The Digital Accessibility Renaissance in State Government: NASCIO’s New Survey

In this episode of NASCIO Voices, Amy Glasscock and Alex Whitaker welcome back Kalea Young-Gibson to discuss NASCIO’s new survey of state accessibility officers. The conversation explores how state accessibility programs have evolved from grassroots efforts driven by passionate individuals into enterprise-level functions shaped by the 2024 DOJ final rule on digital accessibility. Key findings reveal that while states are making progress, significant gaps remain in document remediation, high-traffic system compliance, and vendor accessibility verification — largely due to capacity and staffing constraints rather than lack of will. The discussion also covers the role of AI in accelerating accessibility work, the rise of accessibility officers as enterprise leaders reporting directly to CIOs, and what the future holds as equity becomes an operational discipline in government. The episode wraps with a lightning round covering tattoos, the Chewy app and an unnecessary Nintendo Switch purchase.