The website for McLean County Government just got a lot easier to use for people with disabilities.
County board chair Elizabeth Johnston said during a WGLT Sound Ideas interview that a new software module can read PDF documents aloud, and even interpret technical drawings like plans to change the design of an intersection.
"All of a sudden it spelled out in language I could read what I was seeing and what somebody else would not be able to see," said Johnston.
The new software module also does something even more difficult. Until now, image files on the county website that have words in the picture could not be read out loud for visually impaired people.
"This one actually can take a scanned document and turn it into something that can be read and copied and pasted and I kind of geeked out about it," said Johnston.
The site has been able to verbalize simple text on county web pages for some time. It can now translate those words into more than 150 languages.
There’s also a get-help button on the web site to direct people to a national number that offers a half hour of free assistance in using the county web pages.
Johnston said the U.S. Justice Department recently extended the deadline for local governments to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act [ADA] by a year. Johnston said McLean County is way ahead of the curve and already meets almost all the requirements of the ADA.
Comprehensive plan
On another topic, the county's first strategic plan is under way, and Johnston said she's excited about developing the plan to “define intentions and expectations to guide county departments.”
“I think it gives the public an opportunity to see that we are more than just their property tax bill, and to understand that as an organization we are striving for excellence and to meet their needs,” she said, adding part of implementing the plan will involve getting public feedback and creating new avenues for residents to connect with the county.
“I think the one that I'm most excited about is looking for efficiencies, followed closely by the communication piece and really looking to make our services more readily accessible and engageable,” said Johnston.
There will be quarterly updates, she said, on implementation of the plan and county government will do what Normal and Bloomington already do — tie agenda items to the strategic plan.
“We are prioritizing trainings for departments to increase operational efficiencies to reduce manual processes, increase best practices, and options to automate processes that can be added for online access,” said Johnston.
The county is working with a consultant to put the plan into practice. It also is partnering with Illinois State University to increase civic engagement and public communication.
It is the county government’s first strategic plan, said Johnston.
This is separate from a regional comprehensive plan the McLean County Regional Planning Commission is developing for the county, Bloomington and Normal.
