Time to Enable

“We believe no Maine citizen should be left unserved and that our online government services should be usable by all residents. NIC has helped us enormously in this challenging endeavor by delivering new solutions that enhance the services Maine offers to its citizens through its portal to ensure they are accessible.”

Richard B. Thompson
Chief Information Officer, Maine

TIME TO ENABLE

ALL CITIZENS WITH ACCESS

The intent of eGovernment is to use technology to make it easier for all citizens and businesses to interact with every level of government. Unfortunately, the experience can differ dramatically, especially for those with disabilities or varying levels of access. 

Since 2004, Maine has established its leadership in this space by developing standards for all Maine.gov Web sites, including a design template, style guide, and an accessibility policy. These standards go above and beyond traditional compliance to ensure that everyone has an equal experience with the state’s online services. 

With more than 400 online services, Maine has been able to make government easier to use and more available to all of its residents. The most recent example is the launch of the new Maine.gov video service that quickly adds closed captioning to any video uploaded to the site. 

The state monitors all agencies and reports quarterly on progress to ensure these best policies become best practices.