Web Accessibility

Web accessibility involves making sure that web pages and documents posted online are properly formatted so people with disabilities can access and understand the content. For example, visually impaired users may rely on screen readers to access web content, including documents. Therefore, these resources need to be created to ensure screen readers can easily access and read the content. Additionally, some users may be limited to keyboard-only access, so websites and documents should be  able to be "tabbed" through using only a keyboard. There are some linked resources on this page that provide some guidance in properly creating web content.

In April 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice updated the Title II ADA requirements to mandate that websites (and posted documents) meet accessibility standards, specifically the WCAG 2.1 AA guidelines. For Greenville County Schools, compliance with these standards is required by April 2027.

To meet these guidelines, content on web pages and documents should follow these best practices:

Upcoming Training

Effective April 2027, Greenville County Schools employees creating public website content must meet new ADA Title II accessibility standards. 

Teachers and Staff

Making Your Google Site ADA Compliant - 10/16/2026 - 1:00 pm

Making Your Google Site ADA Compliant - 11/2/2026 - 1:00 pm

Refer to previous training resources on the right side of this page (bottom of page if mobile).

Use a Proper Heading Structure

• Start with a Heading 1 (or top-level heading) and follow a logical structure, keeping parallel headings consistent and avoiding skipped levels.

• Avoid using heading styles solely to make text appear larger. Headings should only tag true headings.

• Google Sites Headings

  • Heading 1 = Title

  • Heading 2 = Heading

  • Heading 3 = Subheading

Provide Alternative Text for Images

• Ensure every image on a website or in a document has appropriate alternative text, unless the image is purely decorative.

• Do not post or link to images that contain large amounts of text (flyers, posters, announcements). Use real text on the page, or a PDF with selectable, tagged text. A PDF can be embedded so it still looks like a designed flyer.

• Why avoid images of text?

  • Compliance: important text in an image must also be available as text. Putting an entire flyer into the alt attribute is allowed but is hard for screen-reader users. Prefer nearby real text or an accessible PDF.

  • Readability: text baked into an image does not scale cleanly. Smaller images mean smaller, blurrier type.

  • Reuse: people cannot select, copy, or translate text that exists only as pixels.

  • Exception: An image that contains a lot of text may be posted if the same wording appears as real, selectable text next to the image (immediately above, below, or beside it—not only on another page). Keep the image’s alt text short (for example, “Fall Open House flyer; full text below”). Do not put the entire flyer into the alt attribute.

Use Meaningful Linked Text

• • Avoid generic phrases like "Click here" or "More information." Linked text should be meaningful on its own, even out of context. Avoid linking using the URL, but provide meaningful text instead.

  • **Incorrect**: Click here |  https://www.greenville.k12.sc.us/

  • **Correct**: Greenville County Schools

Ensure Sufficient Color Contrast

• Text and background color should have enough contrast to be readable for users with low vision.

Use Tables Only for Tabular Data

• Avoid using tables for content layout. Tables should only display data in columns and rows with clear headers.

Avoid Scanned PDFs

• Scanned PDFs can be inaccessible for screen readers, which cannot interpret text from images of text. If you must use a scanned PDF, use Adobe Acrobat’s OCR (Optical Character Recognition) tool to make the text accessible.

South Carolina Department of Education Accessibility Resources

• Document Accessibility Checklist for districts

• Basic Principles for Creating Accessible Digital Content