Many education agencies have received notifications from the Office of Civil Right (OCR) stating they are not in compliance with Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA, standards. This could lead to some serious issues. If your organization leadership is unsure of the ADA compliance status of your website, we suggest investigating soon! An increase in unwelcome attention from federal agencies has this topic on the top of many administrators’ lists.
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ADA accessibility guidelines state any organization receiving federal funds need to accommodate people with disabilities. This includes school or agency websites and learning management systems.
If the OCR receives a complaint regarding your website, it will likely be investigated. You may be provided a warning. If you fail to correct the issues in the complaint, a disability discrimination complaint may be filed against your school or agency. This could result in losing funding or facing a lawsuit.
How do we get our education website ADA compliant?
- Audit your website and document Section 508 accessibility failures
- Update website content, including metadata and alt tags, to include necessary functionality for people with disabilities
- Implement a plan with a reasonable timeline to fix all issues with your website
- Train content creators and administrators on website accessibility
- Arrange regularly scheduled future audits to ensure your website remains accessible
- Add an accessibility policy to your website and provide a way for persons with disabilities to access information they’re unable to on your website, usually a contact form to ask for specific information or notify you of inaccessible content
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Who can help make our education website ADA compliant?
Navigation North provides the United Stated Department of Education‘s Office of Educational Technology and Office of Innovation and Improvement support when complying with Section 508 accessibility requirements, both with core system navigation and content. We bring this same level of assistance to any other team we partner with when implementing ADA accessibility compliance resolution.
Contact us to see how we can help.