Subject: Re: Public School Web Site Accessibility
From: Debbie Cook (debcook@u.washington.edu)
Date: Thu Feb 07 2002 - 08:41:40 PST
Jeff:
I can give you a much more detailed response if it's helpful but the short
answer is:
Public schools are subject to the requirements of section 504 of the
rehabilitation act of 1973 as amended. This statute requires them to make
programs and services accessible to students and employees with
disabilities. Typically schools interpret Section 504 only from the
perspective of providing individualized reasonable accommodations. But
practically speaking, you would not make your online resources accessible
only as an individual was about to click on a page. In fact this very
concept is addressed in cases from the office of civil Rights.
There are a number of documents regarding web accessibility issues from the
Office of Civil Rights and department of justice. All of the complaints
addressed in these documents were related to post-secondary schools but I
see no reason that the same arguments would not apply in K-12 since both
have the same legal requirements under section 504.
Section 504 and ADA do not specifically set standards for online resources.
We generally recommend adopting the WAI guidlines from the W3C for this
purpose since they are recognized by industry, government and consumers.
Section 504 and ADA do, however, talk about effective communication which
deals with concepts like timliness and appropriateness. So, if your online
resources are available 24-7 for example, there is probably not an effective
way of delivering that content other than through this resource. In other
words, the school would have to show that the means they had chosen was
equally effective in communicating with individuals with disabilities.
Since your web site is publicly accessible it may also be covered (in the
same way) under Title III of the ADA.
But as you know, there are other compelling reasons to make your online
resources accessible. I read the new digital divide report this week and was
quite surprised to learn that 80% of the people surveyed are still using
dialup. This means that many of them will load your pages with graphics,
Java or other features turned off. And if your non-text elements such as
graphical links, image maps and pictures have text labels they will be
searchable which makes your site better for everyone. In other words, most
of the things you might do to make your sites more accessible will also have
general public benefit.
And as for saving the world... Well I hardly think so. Disability is
uniquely the only recognized minority group that we can join at any time.
And it's definitely more cost effective to make our resources accessible
than to wait for a law suit or civil rights complaint.
The WA Assistive technology alliance can provide training regarding the
policy, economic, social and practical reasons for making your online
resources more accessible. we'd be glad to offer this training for your
technology committee or others. We demonstrate what happens to people with
disabilities when they visit sites using various assistive technology and
how easy it really is to correct the situation. generally people are very
motivated following the training and do want to make those changes they can.
The greatest barrier is the assumption that sites cannot be both interesting
and accessible at the same time. You of course know they can be.
Deb
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