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Accessibility Statement

Our commitment to an inclusive digital experience

Our Commitment

The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office is committed to ensuring that our website is accessible to all visitors, including people with disabilities. We strive to meet or exceed the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA standards, and we comply with Colorado HB21-1110 (as amended by SB23-244) regarding technology accessibility for state and local government entities.

Accessibility Features

This website includes the following accessibility features:

Navigation & Interaction

  • Skip-to-content link — Bypass navigation and jump directly to page content using the keyboard
  • Full keyboard navigation — All interactive elements are operable via keyboard, including dropdown menus (arrow keys, Escape to close), search palette (arrow keys to navigate results, Enter to select), forms, dialogs, and video controls (Enter/Space to play/pause)
  • Focus management — Visible focus indicators on all interactive elements; dialog lightboxes trap and restore focus correctly

Visual Accessibility

  • Color vision modes — Built-in accessibility toolbar with deuteranopia (red-green), protanopia (red-blind), and tritanopia (blue-yellow) compensation filters
  • Adjustable text size — Four text size options (Small, Default, Large, Extra Large) through the accessibility toolbar, with preferences saved across visits
  • Dark mode — Full dark color scheme that respects your system preference and can be toggled manually
  • Color contrast — Text and interactive elements designed to meet WCAG AA contrast ratios (4.5:1 for normal text, 3:1 for large text)

Screen Reader Support

  • Semantic HTML — Proper heading hierarchy, landmark regions (main, nav, footer), and semantic elements throughout the site
  • ARIA labels and roles — Descriptive labels on all interactive elements, including search, navigation menus, form fields, map controls, and media players
  • Live regions — Alert banners, search results, and map layer changes announce updates to screen readers in real time
  • Descriptive alt text — All informative images include alternative text; decorative images are properly hidden from assistive technology

Video & Media

  • Video captions — Videos uploaded to our platform include auto-generated closed captions that can be reviewed and edited for accuracy
  • Reduced motion support — Background videos automatically pause when your system is set to prefer reduced motion
  • Mobile video opt-in — On mobile devices, background video does not autoplay; a play button lets you choose to start playback
  • Play/pause controls — All background videos include a visible play/pause button accessible by keyboard and screen readers

Social Media Content

  • Accessible tweet cards — Posts from our X (Twitter) account are rendered as fully accessible native HTML cards with proper ARIA labels, keyboard navigation, screen reader support, and linked engagement metrics — not embedded iframes
  • Tweet video captions — Select tweet videos are uploaded to our captioning platform with auto-generated closed captions; a "CC" badge indicates captioned videos
  • Image lightboxes — Tweet images open in accessible dialog lightboxes with keyboard support, focus trapping, and descriptive alt text

Forms

  • Labeled fields — All form inputs are associated with visible labels using proper HTML semantics
  • Error messages — Validation errors are linked to their respective fields via aria-describedby and announced to screen readers with role="alert"
  • Success/failure announcements — Form submission outcomes are announced via ARIA live regions

Maps

  • Map regions — Interactive maps are identified as map regions with descriptive labels for screen readers
  • Layer controls — Map layer toggles include accessible labels, help text, and live announcements when layers change

Language Support

  • Bilingual interface — Site navigation and interface elements are available in English and Spanish, with a language switcher in the footer

Colorado HB21-1110 Compliance

In accordance with Colorado HB21-1110 (effective July 1, 2024, as amended by SB23-244), we are committed to ensuring our digital content is accessible to individuals with disabilities. Our compliance approach includes:

  • Conformance with WCAG 2.1 Level AA standards for all public-facing web content
  • Providing accessible alternatives when content cannot be made fully conformant
  • Reasonable accommodations for individuals who encounter barriers
  • Ongoing monitoring and annual progress toward full accessibility

Auxiliary Aids & Services

The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office provides appropriate auxiliary aids and services for effective communication with qualified individuals with disabilities. These may include qualified sign language interpreters, documents in Braille, and other accommodations. We request a minimum of 48 hours advance notice to arrange auxiliary aids or services.

No surcharges are imposed on individuals or groups with disabilities for auxiliary aids, services, or reasonable modifications.

Service Animals

Individuals with service animals are welcomed in Jefferson County Sheriff's Office facilities, even where pets are generally prohibited.

Known Limitations

While we work to ensure comprehensive accessibility, some areas may have limitations:

  • Third-party map controls — Interactive maps use the ArcGIS SDK, which may have limitations in keyboard navigation of map pan/zoom controls beyond what we can configure. We provide labeled layer toggles and descriptive regions to supplement native map controls.
  • Animated GIFs from social media — Some tweet GIFs sourced from X (Twitter) may lack captions or descriptive alt text when the original poster did not provide them.

We are actively working to identify and resolve accessibility issues. If you encounter a barrier, please contact us using the methods below.

ADA Contact & Grievance Procedure

For ADA questions or concerns, or to submit a grievance, contact the Sheriff's Office ADA Coordinator:

We acknowledge accommodation requests within 15 calendar days of receipt and complete investigations within 90 calendar days.

For TTY/Voice assistance, contact the Federal Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339.

Feedback

We welcome your feedback on the accessibility of this website. If you have suggestions for improvement, please submit website feedback or contact the ADA Coordinator using the methods listed above.

Annual Progress

We conduct regular accessibility reviews and are committed to continuous improvement. Our accessibility efforts include automated testing, manual audits, and user feedback to identify and prioritize improvements.