Accessibility

For rural communities, broadband expansion is no single thing

Small communities trying to take advantage of massive federal funding now available for broadband expansion deal with multiple hurdles. Resistance from major providers is just one of them.

  • By Ilana Newman, The Daily Yonder

How generative AI is being used to put the humanity back into government

Non-English speaking residents of Minnesota can more easily access driver and vehicle services thanks to a new generative AI-based virtual assistant that automatically translates English into Hmong, Spanish and Somali.

  • By Stephanie Kanowitz

CODE PA to design simple, seamless, secure digital services

The Commonwealth Office of Digital Experience, Pennsylvania's new customer experience shop, will build and deliver accessible, equitable and effective online services.

  • By Kaitlyn Levinson

Short, sweet, simple: Tips for effective government communications

When it comes to communicating vital information to residents, a “clarity before clever” strategy works best, one expert says.

  • By Kaitlyn Levinson

How Do Benefits Enrollment Sites Stack Up?

Civic tech organization Code for America analyzed state social services websites for customer experience. A few states stood out.

  • By Kaitlyn Levinson

How do your benefits enrollment sites measure up?

Civic tech organization Code for America analyzed state social services websites for customer experience. A few states stood out.

  • By Kaitlyn Levinson

Government still wrestles with digital equity, accessibility

Agencies struggle to provide services for individuals with limited English, digital literacy issues and unreliable broadband or online access, a recent survey found.

  • By Stephanie Kanowitz

How to build future-facing ERP

Thoroughly understanding the limitations of the legacy platform and mapping out the business case for replacing an enterprise resource planning system will help agencies build for the future instead of reconstructing the past.

  • By Stephanie Kanowitz

Digitized ID eases re-entry for formerly incarcerated

To streamline the re-entry process for released inmates, the Maryland Re-Entry Passport program launched an online portal that stores digitized copies of personal documents.

  • By Kaitlyn Levinson

Broadband maps for Indian Country called ‘horrible,’ ‘egregious’ and ‘negligent’

Tribal advocates say the FCC’s maps are symbolic of wider, systemic issues, but help may be on the way via a new Virtual Tribal Broadband Office.

  • By Chris Teale

Language accessibility a growing priority for cities

City websites using machine translations still look to humans to ensure accuracy.

  • By Kaitlyn Levinson

Online access, data improvements essential for 2030 census, cities say

In a letter to the Census Bureau, the National League of Cities detailed common hurdles local governments faced during the 2020 census — and suggestions for improvements.

  • By Kaitlyn Levinson
Featured eBooks
Road and Transit Infrastructure Trends
Federal Recovery Funds at the State and Local Level
Infrastructure at a Turning Point

Voxlens makes interactive data more accessible for screen readers

With one additional line of code, visualization designers can allow people who use screen readers to interact with charts and graphs.

  • By Sarah McQuate, Futurity

Code for America Unveils First States in Safety Net Cohort

The nonprofit aims to help states build digital tools and services to connect people with health, food assistance and other benefits programs. 

  • By Stephanie Kanowitz

Code for America unveils first states in Safety Net Innovation Lab cohort

The nonprofit’s lab aims to help states build digital tools and services to connect people with health, food assistance and other benefits programs. 

  • By Stephanie Kanowitz

Now Available at the Local Library: Basketballs, Air Fryers and Taxidermied Animals

Libraries across the country are diversifying their collections with objects, a growing trend known as the “Library of Things” that aims to help residents learn in new and different ways.

  • By Kate Elizabeth Queram

Cracking Down on Fake Service Dogs

Twenty-eight states have passed laws penalizing people for misrepresenting their pets as service dogs, with two more considering legislation this spring.

  • By Kate Elizabeth Queram

New York's Online Voter Registration Will Become Accessible to Blind Voters

Websites for the board of elections and DMV must be accessible by the end of the year under the terms of a lawsuit settlement.

  • By Kate Elizabeth Queram

Forget Smart Cities. It’s Regions That Need to Be Smarter.

Widespread digital access and comprehensive infrastructure inventories will be the keys to regional success, according to Brookings policy experts.

  • By Dave Nyczepir

Cities Aren’t Built for Parents

The death of a young mother who fell in a New York City subway station has drawn scrutiny to the inaccessibility of public-transit systems.

  • By Alia Wong, The Atlantic

Rural People With Disabilities Are Still Struggling to Recover from the Recession

Not everybody has found employment even as the U.S. economy as a whole added jobs.

  • By Lillie Greiman, Andrew Myers, Bryce Ward and Catherine Ipsen, The Conversation