Quarterly Accessibility Program Status Update, October 2025

Executive Summary

This quarter, SIPA focused heavily on the accessibility of the annual user conference, with this year’s conference setting the bar for all future events. Both physical and digital accessibility were highly prioritized for both presenters and attendees. 

Progress on the Colorado.gov CMS platform was slower this quarter, as Tyler Technologies focused primarily on environment upgrades, security updates, and Drupal core updates. However, one accessibility release was made in October, successfully addressing a total of nine platform issues.

SIPA created a user group for state website administrators who implement custom code solutions to address accessibility issues on their websites. The purpose of this group is to provide guidance around best practices while also providing informational updates about CMS development to state employees and a discussion space for advanced technical topics around web development and accessibility.

At SIPA’s request, Tyler Technologies has created an automated accessibility issue tracking dashboard for the Colorado.gov CMS platform that will ultimately replace the static quarterly reports currently being delivered. The goal of this change is to deliver more timely and useful information that provides additional visibility into the software development lifecycle.

SIPA User Conference

The 2025 SIPA user conference was the most accessible yet. The selected location of Empower Field at Mile High was chosen due to a generally high level of physical accessibility, including ramps outside the facility, conveniently located elevators, accessible restrooms, and a variety of seating options. During registration, attendees were asked about their need for accommodations around physical accessibility, such as ramps or mobility scooters, and SIPA's digital accessibility specialist followed-up with all respondents who requested accessible accommodations.

SIPA made strong efforts to ensure that the digital accessibility of the conference met high standards. The permanently installed A/V configuration allowed for offered excellent visibility in the main presentation area, and there were multiple screens throughout the venue for viewing presentation slides, regardless of where the attendees were seated. The SIPA website and conference app also provided direct links to the presentation slides to allow for viewing by attendees on mobile devices. All presentation slides were remediated for accessibility (WCAG 2.2 AA) and published on the web prior to the start of the conference. During the registration process, attendees were provided an opportunity to request sign language interpreters or live captioning services.

Prior to the conference, SIPA provided presenters with guidance on actions they could take to make their presentations more accessible. This guidance included topics such as font sizes, color contrast, providing live audio descriptions, and taking audience questions. SIPA staff were also on hand to provide microphones to audience members asking questions in some sessions.

SIPA also worked with our partners at the OIT TAP Team to offer Aira service free of charge to attendees at the location, which connects non-sighted visitors with a person who can access the camera on their mobile device and communicate with them about their physical surroundings.

Evaluation and Remediation

Colorado.gov CMS Platform

Tyler Technologies resolved a total of nine accessibility issues on the CMS platform this quarter that affect all platform users. Three issues affecting single websites were resolved, and one issue was deployed but will require re-work. Tyler Technologies' primary focus this quarter was on environment upgrades, security updates, and Drupal core updates, thereby resulting in an overall lower number of issues resolved.

SIPA investigated the implementation of CommonLook's Clarity API, which attempts to evaluate PDF accessibility at the time of upload. However, it was determined that implementation would require a custom Drupal module to be developed, which was determined to not be an effective use of resources at this time.

Engagement Builder (AccessGov)

SIPA recently conducted a detailed accessibility review of the public frontend of Engagement Builder. Manual testing using JAWS, NVDA, and DevTools resulted in 15 issues being identified and submitted to Tyler Technologies for remediation. This is significant because Engagement Builder is offered to government customers in various states across the country. Although SIPA cannot control what Tyler Technologies will do with these identified issues, every effort was made to propose reasonable fixes and provide information on how to test whether the issue was adequately addressed.

SIPA Website

A detailed review was conducted on all documents hosted on the SIPA website. As a result, 41 orphaned files were identified, evaluated, and deleted from the website.

The SIPA website continues to receive a Site Improve accessibility score of 100%. The SIPA website is audited for accessibility issues on a quarterly basis.

Employee Training

SIPA conducted one accessibility training session in Q3 focused on creating accessible emails using Gmail. The voluntary training lasted one hour and was attended by 65% of SIPA employees. Topics covered included: using alternative text in email, use of headings, lists, and tables, color contrast, link text, and clarity of communication.

SIPA's digital accessibility specialist met with newly hired employees to ensure their awareness of Colorado accessibility laws, assess skill levels, and to understand what types of training would be most beneficial.

Accessibility Program Policy and Compliance

SIPA's digital accessibility specialist presented an update to the SIPA board, recapping our accessibility efforts over the past year, describing services currently offered, and presenting an overview of the digital accessibility roadmap.

In collaboration with SIPA, Tyler Technologies has created an automated accessibility issue tracking dashboard for the Colorado.gov CMS platform that will hopefully provide more insight into the development and remediation process. This dynamic dashboard will eventually replace the static quarterly reports currently being delivered. SIPA will continue to work with Tyler Technologies to refine this dashboard and make it more useful.

In an effort to more effectively manage digital accessibility of informational resources created by contractors, SIPA met with OIT's rules administrator to better understand how Colorado accessibility rules apply to work products created by non-government entities on behalf of governments.

Community Development

SIPA has created an Asset Injector User Group for website administrators who use custom code solutions to remediate accessibility issues and implement custom layouts. This group serves to provide guidance around best practices, mitigate unsafe coding practices, and inform site administrators of forthcoming downstream changes. This group currently meets monthly and has members from several state agencies, including: OIT, DPA, DOR, DOLA, HCPF, and CPHS.

SIPA is currently working as a liaison between Tyler Technologies, Colorado Division of the Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and DeafBlind, and their contractor to implement several accessibility related changes on the division's website.

Procurement

The invitation to negotiate for content management system and application services was thoroughly reviewed for accessibility requirements by SIPA's digital accessibility specialist prior to publishing. Digital accessibility is included as a core requirement of the project. All pre-recorded zoom meeting videos are captioned before being published on the web.