Many of you have noticed that PERB decisions are no longer immediately available on its website. The delay is a side-effect of AB 434, a law enacted in 2017 that requires state agencies to certify that their websites are compliant with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0. WCAG 2.0 standards require that documents on websites be accessible to everyone, including people with disabilities such as visual impairments. Prior to AB 434, many of the documents available on state websites did not meet this standard. Indeed, the Sacramento Bee reported that many state agencies had to remove documents from their websites at the end of 2019 because they did not meet the requirements set forth in AB 434.
To meet WCAG 2.0 standards, it is not enough to simply post a PDF that has been OCR’d. This is because standard PDF’s lack the information necessary for screen readers to properly read them. To be WCAG 2.0 compliant, the PDF must go through a process of remediation to make them fully accessible to screen readers. That process takes time which is why PERB decisions are no longer immediately available on its website.
However, PERB has recently added a notice that you can request a decision that is not yet available on PERB’s website by emailing PERBforms@perb.ca.gov and providing the decision number and case name.
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