Audit of the Appellate Tax Board (November 3, 2025)

This is a performance audit of the Massachusetts Appellate Tax Board, focusing on whether parts of its website were accessible to users, including people with disabilities.

“In accordance with Section 12 of Chapter 11 of the Massachusetts General Laws, the Office of the State Auditor has conducted a performance audit of certain activities of the Appellate Tax Board (ATB) for the period July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024.”

The Auditor wanted to know whether the board's website followed recognized web accessibility rules for things like navigation, keyboard use, language, forms, and color contrast.

“The purpose of our audit was to determine whether ATB’s website adhered to the World Wide Web Consortium’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 for user accessibility, keyboard accessibility, navigation accessibility, language accessibility, error identification, and color accessibility.”

Accessible websites help make sure people with disabilities can use government services and information online.

“Adherence to WCAG helps ensure that all users, regardless of ability, can access the content and functions of ATB’s website.”

If you use the Appellate Tax Board website to look up hearings, forms, guides, or appeal information, this audit says the sampled pages met the accessibility requirements tested.

“ATB maintains a web presence on its mass.gov website, on which users can find information about upcoming and past proceedings, as well as forms and guides for residents interested in initiating an appeal.”

The audit found the Appellate Tax Board's website complied with the accessibility standards the Auditor tested.

“Did ATB’s website comply with the Executive Office of Technology Services and Security’s Enterprise Information Technology Accessibility Policy and the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 for user accessibility, keyboard accessibility, navigation accessibility, language accessibility, error identification, and color accessibility?”

Because the audit found no reportable problems, the report does not list corrective actions or findings for the agency to fix.

“Our audit revealed no significant instances of noncompliance by ATB that must be reported under generally accepted government auditing standards; therefore, this report contains no findings.”

This matters because many residents rely on government websites, and a large number of Massachusetts adults report having a disability that may affect how they use the web.

“The impact of these standards can be significant, as the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 1,488,012 adults (26% of the adult population) in Massachusetts have a disability, as of 2022.”

The Appellate Tax Board is like a specialized court for tax disputes, where taxpayers can challenge denied appeals involving local or state taxes.

“ATB is a quasi-judicial agency, and its purpose is to hear taxpayer (appellant) appeals for abatements of property taxes, personal property taxes, water bills, and motor vehicle excise taxes that have been denied by local boards of assessors (appellees).”