On April 24, states will be held to new accessibility standards for their websites. Some states are further along than others in being able to meet that deadline. Some states — including Colorado, Maryland, Minnesota and Texas — are ahead of the pack, said Marie Cohan, Texas’ statewide digital accessibility coordinator, while others are less prepared. But more states are jumping in, even without strong executive support or funding, said Jay Wyant, chief information accessibility officer of Minnesota: “In a lot of organizations, there have been a lot of people doing the work, the hard work, doing it without the organizational leadership.” And so the approaching deadline, he said, has presented an opportunity to do more. This week’s top stories: In recognition of the many creative — and sometimes offline — modes of influence employed by the nation’s adversaries, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul last week promoted Colin Ahern, formerly the state’s chief cyber officer, to serve as its first director of security and intelligence. Ahern said he’ll help protect the state from a doctrine of attack adopted by the nation’s adversaries that he described as “all of the above, all the time.” Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly last week announced that state officials have reached an agreement with the Department of Agriculture, resolving a months-long dispute over access to sensitive food-assistance data. Kelly said the deal ensures Kansans’ personal information, including Social Security numbers, will not be shared with foreign governments. And after being named Nebraska’s interim chief information security officer last month, Bryce Bailey last week lost his interim status and will serve as the state’s top cybersecurity official for the foreseeable future. Bailey said he wants to “take cybersecurity to the next level,” a goal that includes bolstering the state’s cyber workforce, changing cybersecurity’s image and amassing enough data to demonstrate to government policymakers that cyber programs, like the federal State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program, are worth keeping. New episodes of StateScoop’s Priorities Podcast are posted each Wednesday. For more of the latest news and trends across the state and local government technology community, subscribe to the Priorities Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Soundcloud or Spotify.
