AGENDAS & MINUTES For local governments
Online agendas and minutes residents can read.
Agendas & Minutes gives every board and commission one page where the agenda, packet, video and minutes for each meeting stay together. Your PDF agendas become web pages built to meet WCAG 2.1 AA, so residents can read them on a phone or with a screen reader instead of calling the office.
- Every tool included
- WCAG 2.1 AA
- Works with BS&A
Why are agendas so hard to find on most local government websites?
Most meeting records grow one upload at a time. The agenda goes in one folder, the packet in another, the video on a separate channel and the minutes months later on a page nobody remembers. Each piece is there, but nothing ties them to the meeting.
What residents run into
- A resident who wants Tuesday's agenda has to guess which department, folder or year it was filed under.
- Scanned agenda PDFs are pictures of text, so a screen reader announces nothing useful and a phone shows a page too small to read.
- Finding out what the board decided means matching a video date to a minutes file by hand.
What your staff deal with
- The day before a meeting, your staff upload the same agenda to two or three places and hope they all match.
- When someone can't find a packet, the phone rings and you email it to them yourself.
- Approved minutes pile up waiting for someone to post them, and old meetings drift out of order.
How does posting a meeting work?
Your staff work from the meeting, not from a folder. Everything about that meeting hangs off one entry.
Create the meeting
Pick the board or commission, set the date and time, and the meeting shows up on that board's page and on the calendar.
Attach the agenda and packet
Upload the agenda PDF and the packet. The agenda is turned into a web page residents can read, and the original PDF stays available next to it.
Add the video after the meeting
Add the recording to the same meeting, so anyone who missed it finds the video right beside the agenda they were reading.
Post the minutes when they're approved
Attach the minutes to the meeting they belong to. The record is complete, in date order, on the board's page.
What comes with Agendas & Minutes?
Everything a meeting needs, from the first notice to the approved minutes.
A page for each board and commission
Your board of trustees, planning commission, zoning board of appeals and every other body get their own page with upcoming meetings at the top and past meetings below. Residents who follow one board don't wade through the others.
Agenda, packet, video and minutes in one place
Each meeting is a single entry that holds every document and the recording. Nobody has to cross-reference a video date against a folder of minutes to learn what happened.
PDF agendas converted to accessible web pages
The agenda residents open is a real web page with headings and readable text, so it works with screen readers, zooms on a phone and can be searched. The PDF you uploaded is still there for anyone who wants it.
Calendar and RSS feeds so residents can follow any board
Residents and local reporters can subscribe to one board's meetings in their own calendar app or feed reader, and new meetings arrive without anyone checking the website.
Built accessible
Agendas built to meet WCAG 2.1 AA
ADA Title II sets WCAG 2.1 AA as the standard for your website, documents included, with deadlines of April 26, 2027 or April 26, 2028 depending on your population. The rule may still change. An agenda that's a web page is far easier to keep accessible than a scanned PDF, which is why this tool converts them. Board packets with scanned exhibits still need review, and the PDF guide covers which files to fix first.
What do state open meetings laws say about posting online?
Several states tie meeting notices or minutes to your website. The rules below come from our state guides. Follow a state's name for the full section and the statute, and check current law with your attorney before relying on it.
| State | Requirement | What the law says | Statute |
|---|---|---|---|
| Michigan | Special and rescheduled meeting notices | Post at least 18 hours ahead on the homepage, or on a notices page with a prominent homepage link | MCL 15.265(4) (opens in a new tab) |
| Illinois | Regular meeting agendas | Posted at least 48 hours ahead and kept up until the meeting ends, with notice of all governing body meetings | 5 ILCS 120/2.02 (opens in a new tab) |
| Illinois | Approved minutes | Online within 10 days after approval, kept at least 60 days | 5 ILCS 120/2.06 (opens in a new tab) |
| Indiana | Livestream and archive | Live video on a public platform, archives linked to agenda, minutes and memoranda, kept at least 90 days | IC 5-14-1.5-2.9 (opens in a new tab) |
| Ohio | Meeting notice | Each body sets a "reasonable method" by rule; special meetings need 24 hours' notice to media that asked; no website rule | R.C. 121.22(F) (opens in a new tab) |
| Wisconsin | Meeting notice | Three public places, one public place plus the website, or paid publication; at least 24 hours ahead | Wis. Stat. § 19.84 (opens in a new tab) |
| Minnesota | Special meeting notice | Bulletin board or meeting room door, plus mail to people who asked (or the newspaper), three days ahead; no website rule | Minn. Stat. 13D.04 (opens in a new tab) |
Questions about Agendas & Minutes.
Short answers, linked to the law where it applies. Ask us anything else on a demo.
Do meeting agendas posted online have to be accessible?
Yes, once your ADA Title II date arrives. The rule applies WCAG 2.1 AA to web content and to documents like PDFs that you post, and agendas are among the files residents use most. The dates are April 26, 2027 for governments of 50,000 or more and April 26, 2028 for everyone else (ADA.gov (opens in a new tab)).
Are old agendas and minutes exempt from ADA Title II?
Some can be. The rule exempts archived content that was made before the compliance date, is kept only for reference or recordkeeping, isn't changed afterward and sits in an area clearly marked as archived. Each condition has to be met, and anyone can still ask for an accessible copy (28 CFR 35.201 (opens in a new tab)).
Do meeting videos need captions?
WCAG 2.1 AA asks for captions on prerecorded video with audio and on live video. The success criteria are 1.2.2 and 1.2.4 (W3C (opens in a new tab)). Whether an older recording is exempt depends on the archive conditions in the rule, so check with your attorney about your backlog of past meetings.
Can we keep posting the PDF agenda too?
Yes. The original PDF stays attached to the meeting, next to the web page version. Some residents and board members like to print the PDF, and the web page gives everyone else a version that reads well on a phone and works with a screen reader.
What happens to our past agendas and minutes if we switch?
We move your meeting archives for you, grouped by board and by meeting date, as part of building your community's new website. You don't need your current vendor's help to start. The websites page explains what moves over and how your domain stays yours.
Want to see a meeting go from agenda to minutes?
We'll post a sample board meeting on a demo, show the agenda as a web page and walk through the feeds residents use to follow along.