Virginia Beach IT Department Acknowledged for Efforts in Digital Innovation

The City of Virginia Beach Department of Information Technology (IT) was recently recognized with a Government Experience Overall Outstanding Achievement Award from the Center for Digital Government. By building a tightly integrated system, the City can deliver digital services to our residents, regardless of the user’s abilities or preferred platform. 

 The award recognized the following achievements: 

• 100% compliance on 43 City department websites and external websites, with web content accessibility guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA standards, the internationally accepted metric for website accessibility compliance. 

• 3,553 PDF documents have been corrected to meet Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards, ensuring that documents are accessible to screen readers and users with disabilities. 

• More than 250 City staff members have received training to craft ADA-compliant documents to ensure that newly created PDF content meets accessibility standards. 

• Implementation of an intelligent chatbot designed to provide immediate, accurate and personalized responses to user inquiries. 

• Establishing consistent and seamless experiences across platforms and services by implementing standardized design frameworks, adhering to brand guidelines and taking an accessibility-first approach on all platforms. 

The IT department has been consistently recognized for its accomplishments in the digital space at the state and national level, including the following in 2024: 

• Smart Cities North America Award 
• Smart 20 Award 
• Commonwealth Technology Award 
• Government Experience Award 

• Information Technology