OPC-DC Accessibility Policy

The OPC-dc.gov website is committed to meeting District of Columbia and federal government standards for making web content and applications usable for persons with disabilities.

“Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Standards” were established by the Federal Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board to fulfill the mandate of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1998. Section 508 requires that all federal government agencies provide access to electronic information and data for persons with disabilities that is comparable to the access provided to other persons, unless doing so would impose an undue burden on the agency.
Some of the key requirements are as follows:

• Text will be provided for graphic elements.
• Web pages will be designed so that all information conveyed with color is also available in black and white format.
• Online electronic forms will allow people using assistive technology to access the information, field elements, and functions required to complete and submit the forms.

If you use assistive technology, such as a screen reader, eye tracking device, voice recognition software, etc., and have difficulty accessing information on our site, OPC-dc.gov  please share the link (or web address) of the material you tried to access, the problem you experienced, and your contact information. We can then coordinate a response to provide the information you are trying to access.

The Office of the People’s Counsel is committed to upgrading OPC-DC.gov on an ongoing basis to be more citizen-centric. Our goal is to improve the site on a continuing basis using emerging technologies to keep it as accessible and user-friendly as possible as we strive to meet the needs of District residents. We are dedicated to working with users with special needs and differing abilities to review, share feedback, and implement changes to improve accessibility.

Should you have questions or suggestions related to our website, please contact us.

OPC Accessibility Statement

This is an accessibility statement from The Office of the People’s Counsel.

Measures to support accessibility

The Office of the People’s Counsel takes the following measures to ensure accessibility of OPC:

• Appoint an accessibility officer and/or ombudsperson.
• Employ formal accessibility quality assurance methods.

Conformance status

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) defines requirements for designers and
developers to improve accessibility for people with disabilities. It defines three levels of
conformance: Level A, Level AA, and Level AAA. OPC is partially conformant with WCAG 2.1
level AA. Partially conformant means that some parts of the content do not fully conform to the
accessibility standard.

Feedback

We welcome your feedback on the accessibility of OPC. Please let us know if you encounter
accessibility barriers on OPC:

• Phone: Ms. Rakisha Philson, ADA Coordinator 202-727-3071 ext. 221
• E-mail: rphilson@opc-dc.gov
• Postal Address: 655 15th Street NW Suite 200 Washington, DC 20005-5701

We try to respond to feedback within Initial response to inquiries will be within 24-48 hours of
contact.

Compatibility with browsers and assistive technology

OPC is designed to be compatible with the following assistive technologies:

• Chrome with JAWS on Windows
• Firefox with NVDA on Windows
• Safari with VoiceOver on Mac
• OPC is not compatible with:

Mobile operating systems older than 5 years

Technical specifications

Accessibility of OPC relies on the following technologies to work with the particular combination
of web browser and any assistive technologies or plugins installed on your computer:

• HTML
• CSS
• JavaScript
• PHP
• Jquery
• Ajax
• Database: SQL

These technologies are relied upon for conformance with the accessibility standards used.

Limitations and alternatives

Despite our best efforts to ensure accessibility of OPC, there may be some limitations. Below is
a description of known limitations, and potential solutions. Please contact us if you observe an
issue not listed below.

Known limitations for OPC:

1. Navigation with screen readers and keyboards: Navigation may sometimes have
   skipping issues because currently our website is using AccesiBe as a compliment, this
   tools has been known to sometimes interfere with screen reader navigation. We are
   evaluating the use of this tool on our website either to integrate it better or remove it. If
   you fins this issue please contact our ADA coordinator.
2. PDFs and Word Documents available for download: Not all documents are currently accessible because of the volume of the legacy documents that still exist on our website. Due to the volume of the documents OPC is remediating through phases, the most frequently downloaded documents first. If you require a document that has yet to be remediated please contact our ADA coordinator and they will prioritize that document for remediation.

Assessment approach

The Office of the People’s Counsel assessed the accessibility of OPC by the following
approaches:

• External evaluation
• A formal quality assurance process throughout the design and development process
• Yearly monitoring of our content

Formal complaints

In case of any complaints, you can contact Ms. Rakisha Philson, ADA Coordinator

202-727-3071 ext. 221

rphilson@opc-dc.gov

Date

This statement was created on 5 August 2025