Miami-Dade County citizens, businesses, visitors and employees utilize the web as an important resource for state information and services. People with visual, hearing, physical, cognitive, or neurological disabilities are unable to fully access the web.  In order for all persons to be able to fully access online information and services, it is necessary to incorporate guidelines for accessibility into web page design.

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has set both guidelines and techniques for creating accessible web pages through the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI). Further, the federal government has enforced this by creating federal law mandating adherence to the guidelines stipulated by W3C. For more information, see our section on Miami-Dade County's Adherence to Accessibility Guidelines.

The County has adopted the WC3 standard for web site accessibility. The County’s style guide has been tested for compliance with this standard to ensure accessibility of content by persons with disabilities.  GIC will periodically monitor and test the county web site to ensure compliance with this standard.

The County will use the ‘Bobby’ service to determine acceptable ratings for accessibility. This tool can be found at:  http://webxact.watchfire.com/. The County’s Office of ADA will be consulted with to review the County’s policy in this area, as well as to evaluate content on a periodic basis.

Federal US Section 508, Americans with Disabilities Act requires that Federal agencies' electronic and information technology is accessible to people with disabilities. The Center for Information Technology Accommodation (CITA), in the U.S. General Services Administration's Office of Government wide Policy, has been charged with the task of educating Federal employees and building the infrastructure necessary to support Section 508 implementation. Using the Federal Mandate, Federal employees and the public can access resources for understanding and implementing the requirements of Section 508.