Kanabec County Community Health is committed to ensuring digital accessibility for people with disabilities. We are continually improving the user experience for everyone, and applying the relevant accessibility standards.
Policy: A-120
Approved: 12/18/2019
Effective: 12/18/2019
Supersedes (eff): n/a (NEW)
Kanabec County Web Accessibility Policy
I. POLICY STATEMENT
Kanabec County will ensure, whenever possible, that all Electronic and Information Technology “EIT” products and services it develops, maintains, or uses are accessible to individuals with disabilities by complying with the U.S. Access Board’s Section 508 EIT Accessibility Standards (36 C.F.R. pt 1194) (https://www.section508.gov/), unless it is an undue burden to do so. If accessibility would constitute an undue burden, the information and data shall be provided by an alternate method or format within a reasonable time [typically 1-3 business days] after a request is made. Some information such as maps and aerial photographs are inherently considered to be an undue burden and cannot be made Section 508 compliant. In addition, data classified as private or non-pubic or confidential or protected non-public is also not required to be made Section 508 compliant.
II. POLICY GUIDELINES
120.1 This policy does not apply to documents created before January 1, 2020.
120.2 Section 508 conformance and accessibility is a responsibility of all employees. Also contractors or potential contractors providing information to the County are responsible to ensure that their data will be available in Section 508 compatible format.
120.3 Individuals who experience an accessibility problem with Kanabec County’s website, are encouraged to notify the Kanabec County Website Accessibility Coordinator by clicking on this link. If information is needed in alternate formats, the Website Accessibility Coordinator may be able to assist in obtaining the alternate format. If individuals have problems or general questions about the accessibility policy, use this email link to contact the Website Accessibility Coordinator.
III. ASSOCIATED LAWS AND REGULATIONS
This policy is based upon requirements set forth in Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794d), as amended by the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (Public Law 105-220) and Minnesota Statutes Section 363A.42, as subsequently amended and interpreted, which apply to federal, state and local government entities to ensure that any EIT they develop, procure, use or maintain is accessible to both (1) government employees and (2) members of the public with disabilities.
In addition, Minnesota law states that the “records” the County is obligated to make Section 508 compliant are “any publically available information that is collected, created, received, maintained or disseminated…” by the County, “regardless of physical form or storage”. This is understood to include but is not limited to web pages, government documents in paper or electronic form, audio for which a transcript could be provided, and video which could be modified to contain closed captioning.
IV. RELATED INFORMATION
Any questions related to Section 508 conformance and compliance should be directed to the Website Accessibility Coordinator by clicking this link or by calling (320) 679-6440. With the guidance of the state’s compliance standards, Kanabec County is making progress toward our commitment. We continuously monitor pages and documents on the Kanabec County website and work toward making necessary modifications to remove accessibility obstacles.
Conformance status
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) defines requirements for designers and developers to improve accessibility for people with disabilities. It defines three levels of conformance: Level A, Level AA, and Level AAA. Kanabec County Community Health is partially conformant with WCAG 2.2 level AA. Partially conformant means that some parts of the content do not fully conform to the accessibility standard.