CivicPlus® Partnership Empowers Steilacoom, WA to Innovate
Accessibility One Bite at a Time
“As a government agency, we value accessibility,” Gibelyou responded when asked what led to Steilacoom's decision to add Monsido to its technology stack. When CivicPlus reached out to Steilacoom to make its leaders aware of the product’s availability, they were intrigued by the opportunity to learn more about increasing the accessibility of their website.
Maintaining ADA compliance despite ever-evolving standards and enhancing inclusivity through accessibility online is challenging.
“There have been things in the accessibility module that have been relevant that I've been able to fix on my own," said Gibelyou. "Many of those [changes] were just weeding through thousands of potential concerns for actual issues that need to be addressed. There have been some things that Monsido caught that I wasn’t certain how to fix initially, but whenever I have questions, [CivicPlus support staff members] have been very prompt in responding, which is great because I've been very confused at times. Having support that is not just helping out for that one-time communication, but providing insight and good resources to turn to in the future so I can figure more stuff out on my own is everything.”
Understanding how to best utilize the chosen accessibility solution is as important to meeting accessibility goals as understanding the guidelines themselves in many cases. Gibelyou highlighted some time-saving tools provided by CivicPlus' Monsido solution.
“Once I found out about the fast-track tool, that was great," said Gibelyou. "Instead of going page by page and trying to fix the same issue on 257 pages.”
When asked what advice she would give a peer who was looking at accessibility solutions, Gibelyou championed the CivicPlus Technical Support Team and recommends taking advantage of all the tools and resources available to website administrators.
“Taking on a website accessibility project can be overwhelming initially, but definitely schedule that introductory call sooner rather than later because the team is super helpful at explaining what different things do and the best ways to streamline your daily activities…and then, pick one bite of the cookie at a time; it's a lot to digest, but if you just take one piece at a time it's very doable to start figuring things out. I think what's been the most helpful were the broken links because we had a different kind of broken link Finder, but it wasn't finding everything that was broken.”
A website is a dynamic organism, and it is crucial to keep it up to date.
Continuing to Trailblaze with Parks and Recreation Software that Serves
Steilacoom, like most other active towns, provides its residents with a variety of programs and activities through its Community Services Department. Before implementing CivicPlus’ Recreation Management software, its ability to serve residents online was challenging.
“Before, we were using a product that was made for restaurants, and so it really wasn't functional for the activities that we were running," said Gibelyou. "We were doing hand ledgers of participants because we had no way of tracking [activities] with our previous software."
Gibelyou praised the collaboration with the CivicPlus team during the software implementation, emphasizing its professionalism and support. When CivicPlus’ implementation team handed over the solution, the foundational elements, particularly for the community’s facilities, were already in place. This solid groundwork allowed the Town to efficiently build upon and customize the platform to its specific needs over the following month. As a result, when the software was eventually launched to residents, it was perfectly tailored to the community’s requirements and expectations, thanks to CivicPlus’ initial setup and guidance.
Steilacoom offers lots of options for its residents, from youth to seniors. From a Preschool Explorers program to Chair Yoga to Fun with Fitness classes, the community uses its recreation programs to encourage involvement and fitness. Gibelyou said being able to utilize CivicPlus’ Recreation Management solution for its recreation management needs has been “fabulous,” and that she finds the software intuitive to use and continues to be impressed by the CivicPlus Help Center.
“The Help Center is super robust," said Gibelyou. "Most of the time, when I have a question, I don't even have to contact someone. I can just go into the Help Center, and everything is laid out so cleanly. I can follow the steps and get things where they need to go."
Gibelyou said that when she has needed to reach out to the CivicPlus Technical Support team, they have been “super responsive and very helpful.” She added that she has been asked by others if she would recommend the CivicPlus Recreation Management software and said she does because “you can’t beat good customer service.”