Accessibility at Dundee Community Schools
Introduction
The School District recognizes the importance of making its web pages accessible to all people. The goals of the Web Accessibility Procedure Document are to:
Identify and adopt the specific technical standard(s) the School District will use to determine whether online content is accessible.
Designate a Web Accessibility Coordinator to coordinate and implement the Web Accessibility Procedure Document.
Inform visitors to the School District’s website how they can report concerns regarding content accessibility.
Provide for accessibility auditing of District webpages.
Provide for staff training regarding website accessibility.
Definitions
“Accessible” means a person with a disability is afforded the opportunity to access the same information, engage in the same interactions, and enjoy the same services as a person without a disability in an equally effective and equally integrated manner, with substantially equivalent ease of use. A person with a disability must be able to obtain the information as fully, equally, and independently as a person without a disability. Although this might not result in identical ease of use compared to that of persons without disabilities, it still must ensure equal opportunity to the educational benefits and opportunities afforded by the technology and equal treatment in the use of such technology.
Scope
These procedures apply to all School District web pages that are hosted with the Dundeecommunityschools.org domain, including any subdomains.
Standards
The School District’s website will meet the standards and guidelines outlined in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 published by W3C. All pages will meet Level AA guidelines. All School District web pages will link to the School District’s main Accessibility page, which will include a statement of commitment to Web accessibility.
Web Accessibility Coordinator
The School District’s Web Accessibility Coordinator contact information is:
Thomas Litchford
District Director of Technology (Director)
Phone: 734-529-2350 Ext. 11006
Email: webmaster@dundeeschools.org
Procedure to Report Concerns/Grievances
Visitors to the School District’s website may report concerns regarding web content accessibility by contacting the Web Accessibility Coordinator. Contact information for the Web Accessibility Coordinator, along with steps to take in filing a formal complaint through the Section 504 and Title II grievance procedure and/or contacting the Web Accessibility Coordinator with any accessibility concerns will be included on the School District’s website on a page that is available as a link from each of the School District’s web pages. If an individual cannot access information on the webpage, pending a resolution, the District will provide the requested information in a format accessible within a reasonable period of time.
Accessibility Audit
An accessibility audit (Audit) will be completed twice per year under the direction of the Director. All School District web pages that are hosted in the dundeecommunityschools.org domain will be measured against the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 Level AA. In addition, all elements added to the School District’s web pages such as video, audio, pdf files, and online content provided by third parties will be included as part of the Audit. A variety of tools will be utilized as part of the Audit including a site review by our hosting partner Apptegy, the WAVE web accessibility evaluation tool, and manual checking. A report will be created to track the status of each audit.
A list of files that do not meet accessibility standards will be shared with the School District’s content owner/editor of each page with specific step-by-step directions required to fix the problem(s). The School District’s content owner/editor will have the option to either fix the issue within 21 days or remove the page or element that does not meet accessibility standards. Follow-up will be provided by the Web Accessibility Coordinator to make sure the problem is resolved.
Accessibility Check for New Online Content
Each page on the School District’s website has one or more content owner(s)/editor(s) who are primarily responsible for the page(s) accessibility. When adding new content to a page, or editing existing content, the content owner will view a screen that will share the results of the Cascade Server Accessibility Checker. Each content owner will also receive accessibility training, access to the School District’s accessibility resources, and individual support for accessibility testing and making repairs when needed.
Content owners/editors will also receive detailed instruction regarding accessibility standards and tests that they need to run before adding third party content to their pages. Third party vendors will be advised that online content provided for the School District needs to be accessible.
Undue Burden of Fundamental Alteration
If information cannot be made accessible without undue burden or fundamentally altering the nature of the program, it will be made available in an alternate format. For any technology-related requirement for which the District asserts an undue burden or fundamental alteration defense, such assertion may be made by the Superintendent or by an individual designated by the Superintendent and who has budgetary authority after considering all resources available for use in the funding and operation of the service, program, or activity, and must be accompanied by a written statement of the reasons for reaching that conclusion, including the cost of meeting the requirement and the available funding and other resources. The written statement will be certified by the Superintendent or designee. If such a determination is made, the certifying official will describe in the written statement how it will provide equally effective alternate access. To provide equally effective alternate access, alternatives are not required to produce the identical result or level of achievement for persons with and without disabilities, but must afford persons with disabilities an equal opportunity to obtain the same result, to gain the same benefit, or to reach the same level of achievement, in the most integrated setting appropriate to the person's needs.
Annual Training for Staff
Annual online or in-person training will be provided for School District web content owners/editors who are responsible for creating and distributing information through the School District’s website. The training will include information regarding the Web Accessibility Procedure Document and their role and responsibilities to ensure that web design, documents, and multimedia content are accessible. For those needing additional assistance, individualized or classroom instruction will be provided. The training will be facilitated by an individual with sufficient knowledge, skill, and experience to understand and employ the technical standard(s) adopted by the District.
Staff members who fail to follow the District’s Accessibility Guidelines more than two times will temporarily lose posting/editing permissions and will receive further training.