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IITAA Updates
The Illinois Information Technology Accessibility Act (IITAA) required the State to convene a workgroup to develop and publish standards no more 6 months after the effective date of the Act. The Act also requires the State to review the standards at least once every three years to determine whether updates are needed to keep up with changes in technology. The following is a brief history of these activities:
2008
The State of Illinois worked with a broad range of experts and stakeholders to establish the initial IITAA Standards based on the original Section 508 Standards and World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 1.0. For details about the process, see IITAA Workgroup 2008.
2011
The State completed its first review of the IITAA Standards in 2011, concluding that they should be "harmonized" (aligned) with WCAG 2.0 and the proposed revisions to Federal Section 508 Standards, as soon as those revisions were complete. See IITAA Update 2011.
2014
In 2014, the revisions to the Federal Section 508 Standards were still not complete, and the IITAA workgroup opted to continue with its 2011 recommendation to harmonize with the revised Section 508 Standards as soon as they were complete.
2017
On January 9, 2017, the U.S. Access Board released the final rule updating the Section 508 Standards and harmonizing them with WCAG 2.0, with an effective date of January 18, 2018. In accordance with the IITAA workgroup's recommendation, the State immediately began the process of updating the IITAA Standards to match.
On July 18, 2017, the State published updated standards that harmonized Illinois' requirements with the revised Federal Section 508 Standards and the World Wide Web Consortium's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0. Following the 2011 recommendation, the Workgroup also developed a set of "Techniques" to provide easy-to-understand instructions on how to meet IITAA Standards. The updated IITAA Standards and Techniques are available at:
In accordance with the Act, and in alignment with the revised Section 508 Standards, the updated IITAA Standards apply to information technology developed, procured, or substantially modified since January 18, 2018.
For more information about the workgroup's efforts, see IITAA Update 2017
2020
The State held an IITAA Standards Review Teleconference on Thursday, November 19, 2020, and the workgroup recommended keeping the IITAA 2.0 Standards aligned with Section 508 and WCAG 2.0, while encouraging compliance with WCAG 2.1 when possible.
2023
The State will be convening the IITAA Standards Workgroup again in the fall of 2023. If you are interested in participating, please email DoIT.Accessibility@Illinois.gov