As counties prepare to meet federal digital accessibility requirements, the documents they post online are part of that work. The U.S. Department of Justice’s ADA Title II rule requires state and local government web content and mobile apps to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA, subject to certain exceptions. The compliance deadline is April 26, 2027, for counties with populations of 50,000 or more, and April 26, 2028, for counties with populations below 50,000.
To support counties’ work toward compliance, CTAS is now offering Creating Accessible Public PDFs: A Practical Guide for County Government, a free, self-paced online course. This course focuses on one part of the broader accessibility effort: making everyday documents, such as meeting agendas, public notices, forms, and reports, easier for people with disabilities to use.
Designed for county officials and employees, the course introduces practical steps for preparing accessible Word documents, working with scans, exporting PDFs, and checking finished files. Participants will learn about headings, descriptive links, image descriptions, readable text, and tables, along with ways to recognize and address common accessibility problems found in PDFs.
After completing the course, participants can download a PDF accessibility checklist, a Word quick reference, a troubleshooting guide, and a PDF software guide to refer to when creating and reviewing documents.
The course offers 1 COCTP Choice Elective credit. Register in k@te by searching for Creating Accessible Public PDFs.