Public schools are subject to Sections 504 and 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and are legally obligated to make their website content accessible to all, including those with visual, hearing, motor or cognitive disabilities.
A major goal of the new ACPS website that was launched in March was to bring ACPS into compliance. ACPS aims to make its websites useful and usable for all.
If you are responsible for adding new content to the ACPS website, school websites or to Canvas, please be sure to follow these usability and accessibility guidelines.
TEXT
All text needs to be in simple, short sentences to be reader-friendly. Avoid jargon and educational acronyms.
Use only the provided text styles and sizes. Do not choose your own size or colors for text.
IMAGES/GRAPHICS
All images and graphics need to have “alt text.” This is a short phrase that describes the image, and is used by screen readers to describe images to the visually impaired (ex: “two second-grade boys reading books in school library”). The Schoolwires interface will force you to enter alt text.
DO NOT use the phrase “image of…” or “picture of…” in the description: Screen readers identify images automatically so this text would be redundant.
VIDEO
Avoid posting video unless it is closed-captioned. If you wish to post a video on the ACPS website or a school website, contact the Office of Communications. All video must have closed captioning before it can be posted on the website.
PDFs
Avoid posting PDFs and other documents where possible. Copy the text into a page rather than posting an attachment.
If you have to post a PDF, it must be converted from a digital document (such as Microsoft Word) into PDF format. Documents scanned from a copier are NOT permitted.
Brochures and fliers must NOT be posted on the website. They are created for print and should be used only for print. The material/information in them should be incorporated into relevant pages on the website so that it is searchable and easily accessible to all viewers.
TABLES
On the ACPS website and school websites, use the Table app to put content into a table. This ensures material can be read by a screen reader in the correct order and that the table will properly resize when viewed on a mobile device. Always add a Table Caption and/or Table Summary.
COLORS
Distracting elements, such as flashing icons or images that move repeatedly are NOT 508 compliant. Check that the colors you have chosen comply with the contrast checker in images/graphics.
Do not add colors different than the ones already created for the website.
Have questions? Please contact the Office of Communications.