TO: Board of Supervisors
FROM: Ryan J. Alsop, Chief Executive Officer
REPORT BY: Alfredo Larranaga, Risk and Safety Officer
SUBJECT: Digital Accessibility Compliance Software
RECOMMENDATION
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Approve and authorize Agreement No. 260063B with Allyant not to exceed $125,000 for a term of August 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026, and $60,000 annually for years two through five for digital accessibility compliance software. (Fiscal Impact: $125,000 Expense; General Fund; Budgeted; Discretionary)
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BACKGROUND
Two federal regulations are pushing entities to improve digital accessibility for those with disabilities. Both Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) regulate online communication platforms that offer public facing services. Staff with the County Executive’s office, County Counsel, Information Technology Services, and Human Resources assessed the County’s compliance status and researched options for improvement by the effective date of April 2026.
County Communications include a primary website, ancillary websites, and social media platforms. The third-party providers (CivicPlus, Instagram, etc) assure that their frameworks are compliant; however, county staff prepare all documents, images, and correspondence that are shared with the public on the sites. Compliance primarily requires labeling images, using minimum font sizes, and contrasting colors. Additionally, the County uses about fifty software programs to engage with constituents that are also subject to the regulations. Some program applications are built and maintained by third parties, and some are developed in-house.
Staff recommends the County contract with Allyant for four services for year one. The first service will scan the County’s communications platforms and identify instances of non-compliance. Staff will review the instances and request the contractor remediate priority documents, the second service. The third service is to acquire fifty licenses for a remediation tool, CommonLook, that will be assigned to users in the departments. Staff will remediate the non-priority documents in year one and documents going forward. The fourth service is providing training sessions to application and social media developers. The scope of work for years two through five maintains software and licenses and provides for complex remediation and staff training as needed. The agreement with Allyant is not to exceed $125,000 from August 1, 2025-June 30, 2026, $60,000 for year two, and option for three annual extensions not to exceed $60,000.
Recommended Action: Approve and authorize Agreement No. 260063B with Allyant.
FISCAL IMPACT
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Is there a Fiscal Impact? |
Yes |
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Is it currently budgeted? |
Yes |
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Where is it budgeted? |
General Fund - Central Services |
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Is it Mandatory or Discretionary? |
Discretionary |
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Discretionary Justification: |
Accessibility for all constituents is a priority. While federal regulations are pushing entities to improve digital accessibility for those with disabilities, the County is making strides to be in compliance before the effective date of April 2026. |
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Is the general fund affected? |
Yes |
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Future fiscal impact: |
Costs will continue to be budgeted and ITS will administer this software in future years. |
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Consequences if not approved: |
Documents and applications may limit accessibility for constituents with disabilities. |
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION: The proposed action is not a project as defined by 14 California Code of Regulations 15378 (State CEQA Guidelines) and therefore CEQA is not applicable.