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Municipal Accessibility in Action: Building a Citywide Accessibility Culture from the Ground Up

Handouts

Presented at 4:15 pm in Colorado I-J on Thursday, November 20, 2025.

#41267

Speaker(s)

  • Jeff Fryer, Sr. Web & ADA Coordinator, Manitou Springs

Session Details

  • Length of Session: 1-hr
  • Format: Lecture
  • Expertise Level: Beginner
  • Type of session: General Conference

Summary

How does a small city build an accessible digital culture from the ground up — with limited budget, no full-time accessibility staff, and high expectations? This session shares practical, replicable strategies from Manitou Springs’ ADA and digital accessibility work, including document remediation, training staff, working with vendors, and building a transition plan that meets HB21-1110 and WCAG 2.2.

Abstract

How do small and mid-size municipalities meet rising digital accessibility expectations — with limited staff, small budgets, and no dedicated accessibility team?

This session offers a candid look at how the City of Manitou Springs, Colorado is navigating compliance with WCAG 2.2, ADA Title II, and Colorado’s HB21-1110. You’ll learn how one city used collaboration, strategic partnerships, and creative problem-solving to build a citywide accessibility culture from scratch.

Topics include:

  • Building an internal remediation process without burning out staff
  • Launching a digital accessibility training strategy tailored to non-technical teams
  • Working with vendors to collect ACRs/VPATs and ensure ICT accessibility
  • Leveraging free tools and SIPA microgrants to build sustainable workflows
  • Using SharePoint and dashboards to track compliance across departments
  • Creating practical accessibility policies that departments actually follow

Whether you're a one-person team or advising your city on policy, this session delivers actionable takeaways, tools, and examples that meet staff where they are — and push accessibility forward. The speaker will also share lessons learned, document templates, and insight from his doctoral research on accessibility and smart cities.

Audience: Ideal for city/county IT, ADA Coordinators, web professionals, higher ed teams working with public partners, and accessibility advocates supporting local government.

Keypoints

  1. Small cities can lead in accessibility by embedding digital inclusion into everyday operations.
  2. Building accessibility workflows doesn’t require big budgets — just strong internal alignment.
  3. State laws like HB21-1110 give local governments both a mandate and a roadmap for action.

Disability Areas

All Areas, Cognitive/Learning, Deaf/Hard of Hearing, Mobility, Psychological, Vision

Topic Areas

Accessibility and Accommodation in the Current Political/Legal Environment, Legal, Other, Procurement, Uncategorized, Web/Media/App Access

Speaker Bio(s)

Jeff Fryer

Jeff Fryer is the Senior Web & ADA Coordinator for the City of Manitou Springs, Colorado, and a doctoral student researching accessibility and smart cities. He leads the city’s digital accessibility efforts, coordinating compliance with HB21-1110, Title II of the ADA, and WCAG 2.2. Jeff is developing Manitou’s first Digital Accessibility Transition Plan, managing vendor compliance, and fostering internal accessibility culture through training and inclusive design practices. His work bridges policy and practice, and his doctoral research explores how municipal governments can integrate accessibility into the fabric of emerging smart city technologies.

Handout(s)