Notes from the NYCDOE Beyond Access Forum
Thank you to everyone who attended our session at last week’s NYCDOE Beyond Access Forum. And most especially, a huge thank you to the eChalk users who joined us to speak at our session: “How I Got an Accessible Website Without Lifting a Finger.” We were so pleased to showcase these Ed Tech leaders from NYC schools:
Yassine Aggoub and Amelia Joseph from PS97 Queens, The Forest Park School
Wanda Montanez from IS254 Bronx
Amanda Lista from PS10 Staten Island, Fort Hill Collaborative Elementary School
If you missed the Forum, you can check out some great clips from each school below, and contact us to set up a customized webinar for your team. We can show you how you can create a new, fully accessible school website with almost no effort at all—and make sure it stays that way for the long haul.
PS 97 Queens: The Forest Park School
Interim Acting Principal Yassine Aggoub and Parent Coordinator Amilia Joseph appreciate having a website that is both visually appealing and accessible for everyone in their community. Ms. Joseph especially loves how easy it is to use eChalk GUIDE to maintain accessibility. She says, “[Our site] is very appealing to the eye; it draws you in. But the accessibility…you can actually see when you upload [content] if it’s accessible and what you need to change so that it meets all the requirements. For me, that’s my favorite part.”
The Forest Park School home page draws you in with high-impact visuals.
PS 97Q created a COVID-19 page to keep their community informed about important updates and available resources. All of the information on the website is fully accessible to people with disabilities.
IS 254 Bronx
Website accessibility was a big priority for Parent Coordinator Wanda Montanez. She appreciated the support and service she got from the eChalk team, which made the transition to an accessible website fast and easy. She said, “Our experience working with eChalk has been phenomenal…when we wanted something…everything was detailed, everything was scheduled perfectly, [and] you guys were very accommodating. There was no fussing or hassling over anything; everything was just seamless.”
The IS 254X home page makes great use of the school colors and vibrant images of their team.
Ms. Montanez loves how easy it is for her to add alerts and announcements to keep her community up to date. Since the website is made for accessibility, she knows everyone in her community can access important information.
PS 10 Staten Island: Fort Hill Collaborative Elementary School
For Amanda Lista at PS 10R, professional development and ongoing support was critical. She also loves eChalk GUIDE, which provides point-of-use website accessibility support when she adds new content to the site. She says, “We wanted to make sure that we partnered with someone that not only set up our website for us but [also] was able to provide professional development and training for teachers so that we can sustain the website to continue keeping it accessible and up-to-date.”
The home page for PS 10 R Fort Hill is bright and welcoming.
Built-in translation tools ensure that the entire site is accessible for non-English speaking families in the Fort Hill community.