A Look at the State’s Accessibility Leader

The Department of Information Resources’ (DIR) Marie Cohan supports people who are ensuring digital accessibility within all state agencies and universities, working directly with 130 people in Texas government.

Government Technology* took a deep dive into accessibility for its July-August edition; the following is an excerpt featuring Cohan, the state's digital accessibility program administrator.

Accessibility challenges have become more urgent for governments to solve, owing to two main reasons. The first is that COVID-19 pushed more of life online, and it is often easier now to do business digitally than in person.

Second, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a new final rule under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act in April. This requires all state and local governments to make digital services “readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities.”

This one-two punch, experts say, means there is now more momentum than ever before to make government digital services accessible.

Texas has made quite a bit of progress in digital accessibility in recent years, with Cohan working as its statewide leader for three.

DIR has long had the statutory authority to create digital accessibility rules. What Cohan does is help the many public entities in the state comply.

She conducts quite a few trainings, many of which are focused on why this work is important and centered on the idea that accessible digital services benefit the state, too, not just residents with disabilities. Universities, for example, don’t want to lose enrollment because potential students struggle with their digital services. Cohan also helps her group with procurement.

She pointed to outreach as one of the biggest priorities for her within her role. She’s worked to foster community with the state’s 130 digital accessibility leads, doing things like holding weekly office hours, which she said average 20 attendees. She has also organized a statewide virtual coffee meetup, which started with 30 regular participants and has now more than doubled, averaging about 70.

“Sometimes,” Cohan said, “my work is just about listening.”

One asset for her personally that has been helpful is a multistate collective that has formed around digital accessibility, within which more than 20 states share ideas and information on how to get better at digital accessibility.

*This story originally appeared in the July/August 2024 issue of Government Technology magazine, Industry Insider — Texas’ sister publication. Click here to view the full digital edition online.