In accordance with Section 12 of Chapter 11 of the Massachusetts General Laws, the Office of the State Auditor has conducted a performance audit of certain activities of the Massachusetts Teachers’ Retirement System (MTRS) for the period July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024.
The purpose of our audit was to determine whether MTRS’s website adhered to the World Wide Web Consortium’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 for user accessibility, keyboard accessibility, navigation accessibility, language accessibility, error identification, and color accessibility. Adherence to WCAG helps ensure that all users, regardless of ability, can access the content and functions of MTRS’s website.
Below is a summary of our finding, the effect of that finding, and our recommendations, with hyperlinks to each page listed.
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Finding 1
| MTRS’s website was not fully accessible to all website users. |
| Effect | Noncompliance with WCAG 2.1 reduces accessibility for individuals with disabilities and limits equitable access to MTRS information and services. Specific risks include the following: - A lack of keyboard navigability means that users with mobility impairments cannot access certain content.
- Because MTRS’s website does not make the first focusable control on a webpage a hyperlink that skips to the main content of the webpage, users who navigate sequentially through webpages are forced to navigate through repeated content every time a webpage loads. This increases the time needed to reach the desired information on a webpage and may, for users who have motor impairments, make navigating content cumbersome or difficult.
- Hyperlinks that do not have a 3:1 contrast ratio or a secondary identifiable component may be imperceptible to users and will prevent them from interacting with MTRS content.
- If MTRS’s website cannot reflow at 400%, some users will not be able to read content if they zoom in to alleviate a visual impairment.
- Broken or faulty hyperlinks limit users from having access to critical information and key online services offered by MTRS. Broken or faulty hyperlinks also increase the likelihood that users may either access outdated or incorrect information or be directed to webpages that no longer exist.
- Improper use of headings and labels makes it difficult for users to navigate and read the website. Additionally, improper use of headers and labels negatively impacts users who rely on screen readers to navigate the website.
- Entry fields that are improperly labeled or that do not provide users with warnings about input errors or omissions prevent users from accessing MTRS content.
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Recommendations
| - MTRS should work with its vendor to resolve the issues directly identified in this report.
- MTRS should select a new theme for its website with more accessible design elements.
- MTRS should train staff members on website accessibility requirements and provide staff members with third-party website accessibility tools to monitor WCAG compliance.
- MTRS should implement preventative controls to ensure that content on its website is posted in a WCAG-compliant manner.
- MTRS should ensure that its third-party vendor monitors the website for instances of WCAG noncompliance, or MTRS should acquire tools to monitor WCAG compliance on its own.
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