Policy 4135 - Website Accessibility and Nondiscrimination

Website Accessibility and Nondiscrimination
The Charter School is committed to ensuring that people with disabilities have an opportunity equal to that of their nondisabled peers to participate in the Charter School’s programs, benefits, and services, including those delivered through electronic and information technology, except where doing so would impose an undue burden or create a fundamental alteration.

Benchmarks for Measuring Accessibility
In order to assure that people with disabilities have an opportunity equal to that of their nondisabled peers to access information delivered through electronic and information technology, all pages on the Charter School’s website will conform to the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative’s (WAI) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 Level AA and the Web Accessibility Initiative Accessible Rich Internet Applications Suite (WAI-ARIA) 1.0 techniques for web content, or updated equivalents of these guidelines, except where doing so would impose an undue burden or create a fundamental alteration.

Website Accessibility
With regard to the Charter School’s website and any official Charter School web presence which is developed by, maintained by or offered through third party vendors and open sources, the Charter School is committed to compliance with the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 504 and Title II so that students, parents and members of the public with disabilities are able to independently acquire the same information, engage in the same interactions, and enjoy the same benefits and services within the same timeframe as those without disabilities, which substantially equivalent ease of use; and that they are not excluded from participation in, denied benefits, or otherwise subjected to discrimination in any Charter School programs, services, and activities delivered online.

All existing web content produced by the Charter School, and new, updated, and existing web content provided by third party developers, will conform to the WCAG 1.0 Level AA and the WAI-ARIA 1.0 techniques for web content or updated equivalents. This policy applies to all new, updated, and existing web pages, as well as all web content produced or updated by the Charter School or provided by third-party developers.

Website Accessibility Concerns, Complaints, and Grievances
A student, parent, or member of the public who wishes to submit a complaint or grievance regarding a violation of the ADA, Section 504 or Title II related to the accessibility of any official Charter School web presence that is developed by, maintained by, or offered through the Charter School, third party vendors and/or open sources may complain directly to a school administrator. The initial complaint or grievance should be made using the Charter School’s Uniform Grievance Form, upon request at the Charter School office, however, a verbal complaint or grievance may be made. When a school administrator receives the information, they shall immediately inform the Charter School’s IT Department. The Complainant need not wait for the investigation of any grievance or complaint in order to receive the information requested.

Whether or not a formal complaint or grievance is made, once the Charter School has been notified of inaccessible content, effective communication shall be provided as soon as possible to the reporting party to provide access to the information.

Testing and Accountability
The Charter School will ensure website accessibility training to all appropriate personnel, including employees who are responsible for developing, loading, maintaining, or auditing web content functionality. The designated responsible party will be responsible for reviewing and evaluating new material that is published by school staff or IT Department and uploaded to the website for accessibility on a periodic basis. The designated responsible party will be responsible for reviewing all areas of the Charter School’s website and evaluating its accessibility on a periodic basis, and at least once per quarter. Any non-conforming webpages will be corrected in a timely manner.

Cross References:
4120 Uniform Grievance Procedure

Legal References:
29 U.S.C. § 701, et seq. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
42 U.S.C. §§ 12131–12165 Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990

Other Reference:
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG 2.1) (available at https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG21/)

Policy History
Adopted on: May 17, 2021
Revised on:
Reviewed on: