Colorado Accessibility Law: What WordPress Website Owners Should Know

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Emily Harris

If your WordPress website represents a Colorado public entity, school, library, district, or government-funded service, accessibility is no longer optional. Colorado law now ties digital access to civil rights, and WordPress site owners need to treat accessibility as an ongoing operating requirement, not a one-time plugin fix.

TLDR: Colorado’s accessibility rules mostly target public entities, including state agencies, local governments, schools, and special districts. If your WordPress site serves one of these groups, it should meet WCAG 2.1 AA standards or show documented progress toward compliance. For example, a county site with 40,000 monthly visitors could shut out thousands of residents if forms, meeting notices, or payment pages fail with screen readers. Private businesses are not the main target of this Colorado law, but ADA risk still exists.

What Colorado’s Accessibility Law Actually Covers

Colorado House Bill 21-1110 made digital accessibility a civil rights issue for public entities. That means websites, apps, online documents, forms, videos, portals, and public notices must be usable by people with disabilities.

The law applies to public entities, such as:

  • State agencies
  • County and city governments
  • Public schools and universities
  • Libraries
  • Special districts
  • Public boards, commissions, and authorities

For WordPress owners, the key question is simple: Who owns or uses the site? A hiking blog based in Boulder is not treated the same as a municipal parks department website. A private restaurant site is different from a public school lunch payment portal.

The catch is that many WordPress sites sit in the middle. A private web designer may build a site for a public library. A nonprofit may manage pages for a county-funded program. A contractor may host forms for a public agency. In those cases, accessibility duties often show up in contracts, requests for proposals, and vendor reviews.

Why WordPress Owners Should Care

WordPress powers a huge number of public-facing sites because it is flexible, affordable, and familiar. That is also why accessibility problems spread so easily. One bad theme, one unlabeled form plugin, or one PDF upload habit can create hundreds of barriers.

Common WordPress accessibility failures include:

  • Missing alt text on images
  • Low color contrast in buttons and menus
  • Forms without clear labels or error messages
  • Menus that cannot be used with a keyboard
  • PDFs that screen readers cannot read properly
  • Videos without captions
  • Popups that trap keyboard users
  • Heading levels used for style instead of structure

Honestly, it feels like some WordPress plugins were made to win a beauty contest and lose every accessibility test. A fancy slider may look polished, but if it takes a keyboard user 20 extra seconds to move past it, that is a real usability problem.

The Standard to Know: WCAG 2.1 AA

Colorado’s technology accessibility rules point public entities toward recognized technical standards, especially WCAG 2.1 Level AA. WCAG stands for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. It is the main rulebook used around the world for accessible digital content.

WCAG is built on four core ideas. Content should be:

  1. Perceivable: Users can see, hear, or otherwise access the information.
  2. Operable: Users can interact with menus, forms, buttons, and controls.
  3. Understandable: Content and instructions are clear.
  4. Robust: The site works with assistive technology, including screen readers.

You do not need to memorize every success criterion to improve a WordPress site. You do need a repeatable process. Accessibility should be part of publishing, design, development, procurement, and maintenance.

Does This Apply to Private Colorado Businesses?

Colorado’s HB21-1110 is focused on public entities. So, if you run a private WordPress site, the statute may not directly apply in the same way. That does not mean you can ignore accessibility.

Private businesses can still face claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act, especially if the website is tied to goods, services, reservations, appointments, payments, or customer support. Courts have not treated every website case the same, which adds confusion. Still, the pattern is clear: inaccessible websites create legal, financial, and reputation risk.

There is also a business case. According to the CDC, more than 1 in 4 adults in the United States has some type of disability. Accessibility helps users with vision, hearing, mobility, cognitive, and temporary impairments. It also helps mobile users, older visitors, injured users, and anyone trying to complete a task quickly.

What WordPress Site Owners Should Fix First

Start with the features people need most. Do not spend three weeks perfecting a blog archive if residents cannot pay a water bill, submit a permit form, read a school closure notice, or register for a public meeting.

Focus on these areas first:

  • Forms: Every field needs a visible label, useful instructions, and clear error messages.
  • Navigation: Menus, dropdowns, search, and footers must work with a keyboard.
  • Documents: Replace scanned PDFs with accessible HTML pages when possible.
  • Color contrast: Text and buttons must be readable against their backgrounds.
  • Images: Add meaningful alt text where images provide information.
  • Headings: Use headings in a logical order, not just for visual size.
  • Media: Add captions to videos and transcripts to audio content.

Plugins Help, But They Do Not Solve Everything

Accessibility overlay widgets often promise quick compliance. Be careful. A toolbar that increases font size or changes contrast does not fix broken code, missing labels, poor headings, inaccessible PDFs, or keyboard traps.

Useful plugins can help with checks and editorial reminders. For example, some tools flag missing alt text or contrast problems. That is helpful. But automated scans usually catch only a portion of accessibility issues. Manual testing is still needed.

At minimum, test your site by doing these tasks:

  • Use only the keyboard. Press Tab, Enter, Shift + Tab, and Escape.
  • Try a screen reader such as NVDA, VoiceOver, or JAWS.
  • Zoom the page to 200% and check if content still works.
  • Submit every major form with errors and check the feedback.
  • Review PDFs before posting them.

Build Accessibility Into Your WordPress Workflow

The best results come from habits, not panic. If your team publishes content weekly, accessibility must be part of that publishing checklist.

A practical workflow might include:

  1. Choose an accessible theme. Look for themes that mention accessibility-ready support, then test them yourself.
  2. Limit risky plugins. Page builders, sliders, calendars, maps, and form tools need extra review.
  3. Create content rules. Require alt text, proper headings, descriptive links, and accessible tables.
  4. Train editors. One 60-minute training can prevent months of cleanup.
  5. Audit high-traffic pages. Start with homepages, service pages, contact pages, forms, and payment pages.
  6. Keep proof of progress. Save audit reports, remediation logs, policies, and testing notes.

For Colorado public entities, documentation matters. If every fix lives in someone’s memory, expect to waste time rebuilding the story later. Keep records clear and dated.

What About Deadlines and Good Faith Efforts?

Colorado’s accessibility requirements became especially urgent around the July 2024 deadline for public entities. Later updates gave certain public entities more room if they could show good faith progress, planning, and active remediation. Rules can change, so public agencies should check current guidance from the Colorado Office of Information Technology and speak with legal counsel.

For WordPress owners, the safer path is not to wait for a complaint. Make a plan. Fix the high-impact barriers. Publish an accessibility statement. Give users a simple way to report problems. Then respond fast when they do.

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A Simple Accessibility Statement Helps

An accessibility statement does not replace accessible code. Still, it shows users that you care and gives them a clear contact path.

A good statement should include:

  • Your commitment to digital accessibility
  • The standard you aim to meet, such as WCAG 2.1 AA
  • Known limitations, if any
  • A contact email or phone number for accessibility help
  • A response timeline
  • The date the statement was last updated

The Bottom Line for WordPress Owners

Colorado accessibility law raises the bar for public-sector websites, and WordPress sites are very much included. If your site supports public services, treat accessibility as a core requirement. If you run a private site, the same work still reduces ADA risk and improves user experience.

Start with critical pages. Test real tasks. Fix forms, menus, documents, media, and contrast. Then keep going. Accessibility is not a plugin you install on Friday afternoon. It is a standard your website has to meet every day.