When citizens interact with the State of Michigan (SOM), our goal is to make their transition from one platform to another, and from one agency to another, as seamless and easy as possible. Consistent content design and branding across websites, mobile applications, social media, and other digital communications helps build a unified user experience and establishes trust with citizens.
The SOM provides a list of enterprise digital policies on the SOM website, including but not limited to; terms of use policy, disclaimer of warranty, disclaimer of liability, security and monitoring notice, notice on use of the State Seal and Coat-of-Arms, linking notice, disclaimer of endorsement, jurisdiction-governing law, severability, privacy policy, mobile applications license terms of use and more. When designing, procuring, or proposing digital solutions for the SOM, please be aware of these policies and the below standards and guidelines to ensure they are integrated into your products and digital services.
The State of Michigan (SOM) has adopted the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA as our standard for digital accessibility.
All SOM Digital Content shall at minimum conform to WCAG 2.1 AA.
All Digital Content1 that does not currently meet this standard must meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA before the Federal enforcement date of April 24, 2026.
If there is a known risk that Digital Content cannot meet this standard by the enforcement date, Agencies must follow the Digital Accessibility Exception and Risk Acceptance Process to evaluate alternative actions.
1“Digital Content” means all “conventional electronic documents”, “web content”, and “mobile applications” as those terms are defined in ADA Title II, 28 CFR Part 35 Section 104, including but not limited to websites, applications, software, content, electronic documents, mobile applications, text, images, sounds, videos, controls, animations, links, and files in the following formats: PDF, word processing, presentation, and spreadsheets, that are created, provided, or made available by the State directly (such as on a State of Michigan hosted site) or through contractual, licensing, or other arrangements (such as on a vendor or other third-party site, including but not limited to social media).
The SOM Digital Standards for Websites and Applications were established to ensure that visitors have a similar experience throughout all state applications, portals, and agency sites. This includes native mobile applications created for SOM business.
The SOM Digital Standards for Websites and Applications were established to ensure that visitors have a similar experience throughout all state applications, portals, and agency sites.
All websites and applications, both web and mobile, for all executive branch state departments, agencies, and sub-units must adhere to:
The Native Mobile Application Guidelines communicates important design and development standards for native mobile applications produced and maintained for the purpose of conducting official state business with the SOM. Native Mobile Applications must adhere to:
The SOM Digital Accessibility guidelines are set in policy by DTMB and appear in the Administrative Guide to State Government. Specifically, federal rule includes Social Media in ADA Title II and SOM Policy 1650 (regulates) how Social Media, documents, training, communication (i.e., email) is used or created for use by the public and employees.
The SOM is committed to providing access to public information for all citizens, including those with disabilities, who use state websites, applications, and digital services. In keeping with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and the spirit of effective citizen-centric communication, the SOM has adopted:
Effective October 23, 2019, policy updates cover all Executive Branch Departments, Agencies, and Sub-units.
The SOM encourages the use of social media, social networking sites and emerging web tools to enhance transparency, communication, customer service, collaboration and information exchange among the SOM and the public. To view current social media standards and guidelines visit our social media standard page.
Questions can be sent to socialmedia@michigan.gov.
Questions on digital accessibility can be sent to DigitalAccessibility@Michigan.gov.
