Prompts in Practice: Using AI Tools to Improve Election Website Accessibility

Exploring How Generative AI Can Support ADA Compliance for Election Websites

The AI & Elections Clinic is pleased to collaborate with Georgetown University graduate student Sam Rowland and Prof. Lia Merivaki from the McCourt School of Public Policy on several upcoming prompts exploring practical and responsible uses of generative AI in election administration.

Web content accessibility creates distinct obstacles for individuals with disabilities. Information access needs vary depending on a person’s disability, but those needs must be addressed to ensure that everyone has equal access to information online.

In 2024, updated federal standards clarified how state and local governments should apply the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to their websites and mobile applications, incorporating specific technical requirements based on the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).

Because the WCAG resource is highly technical and does not include a straightforward checklist, we set out to create one that election offices can use to audit their websites.

Prompts in Practice

Use Case/Purpose

Produce an ADA and WCAG compliance web accessibility checklist that election offices can use to assess website content accessibility.

Source

ADA Guidelines On Website Accessibility

AI Tool Used

Claude Sonnet 4.5

Prompt

I want to produce a web accessibility audit checklist for my elections office using the federal government’s WCAG2 guidance. Review the guidelines in this resource and produce a checklist that my elections office can use to determine whether our election website meets these guidelines. Make sure to include all criteria (A, AA, AAA). Format the checklist to a print-friendly format.

Audience

Election officials who want to assess whether their website meets accessibility requirements

Output

Claude produced a checklist, which we exported as HTML and then saved as a five-page PDF. The generated checklist includes a “how-to” section alongside a list of common features most likely to be missing from websites (like alt text in images). Below is a snippet of what it looks like, and the full PDF output can be accessed here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zl2-VDv8QMk9b0SZISm9QfZ5CwtOn9S2/view.

AI Use Safety Signal

🟡 Caution

This use case supports accessibility by using a generative AI tool to summarize technical guidance and create a checklist for evaluating election websites. Outputs should be reviewed for accuracy against official WCAG resources and verified by subject-matter experts. Always consult legal counsel for advice on accessibility compliance. AI-generated materials should be treated as informational aids, not legal determinations.