We design websites to convey information. We visit websites to consume information. We try to design our websites to be logical and to provide valuable information. But what if that information weren’t readily accessible to all of our intended audience?
The heart of making a website accessible is just that: we want the website to be accessible. This is not a burden - it is our responsibility.
The spirit of building a website that is accessible is a spirit of inclusion. It is our intention, through designing and providing the appropriate tools, to make our websites available to the widest possible interested audience. For some schools, this will mean providing translations of key content into multiple different languages. For others, it may mean regional cultural or racial concepts should be highlighted and respected.
For all of us, building websites that are accessible to people of all abilities is important.
Districts provide websites for a variety of reasons. These reasons can generally be categorized as information, amusement and regulatory requirements.
Information may include school schedules, hot lunch menus, sports schedules, homework and other community-based interest content.
Amusement may be video highlights of a school concert or sporting event.
Regulatory requirements are those things specifically called out in MCA such as: board meeting postings, board minutes and school board policy.
Given the wide range of reasons districts choose to provide websites, it is fair to say that the information provided is important for the community. As this information is public in nature, it must be presented in a way that all community members can access this information.
The Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits discrimination based on disabilities. In a nutshell: the ADA provides a means of guaranteeing a best-effort attempt is made not to exclude a population based on an ability-difference.
In much of our thinking, this is about physical access to locations. We immediately think of wheelchair ramps, designated elevators or handicap access doors. These are all valid and important accommodations.
Think harder. What about large print books? Closed-captioning on television and movies? A sign-language interpreter for a public speaker? These are all equally important accommodations and are much more relevant examples when it comes to website creation.
Montana public schools are not held to any additional special state law regarding website accessibility. Therefore, federal law and policy are the most restrictive guidelines regarding website accessibility for Montana public schools.
According to conversations had with the Office for Civil Rights, the ADA is the most prescriptive law and guidelines governing school district websites. The ADA does not prescribe technical details for compliance. School districts are not, by law, under any legal obligation to follow any prescribed federal or other body’s recommendations regarding website accessibility. The WCAG2.0aa and ARIA standards (more later on this) are NOT required for Montana districts to meet under most circumstances.
The ADA is the primary guideline currently impacting Montana public school districts. It is a law governing intent, not a law prescribing particular actions. This is open to interpretation for schools. Schools should design websites that are accessible to all members of the public that can reasonably be expected to navigate websites where proper accommodations have been made.
This depends. As there is no legally-prescribed technical guideline for compliance, many districts use one of the many open-standards guidelines available on the Internet. The WCAG2.0aa (pronounced “web-cag 2-point-oh-A-A”) guidelines are widely used as the current gold-standard for compliance. The WCAG2.0aa guidelines are the base standard used by the Office for Civil rights to measure a website’s accessibility as the OCR resolves public complaints.
To ensure the district website is compliant, it must pass the tests of accessibility. There is no simple prescribed test for accessibility. The WCAG2.0aa guidelines do a good job of technically prescribing standards. The ARIA standards define accessibility criteria for rich elements of your website. When all of the WCAG and ARIA standards are met, accessibility should be achieved. But this is not the only way to meet the spirit of accessibility.
META has created a set of tests that we feel is a good starting point to test accessibility. If your district’s website passes all of the META tests, you are well on your way to being a compliant website.
The World Wide Web Consortium has developed an overview of the four principles of accessibility. Since accessibility is not about technical conformity but instead about meeting the spirit of accessibility, it is important to understand these principles. The following are taken directly from the W3C principles website:
If any of these are not true, users with disabilities will not be able to use the Web.