Open Door Index: Can every Philadelphian get in the room?

What we found

Checked November 1, 2026, against each body's own meeting pages and most recent meeting documents.

The scorecard

Each body is checked against the same nine practices. A practice counts as met only when the body's own published materials document it.

Met: documented, with a source
Partial: part of the practice is documented
Not found: not in the materials we reviewed
Not yet audited: we couldn't check it yet

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Show practice

Compare every body

Read across a row for one body, or down a column to see which practices the whole city is missing.

Your rights at a public meeting

You can see the agenda a day ahead

Pennsylvania's Sunshine Act, as amended by Act 65 of 2021, requires agencies with a website to post meeting agendas there at least 24 hours before the meeting, and also at the meeting site and their main office. In October 2026, the legislature passed SB 1150 to close a loophole that let boards add items at the last minute by majority vote; Spotlight PA reports Governor Shapiro signed it.

You can ask for an accommodation

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, City programs, including public meetings, must communicate as effectively with Disabled people as with everyone else. The City says it provides reasonable modifications and communication aids at no cost. Requests go to the ADA Compliance Director at ADA.Request@phila.gov.

How to ask

Ask early, in writing, and name what you need: an ASL interpreter, CART live captions, large print, a step-free route, or a way to comment remotely. Copy the board's own contact if it publishes one.

If the answer is no

Ask for the reason in writing, then contact the City's Office for People with Disabilities. You can also send a tip to this index, so the next person finds out before they go.

Send a tip or correction

The Open Door standard

Every practice in this index is cheap to fix with one paragraph. Any board can paste this onto its agendas and meeting pages, fill in the brackets, and move up the index the same day.

Access paragraph for agendas

Everyone is welcome at this meeting. It is held at [address], which has [a step-free entrance at ___ / an accessible restroom on floor ___]. You can also join and speak live by video at [link] or by phone at [number].

Live captions [are provided / can be requested]. To request an ASL interpreter, CART captioning, materials in large print or another format, or any other accommodation, contact [name] at [email] or [phone] by [day and time]. Requests after that time will still be met whenever possible.

You can send written comments to [email] until [deadline]. A recording of this meeting will be posted at [link] within [number] days.

Field checklist for meeting observers

For Philadelphia Documenters, journalists, and residents who attend meetings. Note what you see in the room or online, then send it to the index so the scorecard stays current.

Body: ____________________ Date: __________ In person / online

Was the agenda online at least 24 hours before the meeting?
Did the agenda or meeting page explain how to request an accommodation, with a contact?
Could people speak live from home, by video or phone?
Were live captions on, on screen or online?
Was an ASL interpreter present or offered?
Was there a step-free route from the street to the meeting room?
Was there accessible seating, and could speakers reach the microphone seated?
Was the meeting recorded, with a note about where to find it?
Were handouts or slides available in another format, or online in advance?

Notes:

______________________________________________________________

Send a tip or correction

Saw something at a meeting, or found a page we missed? Every correction is checked and dated before it changes a score. Boards that update their pages can send the link, too.

How the index works

Open Door Index looks only at what each body publishes about its own meetings: its meeting page on phila.gov or its own site, and the instructions on its most recent agenda. That is what a resident sees before deciding whether to go. A body may do more in practice than it writes down; when it does, publishing it is the fix, and we will update the score as soon as we can see it.

Each body gets a count of practices met out of nine. Partial findings are shown but not counted. There are no letter grades, because the point is a to-do list, not a ranking.

Where a phila.gov document's web address includes its upload time, we use that time to check whether an agenda went up at least 24 hours ahead. We say so in the finding.

The SEPTA Board is regional rather than a City body and is not included. The index started with eleven bodies and will grow.

Disclosure. This index was built by Nico Meyering, who chairs the Mayor's Commission on People with Disabilities. That Commission was scored first, with the same rules as everyone else. This is an independent project. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Committee of Seventy, the City of Philadelphia, or any body listed here.

Sources

All sources were checked November 1, 2026.