May 20, 2021 (St. Paul, MN) - Governor Tim Walz proclaims May 20 to be Digital Accessibility Awareness Day in Minnesota. Over the past year, businesses, governments, and Minnesotans have relied on technology and digital services as a connector and a path forward. Minnesota joins the world to celebrate digital accessibility in conjunction with Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD).

Minnesota IT Services’ (MNIT) Office of Accessibility is charged with overseeing the implementation of accessibility standards for all executive branch employees and employers. This work was critically important during the state’s COVID-19 response. By implementing the digital accessibility standard, individuals connected with government through an improved online experience, including applying for benefits, reading COVID-19 updates and information, and understanding changes to programs and services.

The Office of Accessibility, MNIT, and the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) created accessible applications, websites, and documents for the public. The MDH COVID-19 site was recently recognized by Johns Hopkins University’s Disability Health Research Center as the top state COVID-19 information website with the least accessibility errors as tested by WAVE, a website accessibility evaluation tool. The Vaccine Connector was also top in the nation, ranked number seven. 

“We are proud of the cross-agency partnerships that make readable content, usable interfaces, and effective mobile access. It is a shared responsibility between all of state government to make sure that Minnesotans uphold their right to access government services and critical information.”

Tarek Tomes, CIO for the State of Minnesota, MNIT Commissioner

"Digital platforms have been incredibly important tools for public health throughout the pandemic. We’ve worked hard to use these tools to provide clear, accurate and timely information to Minnesotans in formats they could easily access. We appreciate the partnership with MNIT every step of the way.”

Jan Malcolm, Minnesota Commissioner of Health

To celebrate Digital Accessibility Awareness Day, the Office of Accessibility hosted a free training event for state employees. Experts across state government shared best practices for organizing and running meetings that are inclusive for all.

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About Minnesota IT Services

Minnesota IT Services, led by the state’s Chief Information Officer, is the Information Technology agency for Minnesota’s executive branch, providing enterprise and local IT services to over 70 agencies, boards and commissions. MNIT employs more than 2,000 people across 90 physical locations. Together, we build, maintain, and secure the State’s IT infrastructure, applications, projects and services. MNIT sets IT strategy, direction, policies and standards for enterprise IT leadership and planning. We also serve Minnesotans by connecting all 87 counties, 300 cities, and 200 public higher education campuses across the state on the MNET network. Through public-private partnerships, our team proactively protects the state’s information systems and the private data of 5.5 million Minnesotans.