Who is Responsible for School Website Accessibility?
Over the last few years, school website accessibility has become a growing priority for disability rights advocates and district leaders. But who is ultimately responsible for ensuring that the school website is fully accessible?
The Office of Civil Rights puts full responsibility squarely on the school district’s shoulders, and an increasing number of districts have faced OCR complaints due to website accessibility under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). But as school webmasters work to address accessibility concerns, they often find that many of the problems identified by third-party website accessibility evaluation tools can’t be easily fixed within their CMS.
The truth is, school website accessibility is a shared responsibility. Half of the responsibility lies with school webmasters and content creators. The other half rests with the developer of the content management system (CMS) that the district is using to create their website.
Platform Accessibility Issues: The Responsibility of the CMS
The first step in developing an accessible school website is to select a CMS that has accessibility features built in. These features include things like:
Keyboard focus, which allows people using a keyboard to navigate your website to easily see where they are on the page.
A “skip repetitive content” feature.
Support for ARIA tags and labels to make it easier for people using screen readers to understand the structure of your website and navigate through it.
The ability to zoom to enlarge text and visuals without breaking the design of the site.
Design templates with high contrast ratios between text and backgrounds.
Easy access to elements like header tags and ALT text for images so content creators can control how their content is read by screen readers.
Many of these features are beyond the control of the webmaster or content creator. For example, if your CMS does not include a “skip to main content” function, it isn’t compliant and there isn’t anything that you, as a webmaster, can do. Similarly, if your platform doesn’t allow a user to tab through the content in a logical way, or if tab focus is weak or non-existent, you won’t be able to fix it.
In addition, the platform should guide content creators to make accessible choices, such as automatically giving major section headers “H2” tags and automatically suggesting high contrast font colors. Built-in guidance helps ensure that all newly created content is accessible.
Content Accessibility Issues: The Responsibility of Content Creators
On the other hand, having an accessible school website platform will not by itself ensure that all content on the site is accessible. Content creators have a responsibility to ensure that individual pieces of content are also accessible. For example:
Add descriptive ALT text to all images (with the exception of purely decorative images). These tags should describe what is in the actual image, and not simply restate the caption or header for the image. You want people who can’t see the image to get an understanding of what it is representing.
Use header tags appropriately. Header tags should not be used simply because you like the font size, style and color. Headers and subheads tell people using website accessibility software how the page is structured and help them navigate your content.
Video content should be captioned (you can do this using free tools on YouTube), and audio files such as podcasts should have a transcript available for people with hearing differences.
Content uploaded as a PDF may not be readable to screen readers. Content creators should make sure that PDFs are accessible or provide the information in a format that is visible to screen readers.
Use descriptive language for links. Instead of saying “click here” or “read more,” the link should describe what people will find if they click on it (e.g., “enrollment forms” or “fall athletic schedule”).
These are all examples of issues that even the most accessible CMS can’t address on its own. Each content creator must take responsibility for using the tools they have available to ensure that all content added to the site is accessible.
Need Help with School Website Accessibility?
eChalk is highly focused on accessibility. We believe that CMS providers have a responsibility to create platforms that enable schools and districts to fully meet ADA and Section 508 requirements for school website accessibility. We have also created eChalk GUIDE, a built-in accessibility tool to help you find and fix issues right inside the eChalk CMS.
Our accessibility experts are happy to answer questions and walk through and discuss your current website. Contact usto learn more about website accessibility.