Web Accessibility Policy (Implementation Date 1/1/2007)

The City of Shreveport website provides citizens, visitors and businesses a host of services including: information about the City of Shreveport and the services it provides, access to services such as online Water Bill payments, links to other websites that provide relevant information, etc.  Our website is important because it increases convenience and speed in obtaining information or services about the City of Shreveport, it allows services to be offered in a more dynamic, interactive way and reduces costs in providing services and information about city services. Acknowledging this, The City of Shreveport is committed to ensuring equal access to information for all citizens, visitors and businesses.  This policy establishes minimum standards for the accessibility of web based information and services considered necessary to meet this goal and ensure compliance with applicable state and federal regulations.

Official Web Pages and associated web based services developed and hosted by the City of Shreveport. Links to external web pages that are not published or hosted by the City of Shreveport and do not conduct City of Shreveport related business are encouraged to adopt the City's policy and standards but fall outside the jurisdiction of this policy.

All new and redesigned Web pages published by any City of Shreveport department after 1/1/2007 must be in compliance with the City of Shreveport's 2007 Minimum Web Accessibility Standards (MWAS). Web pages published prior to 1/1/2007 are considered Legacy Pages. Legacy pages are subject to the guidelines for legacy pages provided for in this policy.

As of 1/1/2007 each City of Shreveport web page, including Legacy Pages, must indicate, in plain text, a method of contact for users having trouble accessing content within the site.  The contact information would usually be an e-mail and/or phone number that puts the user in touch with someone responsible for the content and function of the page.

Upon a specific request for access by an individual with a disability, legacy pages must be updated to be in compliance with the City of Shreveport's 2007 MWAS or the content of must otherwise be made available to any individual requesting access in a timely manner (timeliness should be considered in the context of the type of information or service a page provides and generally considered to be within 10 business days.)

Upon specific request for access, websites and pages in archive status (e.g. no longer in use but subject to records retention policies) containing official records or similar information must be made available/accessible to any individual eligible for and needing access to such web content, by revision or otherwise.

Priority must be given to creating accessible web pages that provide a service or benefit from information provided and to web pages that are accessed frequently.

1. All new and redesigned Web pages published by any City of Shreveport department after 1/1/2007.
2. Pages that individuals must access in a limited time frame in order to effectively participate in a program, to utilize a service or benefit from information offered by the City of Shreveport.
3. Annually convert the top 15% percent of the pages (based on frequency of hits among pages managed by any department) to meet the current (1/1/2007) standards.
4. Remaining Legacy Pages.

1. Web pages, including those in legacy or archive status, that are specifically requested to be made accessible as an accommodation for an individual with a disability shall be made accessible or an equally effective alternative shall be provided within a reasonable time period. For information based pages equally effective means that it communicates the same information with a comparable level of accuracy. For interactive or service pages equally effective means that the end results (e.g. online payment registration) is accomplished in a comparable time and with comparable effort on the part of the requestor.
2. Web sites and pages that are no longer actively linked to but are subject to records retention policies are considered to be in archive status and do not have to be converted to the 1/1/2007 standard unless specifically requested by an individual.
3. Where compliance is not technically possible or may require extraordinary measures due to the nature of the information and the intent of the web page, exceptions to this policy may be granted by the ADA Coordinator's Office. Request for such exceptions must be made in writing and must be based on issues other than cost alone.

   
   

A status report summarizing the progress towards fully accessible web space (as defined by the 1/1/2007 standard) over the past year and targets for the upcoming year shall be submitted to the ADA Coordinator's Office annually.

The ADA Coordinator's Office will initiate a review and necessary revisions of this policy and associated standards annually. The review group will include designees from the Data Processing Division, an Organization such as the Louisiana Association for the Blind and the office currently responsible for managing the City of Shreveport 's "front page" (http://www.ci.shreveport.la.us ).