This Simple Step Will Improve Your Extension Season

Changes are coming to the FTB website on July 1 that will impact our Members during this fall’s extension season.

Background

Due to legislation passed in October 2017, each state agency will be required to ensure that all of the content displayed on their websites is in compliance with “specified accessibility standards.” This measure was enacted to improve usability on public sites for the visually impaired. By July 1, every page on FTB’s website will have to be modified to remove features that are difficult for the visually impaired, including features like drop-down lists and clickable PDF links. This is important for our Members because many of the pages you use during filing season may not be available after FTB’s July 1 deadline for compliance.

We Need Your Help

In order to help FTB with this process, we are asking Members to bookmark FTB web pages that are particularly useful to them during this season, so that CSEA can work with FTB to ensure those same pages will be there for you when you enter your extension season! After April 15, CSEA will be asking you to send us both the titles and the URLs of your important pages, and we will pass along your list to FTB. Unfortunately, we do not have additional information at this time about how the new pages will look or how long it will take individual pages to come into compliance, but bookmarking them now is the best way to make sure that they will be available prior to the September 15 or October 15 deadlines.

In Summary

If an FTB web page that you frequently use is not in compliance by July 1, it will be removed from the website. Additionally, FTB will continue to return select pages to their website after the July 1 deadline, but we will need your help in identifying those high priority pages so that they will be available before extension season.