USVI Will Miss April 26 Federal Website Accessibility Deadline, BIT Warns of Legal Risks

With less than 20 days remaining before a federal accessibility deadline, the V.I. Bureau of Information Technology told lawmakers Wednesday that it is making steady progress toward bringing government websites into compliance with disability-access standards, even as officials acknowledge the territory will not meet the April 26 target and could still face legal exposure if public-facing systems remain out of compliance. BIT Director Rupert Ross updated the Senate Committee on Housing, Transportation and Telecommunications on the government’s efforts to comply with a U.S. Department of Justice mandate requiring more accessible websites. He explained that the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, or WCAG, are a “set of simple rules to make websites easier for everyone to use, including people with disabilities.” Ross said there are different levels of accessibility within the WCAG framework, and that BIT is working toward Version 2.1 Level AA. He said the effort is focused on “ensuri...