure is correct and logical, and navigation through all content is possible. Not only does this allow for accessible technologies, such as screen readers, to be able to successfully traverse through content, but also allows for a cleaner and more straight-forward layout that improves usability for everyone.”
As part of the County’s long-term commitment to accessibility, the County aims to continually monitor and enhance its digital content, and proactively make changes and improvements to its website.
“We plan to continue working with our web editors, our community, CivicPlus, and AudioEye to locate and remediate accessibility issues,” said Tjoelker. “We are also continuing automated accessibility checks, weekly reports on new issues that are found, and staying up-to-date with the newest Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.”
About CivicPlus
CivicPlus is the integrated technology platform for local government, working with over 2,500 local governments including municipalities, counties, and municipal departments. CivicPlus has been selected by Inc. Magazine as “One of the Fastest-Growing Privately Held Companies in the U.S.” since 2011. For more information visit CivicPlus.com.
About AudioEye, Inc.
AudioEye’s software enables every enterprise, from corporations to government agencies, to make their content more consumable through technology. More accessible. More usable. More people. AudioEye’s common stock trades on the OTCQB under the symbol “AEYE.” The Company maintains offices in Tucson, Atlanta, and Washington D.C. For more information about AudioEye and its online accessibility solutions, please visit https://www.audioeye.com.