Optimizing your ClearGov Budget with ADA Compliance 

ClearGov takes pride in the inherent ADA optimization of our software features. This article discusses how to optimize your ADA compliance using ClearGov features across the various modules.

To learn more about ClearGov’s ADA Compliance see our blog article: ClearGov Platform Upgrades to Meet New Federal Guidelines for Digital ADA Compliance. 

Alt Text in ClearGov 

To add Alt Text to images in your Digital Budget Book and Transparency pages, select the Click Here to Add Image link or Edit pencil icon. Then, set your Alt Text in the text box provided. Remember to be descriptive but try to keep it relatively short (less than 125 characters).

Description items to include in Alt Text:

• The subject in detail
• The setting
• The actions or interactions
• Other relevant information 

Properly Nested HTML 

By using ClearGov, this just naturally happens. We programmed it that way, so you have nothing to worry about!

Descriptive Links

In your Digital Budget Book, you can hyperlink a URL in your budget book to a website. Remember it's better to use a descriptive link like The History of Cleartown instead of Click Here since it will indicate the user expects to navigate to!

• Select the hyperlink icon in the Text Editor tools bar. 
• Type in Display Text and type or copy and paste the URL in the URL textbox. 

Color Contrast 

Chart and Font Colors can be customized in your Digital Budget Book by selecting the Settings tab and then scrolling down to Manage Styles to select the color box you wish to change. You can use the eye dropper, RGB, Hex #, or HSL to locate the color you would like to use. 

All this makes it simple to manage color formatting in your budget book. But it is still key that you run your colors through an ADA Color Contrast software to make sure your color choices are readable/viewable! Here's the great news: most search engines on the internet have lots of ADA Color Contrast site options. In our example, we used Accessible Web's contrast checker which tells you if the color will pass or fail and why. 

Adaptability 

Since changing formats should not lose information or structure of your content, there are a few simple tips to aid with adaptability in your budget book: 

• Tables inserted into a text editor can have the width set at 100%. This will allow the table to display correctly without breaking up the table in PDF format. 
• Pay attention to Spreadsheet Breakdowns as more than 7 columns may not display correctly! 
  • Do they use more than 7 columns? Maybe remove a column. 
  • Could you take away decimals or change fonts to display more columns?

Additional Default Features That Make ClearGov Compliant

ClearGov’s public-facing communication tools are now ADA-compliant out-of-the-box.

These solutions were designed to help local governments make their content accessible to all citizens through an easy-to-use, web-based interface that provides the familiar experience of navigating a website — and it is optimized to deliver that experience for users with disabilities.

Some of our built-in accessibility features include:

• All page elements are keyboard accessible for users who cannot use a mouse

• Keyboard navigation is supported within pages and between pages

• Page content includes text labels for screen-reader technology

• Auto-generated charts and icons have labels for screen readers.

• And many more!