Melrose Launches New Online Tool With The Goal Of Improving Public Document Accessibility

MELROSE, MA — The city has launched a new website tool designed to make thousands of public documents easier for residents to access, search, and understand.

The new feature, called DocAccess, is now integrated throughout the city's website. The rollout reportedly includes 5,492 existing documents totaling 99,846 pages, including archived records, meeting agendas, and budget documents.

DocAccess automatically converts PDF files into more accessible web pages that meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA accessibility standards. Residents can search documents, navigate lengthy files using an interactive outline, ask questions about documents using a built-in question-and-answer feature, and translate documents into more than 250 languages. The platform is also designed to work with screen readers, keyboard navigation, and mobile devices, including older scanned and handwritten documents.

The rollout comes as state and local governments continue working to improve digital accessibility under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Title II of the ADA has required equal access to government services since 1990, and new federal regulations adopted in 2024 establish accessibility standards for state and local government websites and mobile applications.

The city said the initiative also includes a partnership with accessibility company Aira, allowing residents to access free live visual interpretation when using the city's website. Officials said the service is designed to protect user privacy by collecting only aggregated, de-identified usage data and not using city content to train artificial intelligence models.

DocAccess will also provide analytics showing which documents residents access most frequently, what questions they ask most often, and which languages are being used. City officials said the information will help improve communication with residents and make public information easier to find over time.

"This is really about making sure people can get the information they need without having to navigate or download a less accessible PDF file," City Clerk Tanji Cifuni said. "If someone is helping a friend or relative, reading on a phone, using a screen reader, or trying to understand a budget in a language other than English, we want Melrose to be easier to work with. That's the standard we should set for ourselves."

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