Website Accessibility
The City of Santa Barbara website, SantaBarbaraCA.gov, was designed and developed with accessibility as a leading priority:
- WCAG 2.1 Level “AA” compliance was a functional requirement for the 2022 website implementation.
- The City’s Access Advisory Committee’s recommendations led to the selection of our current content management system.
- Additional tools were put in place to both enhance user experience and to report on accessibility issues across City’s webpages.
Since launching our redesigned and accessible site in 2022, the City has continued a commitment to website accessibility. Staff are trained to enter accessible content and regular reports are sent to content editors through our accessibility remediation tool, SiteImprove, allowing staff to maintain compliance. Public user testing has been utilized to identify and fix accessibility issues not seen in automated reports. Information technology staff direct website development to ensure accessibility standards are upheld and will regularly track and report back on changes to standards. Members of the Access Advisory Committee are consulted when questions arise, or input is needed.
Our commitment to website accessibility ensures that the people we serve receive equal access to the many vital public services provided by the City of Santa Barbara.
Accessibility Features
- Simple and Consistent
Our web site uses simple information architecture with uniform navigation and reliable headings throughout. Content layout and graphical design are consistent on every page. - "Skip to:" Links
Skip to navigation links are accessed by tabbing into the page. These links allow the visitor to jump to the main navigation or the content area of the page by skipping the navigation and other banner elements, which repeat on every page. Links are provided to the Website Accessibility page (this page) and the Website Policies page from the footer of each page on the site. - Main Site Navigation and Sub-Navigation
The main navigation, located just below the title banner, and sub-navigation, usually located at the left column of the page content area, uses lists. Lists make it easier for screen readers to read down the list without having to sort through unnecessary code. Lists also allow the users to use the tab key to move from link to link. - Images with Alternative Text
Photographs and other relevant images on the site are accompanied by alternative text (the alt attribute of the HTML image tag). Alt tags provide a written description of the image, which is accessible to screen readers, and it is visible when the mouse is placed over the image. This is also useful for people who have images turned off on their browser, in which case a description will display where the image used to be. - Style Sheets
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) are used for content layout and many graphical elements (color, font styles, custom titles, and subtitles, etc.) Using CSS for styling keeps our HTML clean, streamlined, easier to maintain, and it downloads faster. Style sheets can be replaced by the user's own styles or overwritten by assistive applications, such as the UserWay Accessibility Widget
Continue reading the accordions below to learn more about the City's commitment to website accessibility.
