By Marissa Ventrelli | Colorado Politics
A 2021 law intended to improve accessibility to government documents for individuals with hearing and vision impairments has had unintended consequences — it prompted some agencies to completely remove public records from websites altogether in order to avoid non-compliance with the legislation.
House Bill 21-1110 required all state and local agencies to implement accessibility plans for their IT systems by July 1 of this year or face potential discrimination lawsuits and fines of up to $3,500. Following worries from agencies about their ability to meet the deadline, a 2024 bill extended the cutoff to July 1, 2025.
Under the law, to make documents accessible to individuals with vision and hearing impairments, agencies must remove the original files and replace them with accessible versions. These new versions must adhere to the most recent edition of web content accessibility guidelines. Common features of accessible web content include larger text, image descriptions, and compatibility with screen readers.