The City of Beaverton Web portal meets federal government standards for making Web content and applications usable for persons with disabilities and fulfills the mandate of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1998.

The standards are found on the Section 508 Web site.

The City of Beaverton has developed Accessibility standards for the Web portal. Following are the key requirements of the City of Beaverton portal accessibility initiative:

• Providing text for all graphic elements.
• Streaming video files have transcripts or a presentation version available (if transcript or a presentation version is available).
• Web pages will be designed so that all information conveyed with color is also available without color.
• Online electronic forms will allow people using assistive technology to access the information, field elements, and functions required to complete and submit the forms.
• All critical content components will be visible within the 800 x 600 resolution setting. Printer friendly pages are available for easy printing.
• All pages are designed, dated and tested for compatibility with all major Web browsers (Internet Explorer, Netscape, Opera and Firefox).

Assistance Tools for the Blind or Visually Impaired

Adobe, creator of Acrobat and Acrobat Reader, has developed tools to assist blind and visually-impaired users to “read” PDF files. The Adobe Accessibility area on Adobe’s Web site has additional information.

Other Applications

Some applications and information posted on the City of Beaverton portal require the download and install of additional software, plug-ins and players as part of a Web browser. These applications are available for free download. Examples include:

• Real Media Player and Windows Media Player- The City uses Real Video and Windows Media formats to broadcast archived sessions of City Council meetings and other video presentations. These applications will allow you to view the videos through your Web browser. All minutes of City Council meetings are also posted online in HTML format as an alternative to videos. Other presentations have text transcripts available in HTML or PDF format.
• Adobe Acrobat Reader - The City uses Adobe Acrobat to create Portable Document Format (PDF) files to provide online access to City documents in their original formatting. Several converter applications are available online for converting PDF documents into alternate document formats, including simple HTML.

Additional Accessibility Resources

For further information and to learn more about the regulations governing the accessibility of Federal electronic information products, visit these ADA- and Section 508-related resources:

• Section 508 home page - www.section508.gov/
• Access Board - www.access-board.gov/508.htm
• Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) - www.w3.org/WAI/
• Section 508 (Web-based intranet and internet information and applications) - www.section508.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Content&ID=12#Web

If you have difficulty accessing any material on this site because of a disability, please contact us in writing, via telephone or email and we will work with you to make the information available.