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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#467886" vlink="#96607D" style='word-wrap:break-word'><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal>Greetings to my fellow blind Coloradans:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>In years gone by, whenever anyone wanted to register to testify at a legislative committee hearing, it was possible to sign up to testify, whether in person or remotely, using a website that was useable by and accessible to screen reader users. This year, however, some of us have noticed that there are significant problems filling out the online registration form.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>People using the NVDA screen reader and the Firefox browser have reported that the combo boxes where one would select the hearing date and time and the hearing item were simply not accessible. It was necessary to switch to the Chrome browser.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>It was also reported that when filling out the personal information form, while using Chrome, the phone number, email, address, and zip code fields were not properly labeled, and consequently, a nonvisual user might hear "email" while actually entering information into the phone number field.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>These issues have been were reported to the appropriate Legislative Council staff. While the problems have not yet been fixed as of this writing, we have received the following information from Elizabeth Burger, Deputy Director, Legislative Council Staff.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'>"…I have shared your information about the problems with the registration website with our IT department to see if we can get a fix as quickly as possible. The General Assembly is committed to making our website accessible for all users. If you need assistance or information in the future, in addition to emailing this address and the <a href="mailto:accessibility@coleg.gov">accessibility@coleg.gov</a> address, you are welcome to contact me directly at 303-866-6272 or <a href="mailto:elizabeth.burger@coleg.gov">elizabeth.burger@coleg.gov</a>."<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>I believe this problem is one that a person familiar with coding accessible web pages could solve in a matter of minutes. Who knows how long it will take the Legislative Council Staff to fix this.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Bottom line, if you want to register to testify at a legislative hearing, please be aware that the current system does have some nonvisual access issues and that if you encounter these issues, reach out to Elizabeth Burger.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Kind regards,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Curtis Chong<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>