Accessibility
An accessible City website
The City of Tontitown is committed to making its website usable by everyone, including residents who use screen readers, keyboard navigation, magnification, or other assistive technology.
Our standard
This site is designed to conform to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1, Level AA, the standard referenced by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Title II for state and local government. Under the U.S. Department of Justice's 2024 Title II rule, a city of Tontitown's size (under 50,000 residents) has until April 26, 2028, to bring its web content into WCAG 2.1 AA conformance, and the ADA's general access obligations apply today. Accessibility is built into the design from the start, not added afterward.
What this concept already corrects
Before designing anything, Stoa reviewed the City's current website at tontitown.com. It already does several things right. A few specific items would fail a WCAG 2.1 AA check, and this concept fixes them. The point is to show the standard in practice, not just describe it.
| Item on the current site | WCAG | In this redesign |
|---|---|---|
The water-bill payment image (the SOFTePAY graphic, epay.jpg) has no alternative text, so a screen reader cannot tell a resident it leads to bill payment. Before |
1.1.1 Non-text Content | The same action is a clearly labeled link, “Pay your water bill”, announced correctly to assistive technology. Fixed |
| The homepage uses four top-level (H1) headings, one of them empty, which breaks the page outline assistive technology relies on. Before | 1.3.1 / 2.4.6 | Every page has exactly one H1 and a logical, nested heading order you can navigate by landmark. Fixed |
| Some published content and figures have gone stale (pages still dating from 2018). Before | Editorial quality | A maintenance plan keeps agendas, minutes, notices, and figures current so residents see trustworthy information. Planned |
What the current site already gets right
Credit where it is due: tontitown.com already ships a viewport meta tag, a declared page language, a “skip to content” link, and ARIA attributes in use. This concept keeps all of that and extends it consistently across every page.
How we test
- Automated scans with axe, Pa11y, and Lighthouse on every page template.
- Keyboard-only navigation, confirming every link, menu, and form works without a mouse and that focus is always visible.
- Screen-reader review (VoiceOver and NVDA) of headings, landmarks, labels, and reading order.
- Color-contrast checks against the WCAG 2.1 AA ratios for text and interface elements.
- Posted documents. Agendas, minutes, and PDFs are checked for accessible structure, not just the web pages around them.
Report a barrier
If you run into a page or document you cannot use, please tell the City so it can be fixed and an accessible version provided. Reach City Hall at (479) 361-2700 or through the contact page. Please include the page address and a short description of the problem.
This statement is part of a redesign concept prepared by Stoa. On a live City site, it would name the City's accessibility coordinator and the City's formal grievance procedure under ADA Title II.