Every school wants its website to be useful for everyone, but can every parent, student, and community member easily find the information they need on your district's site? For the more than 70 million Americans living with a disability, the answer may be “no.”

Recent updates to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) have made school website accessibility a legal requirement, and with the countdown for school districts to comply with the new standards, many are wondering about the ADA, web guidelines, and what they need to bring their sites into compliance.

Let's take a look at the basics and make sure your web design and its content serves everyone, especially users with disabilities.

Why Accessibility Matters

Millions of individuals in the United States live with a hearing, visual, cognitive, and motor disability that could affect website interactions—that’s about one in four Americans, and with this demographic representing a significant portion of the school community, accessible school websites serve both legal and ethical imperatives.

Imagine trying to understand a website when you can't see the pictures, navigate the site, understand the jargon, or hear the videos. Many face these kinds of challenges, but with a little assistance from the latest technology, an intuitive navigation, clear language, and more, users can have a much easier time accessing your district's website.

Furthermore, the legal expectations for accessible digital content have increased, which means school website accessibility now requires the attention of every public school.

Understanding the New Legal Requirements

Public schools receiving federal funding must adhere to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. These laws mandate effective communication for individuals with disabilities, creating an equivalent to communication with those without disabilities.

• ADA Title II: Recent updates to Title II of the ADA established specific technical standards for requiring public entities (public schools) to make their digital content readily accessible. This means schools must proactively audit and remediate their websites and their digital content to meet or exceed WCAG 2.1 Level AA standards.
   
• WCAG 2.1 Level AA: The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) provide internationally recognized standards for web accessibility. Level AA compliance is the latest benchmark that schools should target.
   
• Section 508: This section of the Rehabilitation Act applies to federal agencies and any entities receiving federal funds, including public schools. It requires that electronic and information technology be accessible to employees and members of the public with disabilities.

Phase 1. Simple Steps to Get Started with Accessibility

If you're starting your school's website accessibility journey, you're in the right place. Let's break down the process into manageable steps, moving from basic checks to more advanced strategies.

1. Make Images Understandable for Everyone with Alternative Text

Every image on your website needs "alt text"—a short, descriptive phrase that explains what the image shows.

How to do it: When you upload an image to your website, there's usually a field labeled "alt text" or "alternative text." Fill this in with a clear and concise description. For example, instead of leaving it blank, you could add, "Students working together on a science experiment in a classroom, using beakers and microscopes."

Why it matters: Screen readers used by people with visual impairments read this text aloud, allowing them to understand the image's content.

2. Captions and Transcripts: Open Up Content to a Wider Audience

Under the new requirements, all digital content on your public school’s website will need to meet accessibility standards, including videos with captions or transcripts, which could be provided as a separate document.

How to do it: Most video platforms (like YouTube or Vimeo) have built-in captioning tools, as seen on the video featured on Oregon School District’s employee page. You can also use third-party captioning services for captions or transcripts, or manually edit those assets as well.

Why it matters: Captions help people who are deaf or hard of hearing, and transcripts offer another way to consume video content, which also benefits users in noisy environment or who prefer watching without sound—some 74% of Facebook videos are watched without sound!

3. Organize Content with Clear Headings for Easy Navigation

Headings (like "About Us," "School News," "Upcoming Events") help structure your web pages and create a hierarchy of information.

How to do it: Use heading tags (H1, H2, H3, etc.) in your website's editor. H1 is for the main title, H2 for subheadings, and so on.

Why it matters: Headings help everyone, especially those using screen readers, understand the page layout and navigate more efficiently. Proper heading structure is also important for search engine optimization and helping Google read the page.

4. Link Clarity: Guide Users with Descriptive Link Text

Link text are the clickable words or phrases in calls to action (CTAs) that take users to another page or document. You want to avoid generic phrases like "click here," and instead, use descriptive text that tells users where the link will take them.

Example: Instead of "Learn more," use "Learn more about the district’s attendance policy," similar to how Oakwood City School District has phrased its CTAs on its education services page.

Why it matters: Clear link text helps users understand the purpose of each link and improves navigation, especially for those using screen readers.

5. Keyboard Navigation: Make Your Site Usable Without a Mouse

Keyboard navigation means users can access and experience all of your website's features using only the keyboard, like by using the tab, enter, arrow keys.

How to do it: Try navigating your website without touching the mouse. Can you access all links, buttons, and form fields? If not, you should check in with your website provider.

Why it matters: Many people with motor disabilities rely on keyboard navigation, and this consideration also includes folks with broken bones and busy parents with their hands-full, unable to using a mouse. If your site is not keyboard accessible, those users are excluded.

6. Find a Basic Accessibility Tool to Identify Common Issues

Website scanning tools are software programs that check your website for accessibility errors. The services provided by AudioEye and its visual toolkit can help identify common errors, suggest edits for quick fixes, and customize a user's viewing experience for more comfortable browsing.

Why it matters: Tools like this can quickly highlight common problems, like missing alt text, low contrast, or broken links, giving you a starting point for improvements.

Phase 2: Ongoing Efforts for Meeting Accessibility Standards

These steps require more in-depth work and setting up a plan for maintaining accessibility.

1. Get a Clear Picture of Your Website's Accessibility

Start a systematic review of your website and identify any accessibility barriers.

How to do it: You can use built-in tools to identify issues, but also involve manual testing and actually user testing with people with disabilities.

Why it matters: An audit provides a clearer picture of just how accessible your website is, and that lets you prioritize improvements.

2. Fix Existing Barriers for a Better User Experience

Once you’ve identified accessibility issues, you’ll need an action plan to remove any problems. Remediation involves correcting the accessibility errors found during your audit. Correct alt text, implement keyboard navigation, add captions and transcripts, double-check proper heading structure, and review your links' text.

If you're not sure where to start, experts from AudioEye can assist with remediation and ensure your site complies with the ADA.

Why it matters: Remediation removes existing barriers and improves everyone's overall user experience.

3. Choose an Accessible CMS: Simplify Content Creation and Maintenance

A content management system (CMS) is the software you use to create and manage your website content. Choose a CMS provider that supports WCAG 2.1 Level AA compliance, offers accessibility tools, and provides ongoing support so you're not caught off guard.

Finalsite’s CMS, Composer, provides an accessibility checker to warn users of common accessibility errors and suggest changes. Plus, if you're looking to get your site up and running quickly AND meet the WCAG standards for websites and ADA compliance, Finalsite's Theme designs are launched with the proper ADA requirements in place.

Why it matters: An accessible CMS simplifies the process of creating and maintaining accessible content while also reducing the risk of introducing new barriers.

4. Empower Your Staff to Maintain Accessibility Standards

Training your content editors helps everyone who creates or updates website content understand accessibility best practices. So, schedule your training now, and provide regular training sessions, create accessibility guidelines, and offer ongoing support.

Why it matters: Training empowers your website admins to maintain accessibility standards going forward.

Keep Reading: School Website Accessibility: Who's Responsible?

5. Think Long-Term Accessibility

Monitor and regularly check your website for accessibility issues so you can address them before they get out of hand. Conduct regular audits, create a process for handling accessibility complaints, and use monitoring tools.

Why it matters: Even as content is added or standards evolve over time, continuous monitoring helps your website remain accessible.

6. Engage the Community

Seek input from people with disabilities and other stakeholders. Form an accessibility advisory committee, solicit feedback, and make your accessibility policy known.

Why it matters: Community involvement creates a culture of inclusivity and provides valuable feedback so your site can meet the needs of all users.

Key Takeaway

Accessibility can seem like a major initiative, but it all starts with small, simple steps in the right direction. School districts can create inclusive online experiences for everyone in their community, and it begins by choosing a CMS provider that prioritizes accessibility and assists schools in meeting the latest accessibility standards.  

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. At Finalsite, 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.