Website accessibility has always been about inclusion—making sure that everyone has the same opportunity to engage with a website, whether they have a visual impairment, a hearing difficulty, or any other challenge that might make using the Internet harder.

But there’s another, often overlooked, benefit to making your school’s website accessible, and it’s a big one: accessibility prepares your site for the future.

As tech evolves, how people interact with the Internet is also changing. Voice assistants like Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant are becoming more common, users are getting more information faster and more efficiently, and artificial intelligence (AI) is shaking up the SEO game one search at a time.

Furthermore, the ADA Title II updates have given schools deadlines to comply or risk a complaint from the Office of Civil Rights (OCR), so there’s not a moment to waste—every accessibility effort put into practice today only improves your school's position for tomorrow.

One of the most exciting parts of accessibility's evolution is how it connects with new technologies. These tools rely on sites that are well-structured, clearly labeled, and feature easy-to-understand content—the same foundation needed for an accessible school website.

From Compliance to User Experience | Benefits of Accessible Web Design

Web accessibility has come a long way from just being a set of rules for schools to follow. At first, the main focus of web accessibility was on meeting standards like the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), created back in 1999.

Schools followed these guidelines to stay compliant with laws and avoid potential legal issues, but the conversation around accessibility has grown, and it's not just about following rules anymore—it's about making websites that everyone can use easily, which is good for all users.

Lake Washington School District uses AudioEye’s Visual Toolkit, which allows users to personalize their web browsing experience. With options to instantly customize the page’s color contrast, spacing, text size, and more, Lake Washington is ready to offer a considerate and future-forward user experience.

There’s been a shift from just meeting guidelines to focusing on user experience. When your school thinks about accessibility as part of the overall user experience, you’ll create websites that work better for everyone.

For example:

• A site that's easy for someone with a visual impairment to navigate is also more accessible for a busy parent using their phone in a hurry. 
• Adding alt text to images helps screen readers describe the image to someone who can’t see it, but it also helps images load faster and improves search engine optimization (SEO).
• Text that’s more straightforward is easier to scan and understand.

Accessibility and Voice Assistants

Technology isn’t slowing down, and the tools people use to interact with the Internet will only get smarter, easier, and more integrated into everyday life. By making accessibility a priority now, your school is ensuring that its website is ready to meet the needs of tomorrow’s users, no matter how they choose to access information.

Voice assistants like Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant have become a big part of how people find and use information. Nowadays, more than 50% of adults use voice search daily, and there are over 1 billion voice searches every month!

To do their jobs well, voice assistants need websites with clear headings, well-structured text, and meaningful labels—straightforward and well-organized content.

For example, if you use proper headings (like H1 for your title and H2 for subheadings), the voice assistant knows how to prioritize and deliver the right information. While alt text is meant to describe images for people who can’t see them, it also helps voice assistants know what the image is about so they can include that information when needed.

• If a parent asks, “What are the school hours?” and your website has a clear section labeled with that information, the voice assistant can easily find it and provide the right answer.
• Instead of linking text that says “click here,” it’s better to use more descriptive language, like “learn more about our school programs,” so the voice assistant can tell the user exactly what the link is for.

Voice assistants are designed to understand straightforward language, so writing in a clear, concise way helps them work better.

A voice search for “How does a family in Harrisburg School District update their change of address to the school?” produces a featured snippet for the district's procedure for updating an address—so easy, thanks to the page structure and proper headings of the page.

Keeping Reading: How to Choose Your School's Website Accessibility Solution

The Role of AI in Web Accessibility

Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing how people engage with just about everything, including how families interact with your school's website. AI tools, like chatbots and virtual assistants, are becoming more common in helping users find information faster and get answers to their questions without needing to contact someone directly or even click through to a site.

AI tools rely on information structured in a way that makes sense to search algorithms. When generative AI like ChatGPT and Claude or Google’s AI Overviews answers a question, it needs to be able to locate and process the right details quickly.

As Brandywine’s School District has done, a page built with clear structures, such as headings, lists, and labels, makes it easier for AI to find what it needs. As AI continues to grow, it’s clear that websites designed with accessibility in mind are better suited to work with this new tech.

Key Takeaway

While accessibility has always been about inclusion and fairness, it’s also about preparing for the future. Embrace a mindset that looks forward, not just at what’s needed right now but at what might be needed down the road. By focusing on accessibility, you’re making a smart investment in the future of your school’s digital presence, ensuring that its websites remain relevant, helpful, and easy to navigate as technology evolves. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Connor has spent the last decade within the field of marketing and communications, working with independent schools and colleges throughout New England. As Finalsite’s Senior Content Marketing Manager, Connor plans and executes marketing strategies and digital content across the web. A former photojournalist, he has a passion for digital media, storytelling, coffee, and creating content that connects.