Every rule the Record runs on, published and versioned.
The method is a set of governance documents that bind every session and every profile. Each is published at the version in force, with its issue date, and every superseded version stays in the archive at its own URL. A profile states which versions it was coded under.
Read it in the order it is applied
A method, not an opinion
Sourced claims only. Explicit gaps. Record what the entity publishes, never what it does. Never state that an entity is compliant or non-compliant with anything. Quote the instrument rather than paraphrasing it. Where sources conflict, record the conflict rather than resolving it silently. Where a preference is exercised, say why. Mark interpretation as interpretation and keep it separate from fact. Every profile opens with the public channel. Every profile carries a disclosure of any relationship between the publisher and the entity. No automated accessibility scanner, ever.
The method is a set of governance documents that bind every session and every profile. Each is published at the version in force with its issue date, every superseded version stays in the archive at its own URL, and a profile states which versions it was coded under. The five tabs on this page follow the order in which the method is applied: what is measured, how it is coded, how the Level is computed, what governs the work, and what has not yet been tested.
NONE FOUND is a statement about publication, not about practice.
A binding standard is not evidence of publication.
This record does not assess conformance and does not state whether any entity complies with any law.
Five domains, thirty indicators
Every profile opens with the public channel block, the ADA or accessibility coordinator, the complaint or grievance procedure, and the barrier-report route, quoted as published with the URL, the route a reader takes to reach it, and the capture date, or the not-found sentence with the pages checked. The thirty indicators follow, in five domains. Each has a published sufficiency condition, so that PUBLISHED means the same thing on every profile. The nine indicators marked with an asterisk bear on the Level.
| Indicator | What it records |
|---|---|
| CD-1 * | Accessibility statement: a page on the entity's own presence stating its commitment |
| CD-2 * | Standard and level claimed, with version and conformance level |
| CD-3 | Scope of the claim: the principal site, sub-sites, applications, documents |
| CD-4 * | Date and currency of the statement |
| CD-5 | Known limitations disclosed |
| CD-6 | Evaluation basis: self-evaluation, third party, or unstated |
| Indicator | What it records |
|---|---|
| AC-1 * | Accessibility or ADA coordinator, with a live contact route |
| AC-2 * | Complaint or grievance procedure |
| AC-3 * | Digital barrier report route, distinct from the general contact page |
| AC-4 | Accessible contact modes for Deaf, DeafBlind, and hard-of-hearing people |
| AC-5 | Response commitment: a stated time to acknowledge or resolve |
| AC-6 | Notice of nondiscrimination and accommodation |
| AC-7 | Complaint reporting: any published account of complaints received and resolved |
| Indicator | What it records |
|---|---|
| EC-1 * | Auxiliary aids and services policy |
| EC-2 | Request instructions for an interpreter or another accommodation |
| EC-3 | Video remote interpreting terms |
| EC-4 | Signed languages in the language access plan |
| EC-5 | Policy on AI-mediated communication |
| EC-6 | AI-mediated communication in use |
| Indicator | What it records |
|---|---|
| PR-1 * | Procurement accessibility policy |
| PR-2 | Contract and solicitation language |
| PR-3 | Conformance reports for the entity's own platforms |
| PR-4 | Vendor conformance report currency, per platform |
| PR-5 | Exception process for technology that does not meet the standard |
| Indicator | What it records |
|---|---|
| AS-1 * | Compliance plan, roadmap, or transition statement with dates |
| AS-2 * | Testing regime: how and how often the entity tests |
| AS-3 | Results published |
| AS-4 | Remediation tracking |
| AS-5 | Training for staff who create or procure digital content |
| AS-6 | Governance body with published responsibility |
Six codes
Each indicator is coded from the entity's own web presence, retrieved in full in a rendered browser, and the code is accompanied by the URL, the capture, and the capture date. The binding definitions and the normalizations in force are in the coding scheme, AGR-FRM-002.
| Code | In short |
|---|---|
| PUBLISHED | The artifact is on the entity's own presence and meets the indicator's sufficiency condition |
| PARTIAL | Something answering to the indicator is there but fails the condition in a named way: unreachable except by direct URL, undated, missing a required element, covering one sub-site only, or generated by a third-party widget |
| NONE FOUND | The pages in frame were retrieved in full and nothing answering to the indicator was found; the evidence note names the pages checked |
| NOT VERIFIABLE | The pages that would carry the artifact could not be read, or the artifact exists in a form that cannot be read, such as a scanned image or a document behind a login; the reason is named and zero is the target |
| NOT AUDITED | The indicator was not reached at all; reserved for tooling failure, zero is the target, and any instance blocks release until a closure pass has been attempted |
| OUT OF FRAME | A deliberate, documented scope decision, never a failure: the indicator does not apply to the entity class, or a sub-site was excluded under a stated frame |
Levels 0 to 4
A Level is computed by script from nine Level-bearing indicators against a cumulative rubric, and the computation is shown on every profile. The Level is a position on the rubric, not a grade; the sentence stating what would raise it is mechanical and recommends nothing. An entity that publishes a plan and a testing regime but no coordinator is at Level 1, and its profile says why.
| Level | Condition |
|---|---|
| 0, Silent | CD-1, AC-1, and AC-2 all code NONE FOUND |
| 1, Stated | At least one of CD-1, AC-1, or AC-2 codes PUBLISHED or PARTIAL, and the condition for Level 2 is not met |
| 2, Reachable | AC-1, AC-2, and AC-3 all code PUBLISHED: a member of the public can find the coordinator, the complaint procedure, and a route to report a barrier, from the home page, with a usable contact. The hinge of the rubric, set there deliberately, because the public channel is what makes every other artifact actionable |
| 3, Governed | Level 2 is met, and CD-2, EC-1, and PR-1 all code PUBLISHED: a named standard with version and level, an effective communication policy, and what the entity requires of vendors |
| 4, Assured | Level 3 is met, and CD-4, AS-1, and AS-2 all code PUBLISHED: a statement dated within twenty-four months, a plan with dates, and a stated testing regime |
Three normalizations worth knowing
The words "ADA compliant", "508 compliant", "fully accessible", or "accessible to all" without a named standard, version, and level code CD-2 PARTIAL at most and never PUBLISHED. A statement or contact page generated by a third-party overlay widget codes CD-1 PARTIAL, and the widget's vendor is recorded as a platform with the note that it is an overlay; the Record takes no position on overlays. A general contact form, a webmaster address, or a switchboard number is not a barrier-report route and is not a coordinator contact.
Versions in force
Each document is rendered from the repository at its version in force. The number is permanent; the version increments. The archive holds every superseded version at its own URL.
| Document | What it governs |
|---|---|
| Charter (AGR-GOV-001) | Purpose, the five domains, what the Record is not, scope, deliverables, audience, authority |
| Scope and frame doctrine (AGR-GOV-002) | The unit of record, the web presence, sub-units and systems, the rule that a binding standard is not evidence of publication, the stated-frame exception |
| Independence and disclosure (AGR-GOV-004) | Every entity profiled; no payment alters a code; the disclosure block; declarations; notice is not a sales channel; funders receive no editorial input |
| Method advisory group (AGR-GOV-005) | Composition, remit, limits, and transparency of the group that reviews the method |
| Domains and indicators (AGR-FRM-001) | Thirty indicators in five domains with their sufficiency conditions and anchors |
| Coding scheme (AGR-FRM-002) | The six codes and the normalizations |
| Level computation (AGR-FRM-003) | The rubric for Levels 0 to 4, provisional levels, calibration |
| Classes, identifiers, and waves (AGR-FRM-004) | Entity classes, the two series, identifiers, waves, the pilot |
| Standing analytical constructs (AGR-FRM-005) | Channel completeness, coordinator findability, standard drift, claim currency, and the other constructs reported across entities |
| Evidence standard and source hierarchy (AGR-SRC-001, 002) | What counts as evidence, and in what order sources are preferred |
| Notice and correction (AGR-STD-004) | Pre-release notice, the ten business day window, how responses are handled, the standing correction route |
| Engagement and review (AGR-STD-007) | Update notice, release notification, entity comment, the two-step review, the service standard, personal data, the corrections register, retraction, funding transparency |
| Comparison analysis (AGR-NAT-003) | The rules every cross-entity table follows: comparability markers, distributions not rankings, no composite score |
| Procurement Accessibility Record (AGR-FRM-006, AGR-STD-006) | The product record: frame, fields, codes, flags, retrieval, notice to vendors |
What has not yet been tested
The sufficiency conditions and the normalizations were written before any entity was audited; the Minnesota pilot tests them and is expected to produce version 1.1 of both before the second wave. The Level rubric is mechanical by design and has not been calibrated against a real distribution; the pilot reports the distribution and the rubric is reviewed before it is used in any cross-entity statement. Both limitations are on the record from the start so that they are not discovered later.
Provisional Levels, calibration, and any change to a sufficiency condition are decisions logged at AGR-LOG-001 and taken up at the next version of the document concerned; a profile coded under an earlier version says so.
Notice, correction, and review
The method is applied under a published process: every entity receives the draft before release with ten business days to point to anything missed, may comment in its own words after release, and may ask for a declined decision to be re-decided by a second person. The process page carries the steps as a timeline and the service standard against which the Record measures itself.
How the process works
Notice before release, comment after, and the same clock for everyone.
The processCorrections and comments →