RESOURCE COLLECTION
Digital Accessibility and Inclusion Standard
The Digital Accessibility and Inclusion Standard sets citywide standards for digital content to ensure equitable access to City services and information.
The City and County of San Francisco is dedicated to serving all San Franciscans. We need to give equitable access to all of our digital services and web content. We must consider the need of San Franciscans, City staff, and anyone doing business with the City.
Purpose and scope
This standard explains what you need to do to make your web content and services accessible. We need to design and build services and content that everyone can access and understand.
These standards apply to public facing websites, online applications, and digital content primarily intended for use by City residents and visitors. They apply to:
- Everything online run by or for the City and County of San Francisco, its departments, and commissions
- Digital content created by elected officials, employees, consultants, and vendors.
Standard requirements
All new City and County of San Francisco websites, online applications, and digital content are required to:
- Follow San Francisco's equitable design requirements and Level AA of the most recent Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.
- Provide vital information for the public at a 5th grade level. In cases where technical or legal language is necessary, you must provide a summary at 5th grade level. Vital information is defined by the City's Language Access Ordinance. See Definitions section for more details.
- Provide human translation of vital information in the threshold languages defined by the Language Access Ordinance. This includes clear navigation to translations. Currently these languages are English, Chinese (Traditional Chinese), Spanish, and Filipino. Translation for other relevant languages is encouraged.
All existing content must follow this standard by May 2024. See Timeline section for details.
All City digital content must comply with all City, State, and Federal laws and regulations, and with all state and federal Constitutional guarantees, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, and the San Francisco Language Ordinance.