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United Way of Connecticut Improves Accessibility and Cut Legal Risk Across 17 Websites
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AudioEye’s solution significantly improved compliance and protection compared to previous tools, helping meet Connecticut's strict accessibility requirements.
SUMMARY
The State of Connecticut set aggressive accessibility requirements for the organizations it contracts with. United Way of Connecticut had a small IT team, free scanning tools, and no accessibility staff to meet that standard. With AudioEye, it met state contract obligations on the state’s accelerated timeline. Now every site has documented compliance, legal risk is lower, and the IT team is back to building tools that help more people.
Key benefits
Hundreds of developer hours saved without a single new hire
Without a budget for an accessibility specialist, United Way of Connecticut needed help that its existing team could rely on. AudioEye’s automation and experts handled the accessibility work, so developers stayed focused on building.
Expert custom fixes resolved the issues that create the most legal risk
Free scanning tools caught only a fraction of the accessibility issues across the organization’s sites. AudioEye’s automation found and fixed far more of those issues at scale, and Custom Fixes from AudioEye’s experts resolved the complex, high-risk issues automation can’t reach.
Expert-written VPATs, delivered on the state's accelerated timeline
The State of Connecticut requires Voluntary Product Accessibility Templates (VPATs), formal reports on how a digital product meets accessibility standards. AudioEye’s experts completed these VPATs on the state’s timeline, saving the United Way team weeks of research.
Background
United Way of Connecticut’s websites serve as a resource for critical state-funded services. When a resident can answer a simpler question online, the call center has more capacity for the complex, high-risk calls that need a person. Digital accessibility keeps that self-service path open to everyone.
As a state-funded organization, United Way of Connecticut received a direct request from Connecticut to bring those sites into compliance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). Noncompliance puts its state contracts at risk.
Challenge
Before AudioEye, the team relied on free tools like Google Lighthouse to track accessibility across its sites. But free tools miss the complex issues that carry the most legal risk.
“We thought our tools were showing us every issue on our sites. It turned out we were seeing a small fraction of them. We felt good about where we stood, but soon realized we weren't as accessible as we thought we were.”
— Brian Roccapriore, Implementation Manager, United Way of Connecticut
The organization had a small IT team with very little accessibility expertise. They had no way to identify issues at scale, no way to implement fixes, and no structured timeline to meet the state's standard. The state also wanted proof, which a spreadsheet could not provide.
“I don't think we ever would have met compliance. We had been working on improving accessibility previously, but we were doing it at our own pace, and the tools we were using didn't provide the depth we needed to meet the State's very aggressive compliance requirements.”
— Leo Pellerin, Chief Information Officer, United Way of Connecticut
Solution
United Way of Connecticut evaluated several vendors and chose AudioEye for the depth of its approach: automation that finds and fixes accessibility issues quickly and at scale, and experts who resolve the complex issues automation can’t reach.
“We didn't have the staff to take this on ourselves, and hiring a compliance specialist wasn't financially realistic for us. AudioEye gave us that expertise without adding headcount.”
— Leo Pellerin, Chief Information Officer, United Way of Connecticut
AudioEye has the highest detection rates in the industry and a proven solution. That track record gave the team confidence in compliance. AudioEye found and fixed far more issues than the free tools had surfaced, including the complex issues that carry the most legal risk. Developers never had to take on the hardest fixes or stop building to make them.
AudioEye also documented each site’s compliance standing, giving the state the proof it required and the organization a defensible record if a claim ever arises.
Results
All of United Way of Connecticut’s websites now meet the state’s standard, something free tools could never achieve. The team now has a record of where each site stands, kept up to date as standards evolve. That record satisfies the state and provides the organization with evidence of continuous effort if a claim ever arises.
“We used to track accessibility in a spreadsheet we built ourselves. Now we have a single source of truth. It gives us an unbiased read on where each site stands.”
— Brian Roccapriore, Implementation Manager, United Way of Connecticut
The second change was in how the team works. Accessibility used to be a post-launch correction. Developers now run the scanner at the start of a build and aim for a zero error rate before a page goes live.
The team also found that accessibility best practices make the sites better for every visitor. Clearer headings and a logical reading order help anyone looking for an answer, not only people using a screen reader. For a site built to answer questions before they become phone calls, that keeps call center capacity free for people in crisis.
With accessibility work managed by AudioEye, the IT department returned to its core mission of using technology to help more people.
“Our contracts with the state depend on staying compliant, and now we can show exactly where every site stands. That lowered our risk and gave my team back the time to focus on helping more people.”
— Leo Pellerin, Chief Information Officer, United Way of Connecticut