Create an agency accessibility charter

Agree who owns access, who funds improvements, and where unresolved barriers go.

Starter draft for review. Use as a conversation or planning aid.

Use this at a leadership meeting

Choose one service or agency unit. Bring the executive sponsor, service owner, ADA or Section 508 coordinator, and representatives of delivery, procurement, and publishing. Include disabled people in defining the service experience and support their participation.

A one-page charter to complete together

Purpose: People can find, understand, and complete [service or task].
Scope: List the web pages, applications, documents, vendor systems, and support channels included; record what is outside this first phase.
Decision owner: Name the person accountable for the service and the sponsor who can resolve cross-team priorities.
Working expectations: Record where accessibility is considered in planning, purchasing, publishing, acceptance, and ongoing improvement.
Support: Identify time, training, specialist review, and funding needed by the people doing the work.
Review: Choose a recurring leadership meeting, evidence owner, and next review date.

Suggested responsibilities

Executive sponsor: resolve competing priorities and resource decisions.
Service owner: coordinate the whole journey and carry actions through agency handoffs.
Accessibility coordinator: connect policy, specialist advice, feedback, and escalation.
Procurement and contract owners: carry requirements into vendor evidence, acceptance, maintenance, and renewal.
Content and delivery teams: build checks into their routine work and record unresolved barriers.
Qualified reviewers and disabled users: provide scoped technical evidence and lived experience; their input informs the decision.

Record one decision

Use these fields: barrier and affected task; decision made; accountable owner; support or funding agreed; due date; evidence of completion; next review. An unresolved barrier also needs an interim assistance route and an escalation owner.

Discuss before closing

If the usual accessibility champion were unavailable, which named role would keep this work moving? Make that answer part of the charter.

ACLT connection: leadership expectations become repeatable organizational practice through clear decisions, responsibility, and review.

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