The West Ada School District is committed to and is making every possible effort to ensure that all electronic and information technology developed, procured, maintained, or used by the West Ada School District is accessible to people with disabilities, including both employees and the end-users we serve. If you cannot fully access the information on a particular page, please utilize the contact information below. (This may include providing the information to you in an alternate format.)

Filing a Website Civil Rights Grievance Complaint

Improving the site's accessibility for citizens with disabilities is one of our top priorities. We welcome suggestions or comments on this topic. If you wish to report an issue related to the accessibility of any content on the West Ada School District website, you may do so in any of the following ways:

• For inquiries, please contact the Webmaster, Niki Scheppers, at communicate@westada.org, or the District's ADA Coordinator, Dr. Dave Reinhart, at reinhart.david@westada.org. Both can also be reached by phone at (208) 855-4500.

Please include the web address or URL along with a detailed description of the problems you have encountered.

• Submit written correspondence to:

Webmaster at West Ada School District
1303 East Central Drive
Meridian, Id, 83642

In your correspondence, please include the web address or URL along with a detailed description of the problems you have encountered.

• Contact the Office for Civil Rights at http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/complaintprocess.html to file a Section 504 complaint.

• Contact the U.S. Department of Justice https://www.ada.gov/file-a-complaint/ to file a Title II complaint.

For further information and to learn more about the regulations governing the accessibility of electronic information, visit the Section 508 pages listed below: 

• Section 508 - http://www.section508.gov/

• Access Board - https://www.access-board.gov/ict/

• Web Accessibility Initiative - http://www.w3.org/WAI/

POLICY

Beginning January 1, 2018, Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, level AA, shall serve as the web accessibility standards for the West Ada School District.

All new and redesigned Web pages published by department, program, or topic, as well as other Web resources published, hosted or otherwise provided by the West Ada School District, shall be in compliance with the WCAG 2.0 AA standards. This includes compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and Section 508 of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998. To the fullest extent possible, the West Ada School District will adhere to the guidelines provided by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.

This policy will be reviewed yearly on or before the beginning of January each year.

West Ada School District Website Features

Web pages are tested against the WCAG 2.0 AA accessibility guidelines to achieve compliance with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act.

Framework

• Easy and logical navigation

• Access to information in a clear and consistent manner for screen readers

• Keyboard accessibility

• Legible fonts and high-contrast colors for easier readability

Plain Language

Plain language techniques have been implemented in the content of the West Ada School District website. For a quick summary of plain language tips, refer to https://www.plainlanguage.gov/

Site Map

A link located in the footer of all pages that allows assistive technology to go directly to the main content and page navigation.

Accessible Images

Images that are included on the West Ada School District website contain “alternative text,” which assistive technology can read to the user.

Semantic Code

HTML markup is employed to designate certain web page elements, thereby differentiating them on the page for users of assistive technology. For example, all page headings and subheadings are designated with HTML heading tags, which are announced to screen reader users.

Style Sheets

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) are used in the website template throughout the site for layout, design, and style. This allows the West Ada School District site to be displayed in a readable fashion on different browser-enabled devices.

Search Engine

The West Ada School District website search engine utilizes the google custom search engine technology for relevant and easy to use search results, allowing quick navigation to the desired content.

Effective Use of Tables

Tables used for the layout of webpage content are avoided on the West Ada School District site. Additionally, data tables on the site employ HTML markup to differentiate table headings from data and to associate data with the appropriate table headings.

PROCEDURES

These procedures implement the West Ada School District Web Accessibility Policy.

Preparing Documents for the West Ada School District Website

The West Ada School District website has web standards for all content posted. One of the reasons for the standards is to ensure the web content meets state and federal laws with respect to making web content accessible to all users, including those with disabilities.

Anytime an electronic document will be posted online, whether it is an internal document or an external document, it will follow the Section 508 guidelines. These checklists will help ensure compliance with the guidelines.

• Each web document (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and PDF) needs to have the metadata sections completed. Complete the following sections: Title, Subject, and Author.

• URLs are linked to correct web destinations. Do not use “Read More” or “Click here”

• Create hyperlinks for website addresses. Hyperlinks for web documents should begin with http://.

• Documents posted on the West Ada School District website will be in Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, or text-based (not scanned) Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) file format. Use style and guides as outlined in the West Ada School District Brand Standards document https://core-docs.s3.amazonaws.com/documents/asset/uploaded_file/2699/WASD/2057372/District_Brand_Standards.pdf

• Include a title at the top of the document that describes the content in the document.

• Include the author name in the document that is responsible for the content in the document.

• Include a creation date, last modified date, revision date, or version number in the document.

• Use a font that is large enough for most users to read for body text. Smaller fonts can be used in Excel spreadsheets.

• Avoid underlined text to avoid confusion with hyperlinks.

• Avoid using text color or text formatting to convey information. For example, do not use a statement such as "The numbers in bold and red color indicate budget shortfalls."

• Images (i.e., pictures, art, graphics, graphs, charts, logos, etc.) used to convey information should be described in a textual manner or the image should contain descriptive alternative text (stored in the image properties in the document).

• Abbreviations and acronyms should be spelled out the first time they are used.

• Microsoft PowerPoint documents present accessibility issues. West Ada School District recommends the content of PowerPoint presentations be saved as a PDF format unless needed to be used as a slide presentation.

• If you use a table, ensure it has only one row for the header information. Do not use tables for formatting text.

• No spaces or special characters in the file name. Use hyphens to separate words.

• Filename makes the content clear and matches the title of the document.

• Sound files must have a matching transcript file.

• Video files must have closed captioning and/or a transcript file.

Website Accessibility Checklist

• Validate (x)HTML and CSS

• Design Site With Accessibility in Mind

• Use Web Accessibility Development Tools

• Test Site's Accessibility

Validate (x)HTML and CSS

Assistive technology relies on valid (x)HTML. The Blackboard Content Management System produces valid (x)HTML and CSS for all website content.

Design Site with Accessibility in Mind

The design process begins with an understanding of the principles and techniques of making a website accessible. Accessibility and usability starts at the beginning of the project. Designing for a defined audience and with known parameters leads to quality results.

Consider all of the official categories of disability in design

• Cognitive Learning

• Auditory

• Visual (including blind, low vision, and color blind)

• Motor/Physical

• Speech

Use Accessibility Web Development Tools

• Blackboard CMS Apps and Layouts

• Rich Media - Adobe Acrobat (PDF) Accessibility

• Microsoft Office Suite – Accessibility tools

Test Site's Accessibility

Testing Tools - automatically check for 508 compliance, as much as possible to find out manual checks that need to be done.

Page by Page Free Testing Tools

WAVE and Achecker- free online accessibility testing tool and reading order of page (http://wave.webaim.org/ and https://achecker.ca/checker/index.php)

Assistive Technology

An important part of accessibility testing is attempting to use the West Ada School District site with assistive technology. Download a screen reader to see if you can navigate the site design.

NVDA screen reader for Windows