Google Sites

Accessible Staff Websites

All SMCPS Staff are accountable for any web content they make publicly available. This includes New Google Sites and any resources hosted on those sites. This page will discuss some techniques to keep your Google Site WCAG compliant.

Google Sites

Staff-created websites should only be Google Sites.
All staff-created Google Sites should invite dmt@smcps.org as an editor. This ensures safe, accessible website content for all SMCPS staff websites.
All SMCPS Accessibility Guidelines apply to your Google Site.
Classic Google Sites, Wix, Weebly, Square, WordPress, and similar website-building applications are not supported.
- If you have a Classic Google Site, you will need to convert it.
If you would like a template from which to start building, please contact webmaster@smcps.org, and one will be created for you.

Our Official SMCPS Footer

As part of our accessibility commitment, we ensure every website page we publish includes this footer whenever possible. The footer supports accessibility, equity, equal opportunity, and communication. All SMCPS website-based communications, including online newsletters, should include this footer. This applies to both internal & external sites and communications. Every footer should include a link to our accessibility statement and a way to contact the contact creator or SMCPS.

Below are the two links formatted for a footer. The links are listed with short URLs so they remain accessible even if the page or document is printed. You can and should adjust the contact link to match the published content.

smcps.org/accessibility | smcps.org/contact

Keep It Simple

The absolute best advice is to Keep It Simple. The less content you have, the less you need to worry about meeting WCAG standards and accessibility compliance. Only publicly host the absolute, most essential information. Limit PDFs. Limit externals links to sites and resources, unless those sites and resources are known to be accessible. Remember that any content you need a password to access, such as a private google site, does not need to be made accessible at this time.

Images

Images need alt text. While selecting an image in Google Sites, select the "3 dots" menu option and then Alt text to access the Alt text settings for that image.

Captioning images can add accessibility by further explaining what the function of the image is

Headings

Only use headings as headings! Do not use headings to simply change the size and style of your font!

Headers are extremely important to screen readers, but are also important for every user.

Avoid Embedded Elements

Embedded elements are amazing! But most are not web accessible yet. Avoid using the following New Google Sites Inserts whenever possible:

Calendar
Map
Docs
Slides
Sheets
Forms
Charts

Solutions

In most cases the content you would be adding can be linked to using a hyperlink. If you do include one of these elements be sure to snap a text box to the top explaining what it is and a second textbox to the bottom explaining what it does and offering accessibility assistance. Something like "If you need a more accessible calendar, please contact me."

See the calendar to the right for an example.

SMCPS System Calendar

If you need a more accessible calendar, please contact me."

Additional Material

In this video, we review embedded content, why we should not use it, and what we should use instead.

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