Released Enhancements
Public Engagement Suite Now Available
We’re excited to introduce Public Engagement Suite, a new add-on to Agenda and Meeting Management Select designed to help municipalities manage public participation more clearly, efficiently, and transparently.
Public Engagement Suite brings together Speaker Sign-Up and Written Comments into a single, structured workflow tied directly to meetings and agenda items. This eliminates the need for manual processes like email inboxes, paper sign-up sheets, and spreadsheets.
What’s Included
Speaker Sign-Up
Allow residents to register to speak directly on agenda items in the Public Portal
Configure participation rules such as cutoff times and login requirements
Capture interpreter service requests for accessibility
Manage and organize speaker lists in a centralized workspace
Written Comments
Enable residents to submit written comments tied to specific agenda items
Configure character limits, attachments, and submission deadlines
Review and manage comments through a structured moderation workflow
Track resident position (Support, Oppose, Neutral) for better visibility
Key Capabilities
Unified Participation Workflow: Manage public input in one place, directly connected to agendas and meetings.
Configurable Participation Rules: Define and enforce local policies such as submission deadlines, login requirements, and participation settings.
Clerk Moderation Tools: Approve, reject, flag, or delete submissions with a clear audit trail in the Item Timeline.
Public Portal Experience: Provide residents with a clear and accessible way to participate online, whether submitting comments or signing up to speak.
Meeting Readiness and Organization: View speakers and written comments ahead of meetings to reduce last-minute coordination and improve meeting flow.
Records and Transparency: Capture participation in a structured, timestamped format that supports public records requests and transparency expectations.
Minutes and Report Integration: Use merge tags to include approved written comments and speaker participation directly in agenda packets or meeting minutes.
Why It Matters
Public participation is one of the most visible and important aspects of a municipal meeting, but it is often managed through disconnected tools and manual processes.
Public Engagement Suite helps municipalities:
Reduce administrative burden on clerks
Improve meeting efficiency and preparedness
Provide residents with clear, consistent participation options
Maintain a transparent and defensible record of public input
Additional Information
For more information, see the Public Engagement Suite section of our Help Center.
Availability
Public Engagement Suite is available as an add-on to Agenda and Meeting Management Select. Contact your Customer Success Manager for more information on enabling this feature.
Auto-Approve Speaker Requests and Written Comments
Clerks and administrators can now automatically approve Speaker Sign-Up requests and Written Comments upon submission as part of the Public Engagement Suite. This enhancement provides flexibility for municipalities that don’t require pre-moderation while maintaining full control over participation.
Enhancement Summary
Auto-Approve Settings by Meeting Type: New configuration options are available under Default Settings on Meeting Types settings
Auto Approve Speaker Sign-Up Requests
Auto Approve Written Comments
Default Behavior Preserved: Both settings are disabled by default. This ensures existing workflows remain unchanged unless explicitly enabled
Immediate Approval on Submission:
When enabled, all new speaker requests and written comments are automatically set to “Approved”
Submissions are immediately available for meeting preparation, reporting, and minutes workflows
Clerk Oversight Maintained:
Clerks can still flag or reject submissions after they are approved
Status changes update behavior accordingly
Meeting Type Scope:
Settings are applied at the Meeting Type level
New meetings inherit the configured behavior
No Impact to Existing Moderation Tools: Approval workflows, visibility rules, and moderation capabilities remain fully intact
What to Know
When enabled, public participation submissions will be approved automatically. This allows clerks to reduce manual review steps and streamline meeting preparation. Municipalities retain full control to review, flag, or reject submissions as needed. This ensures flexibility without sacrificing governance.
OneDrive Integration for File Attachments
Agenda and Meeting Management Select now supports an updated integration with Microsoft OneDrive. Clerks and staff can access and attach files directly from their OneDrive accounts. This eliminates the need to manually download and re-upload documents, streamlining document management workflows.
Key Features
OneDrive Integration: Agenda and Meeting Management Select integrates with the Microsoft OneDrive API using secure authentication through Microsoft Graph
User Authentication: Users can securely connect to their OneDrive account without exposing credentials
File Browsing and Selection:
Browse OneDrive file structure directly within Agenda and Meeting Management Select
Select and attach one or more files within supported workflows (such as agenda items and attachments)
Preserved File Metadata: Attached files retain important metadata such as file name.
Secure Token Handling: Authentication tokens are managed securely in accordance with SaaS best practices.
Robust Error Handling: Supports graceful handling of:
Authentication failures
Expired tokens
Permission issues
File retrieval errors
No Impact to Existing Workflows: Standard file upload functionality remains unchanged and continues to operate as expected
Highlights
Users can connect to OneDrive and attach files directly from their cloud storage without leaving Agenda and Meeting Management Select. This reduces manual steps, improves efficiency, and simplifies document management while maintaining security and reliability.
Allow Reuse of Email Addresses for Previously Deleted User Accounts
New user accounts can now be created using email addresses that were previously associated with deleted users. This enhancement improves user management. It also removes the need for workarounds when re-creating users and simplifies account management.
Key Enhancements
Email Reuse Enabled: Users can now create new accounts using email addresses tied to previously deleted users.
Improved User Lookup Logic: System queries now exclude deleted accounts when validating whether an email address is already in use.
Clean Deletion Handling: Deleted users are properly marked as inactive and excluded from future account creation checks.
Consistent Behavior Across System:
User creation and update workflows respect the new logic
Admin user lists and analytics views exclude deleted accounts
No Impact to Active Users: Existing active user accounts and permissions remain unchanged.
What You Should Know
Support and Implementation teams can now re-create users with previously used email addresses without encountering conflicts.This streamlines onboarding and reduces administrative overhead. It also eliminates the need for alternate email workarounds.
WCAG 2.1 Admin Portal Improvements
Improved Keyboard Accessibility and Focus Visibility in Design Workflows (2.4.7)
Agenda and Meeting Management Select has enhanced focus visibility and keyboard navigation across design-related workflows in the Admin Portal. This improves accessibility and usability for keyboard-only and assistive technology users. These updates ensure interactive elements are clearly visible and operable without a mouse.
Key Details
Visible Focus Indicators (WCAG 2.4.7 – Focus Visible): Buttons, links, and interactive elements now display clear visual focus states when navigated by keyboard. This improves visibility across:
Item Design
Minutes Design
Report Design
Keyboard Accessibility (WCAG 2.1.1 – Keyboard): Users can now navigate and interact with key components using keyboard input, including:
Add/Edit Design popups
Edit Order lists for Item, Minutes, and Report designs
Delete confirmation dialogs (including close icons)
File selector for image uploads in Meetings/Media
Improved Pop-up Accessibility: Modal dialogs now properly receive focus when opened. This ensures users can interact with form controls and close actions without requiring a mouse.
Consistent Interaction Behavior: All interactive controls now support predictable keyboard navigation and focus order across affected pages.
Enhanced Styling for Accessibility: Focusable CSS styles have been applied to buttons and anchor elements. This ensures consistent and visible focus highlighting.
What to Expect
Users navigating with a keyboard will now see clear focus indicators and can fully interact with design configuration pages and dialogs. These improvements enhance accessibility compliance. They also provide a more inclusive experience without altering existing workflows or functionality.
Improved Semantic Structure and Relationships in Admin Portal Views (1.3.1)
Agenda and Meeting Management Select has improved semantic structure and relationships across key Admin Portal views. This enhances accessibility and ensures content is properly interpreted by assistive technologies. These updates align with WCAG 2.1 requirements. They also ensure that content is programmatically understandable for screen readers and accessibility tools.
What’s New
Semantic Structure Improvements (WCAG 1.3.1 – Info and Relationships): Key views (including List, Data Fields, Export, Manage, and Save views) now include properly defined structure and relationships to ensure content is correctly conveyed to assistive technologies.
Accessible Page Titles: A default <h1> heading has been added to pages to establish a clear document structure. This heading is visually hidden but remains accessible to screen readers.
Improved Field Accessibility: Disabled and read-only fields now use consistent styling and accessibility handling. This ensures their state is clearly communicated to assistive technologies.
Enhanced Screen Reader Support: Updates improve how screen readers interpret page content, relationships between elements, and navigation across complex views.
Validated with Accessibility Tools: Improvements have been tested using tools such as WAVE (Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool), SiteImprove, and NVDA to ensure compliance and usability.
Details to Know
Users relying on screen readers will experience improved navigation and understanding of page content across Admin Portal views. These updates strengthen accessibility compliance. They also ensure that relationships between elements are clearly defined without impacting existing workflows or layouts.
Improved Semantic Structure and Relationships for Accessibility Compliance (1.3.1)
We have enhanced semantic structure, labeling, and element relationships across multiple Admin Portal views. This improves accessibility and ensures content is correctly interpreted by assistive technologies. These updates align with WCAG 2.1 requirements. They also improve usability for screen reader and keyboard users.
Update Details
Improved Structure and Relationships (WCAG 1.3.1 – Info and Relationships): HTML elements have been updated to ensure that relationships between content, labels, and structural components are programmatically defined and properly exposed to assistive technologies.
Enhanced Labeling and Associations: Form fields, table elements, and interactive components now include appropriate labels and associations. This ensures users can clearly understand their purpose and context.
Improved Table Semantics: Table structures now include proper header and scope relationships. This allows screen readers to correctly associate data cells with their corresponding headers.
Consistent Semantic Markup: Updates standardize the use of semantic HTML across affected views. This improves consistency and reducing accessibility gaps.
Enhanced Screen Reader Support: Improvements ensure that tools like NVDA can accurately interpret page structure and navigate content with appropriate context.
Validated with Accessibility Tools: Enhancements have been tested using WAVE, SiteImprove, and screen reader validation. This ensures compliance and usability.
Key Information
Users relying on assistive technologies will experience improved navigation, clearer context, and better understanding of content relationships across Admin Portal pages. These updates strengthen accessibility compliance without impacting existing workflows or functionality.