Accessibility
For the CIA to meet the mission of protecting US national security interests, we need to employ a workforce as diverse as America itself. By leveraging the strengths of every individual and fostering an inclusive environment, we are getting the very best that our workforce has to offer, which allows us to successfully meet the intelligence challenges of today – and tomorrow.
The Agency strives to make our workplace accessible to all employees to allow them to contribute in the fullest ways possible. One of those ways is making sure our IT platforms and web presence are accessible to people with disabilities.
Web accessibility encompasses all disabilities that affect access to the web, including visual, auditory, physical, speech, cognitive, and neurological disabilities. It is essential that our IT and web platforms are accessible in order to provide equal access and equal opportunity to people with disabilities.
To help facilitate this mission, the CIA created a checklist based on the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 AA of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), which are the international standards for IT accessibility. The Agency is continuously working to meet or exceed the standards set forth in this checklist across all of its IT platforms, both internally and externally, including CIA.gov.
The Agency IT Accessibility Standards Checklist applies to electronic and information technology procured or developed by the CIA. These standards contain technical criteria specific to various types of technologies and performance-based requirements, which focus on functional capabilities of covered products. Specific criteria cover software applications and operating systems, web-based information and applications, computers, mobile applications, video and multimedia, and self-contained closed products.
As part of our continued mission to increase accessibility across all of the CIA's web platforms, the Agency IT Accessibility Standards Checklist is now available to the public at the link below:
Agency IT Accessibility Standards Checklist
If you have questions about the Checklist, contact the Agency's IT Accessibility Program Office through the Contact CIA link on the homepage.
