Accessibility Checklist for Agency Leadership

Use this checklist to establish the leadership, accountability, and resources needed to make digital accessibility a routine part of agency operations.

Leadership and Accountability

• Designate clear responsibility for coordinating digital accessibility across the agency.
• Ensure accessibility responsibilities are understood by program, communications, technology, procurement, and leadership teams.
• Make accessibility part of agency expectations and decision-making, not an optional initiative.
• Establish a process for escalating significant accessibility risks.

Know Your Digital Environment

• Maintain visibility into the agency’s websites, applications, digital services, documents, and third-party products.
• Identify the digital services that are most critical to the public and employees.
• Understand where significant accessibility barriers and risks exist.
• Require owners for major digital services and accessibility remediation efforts.

Policies and Processes

• Integrate accessibility into project planning, design, development, procurement, content publishing, and quality assurance.
• Ensure agency processes align with applicable statewide accessibility standards and requirements.
• Require accessibility considerations for new digital initiatives and significant changes to existing services.
• Establish a consistent approach for documenting exceptions, risks, and remediation plans.

People and Resources

• Provide staff with role-appropriate accessibility training.
• Ensure teams have access to accessibility expertise, testing, and remediation support.
• Allocate sufficient time and resources to address accessibility as part of normal operations.
• Include accessibility responsibilities in appropriate roles and performance expectations.

Procurement and Vendors

• Require accessibility to be evaluated when purchasing or renewing digital products and services.
• Ensure vendor accessibility documentation and known gaps are reviewed before decisions are made.
• Require vendors to address significant accessibility barriers and document remediation commitments.
• Hold vendors accountable for maintaining accessibility as products change.

Measure and Review Progress

• Review accessibility progress, risks, and unresolved barriers periodically.
• Use meaningful measures such as remediation progress, critical barriers, testing coverage, and process adoption rather than relying only on automated scores.
• Ensure high-impact accessibility issues have owners and target dates.
• Support continuous improvement so accessibility becomes part of how the agency delivers digital government.

Accessibility is a shared responsibility. Use this checklist as a practical starting point and seek additional accessibility expertise when needed.