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É«ÖÐÉ« Website Accessibility Policy

The É«ÖÐÉ« is committed to ensuring accessibility of its website for students, parents, and members of the community with disabilities - including those individuals with hearing, vision or cognitive disabilities - so that they have equal opportunity to obtain the same results, gain the same benefits and reach the same levels of achievement. All pages on the É«ÖÐÉ« Web site will conform to the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative’s (WAI) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, Level AA conformance, or updated equivalents of these guidelines.

The District has undertaken good-faith efforts to ensure that its website complies with the current New York State standards on Web site accessibility, which include conducting a regular and thorough audit of online content and functionality. The District will make all reasonable efforts to ensure that all new, newly added, or modified online content and functionality will be accessible to people with disabilities.

The District will consider the educational opportunities and benefits it provides through technology, how its technology provides these opportunities and benefits, whether the technology exists in a format that is accessible to individuals with disabilities, whether the technology can be modified, and the availability of a different technological device in making decisions that may affect access to its Web site. The District may address specific pages, information formats, or features; it may expressly identify the pages or information that may be deciphered by screen readers; and it may specify any readers that may need downloading on its Web site. Moreover, the District may provide links to information or features on its Web site to further assist users.

Website Accessibility

With regard to the É«ÖÐÉ« Web site and any official É«ÖÐÉ« web presence which is developed by, maintained by, or offered through third party vendors and open sources, the É«ÖÐÉ« 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, with substantially equivalent ease of use; and that they are not excluded from participation in, denied the benefits of, or otherwise subjected to discrimination in any É«ÖÐÉ« programs, services, and activities delivered online.

All existing web content produced by the É«ÖÐÉ«, and new, updated and existing web content provided by third-party developers, will conform to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, Level AA conformance, or updated equivalents. This Regulation applies to all new, updated, and existing web pages, as well as all web content produced or updated by the É«ÖÐÉ« 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 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 504 or Title II related to the accessibility of any official É«ÖÐÉ« web presence that is developed by, maintained by, or offered through the É«ÖÐÉ«, third party vendors and/or open sources may complain directly to a school administrator, or the school or District webmaster. The initial complaint or grievance should be made using Website Accessibility Complaint/Request Form, however, a verbal complaint or grievance may be made. When a school administrator or School/District webmaster receives the information, they shall immediately inform the Web site compliance coordinator.

É«ÖÐÉ« School Information Officer Meghan Piper will serve as the district's Web site compliance coordinator.

Whether or not a formal complaint or grievance is made, once the É«ÖÐÉ« 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. The Complainant should not have to wait for the investigation of the complaint to be concluded before receiving the information that he/she was unsuccessful in accessing.

Complaints should be submitted in writing, via email, or by completing the Web site complaint form. To file a complaint or grievance regarding the inaccessibility of the É«ÖÐÉ« public Web site content, the Complainant should submit the website feedback form.

The formal ADA non-compliance complaint should include the following:

• Name
• Address
• Date of the Complaint
• Description of the problem encountered
• Web address or location of the problem page
• Solution desired
• Contact information in case more details are needed (email and phone number)

The complaint or grievance will be investigated by the Web site compliance coordinator or another person designated by the Superintendent. The student, parent, or member of the public shall be contacted no later than five (5) working days following the date the Web site accessibility compliance coordinator receives the information. The procedures to be followed are:

• An investigation of the complaint shall be completed within fifteen (15) working days. Extension of the timeline may only be approved by the Superintendent.
• The investigator shall prepare a written report of the findings and conclusions within five (5) working days of the completion of the investigation.
• The investigator shall contact the Complainant upon conclusion of the investigation to discuss the findings and conclusions and actions to be taken as a result of the investigation.
• A record of each complaint and grievance made pursuant to Governing Board Policy shall be maintained at the É«ÖÐÉ« office. The record shall include a copy of the complaint or grievance filed, report of findings from the investigation, and the disposition of the matter.

Exemptions

The District may conclude that features, programs, applications, or activities on its Web site are not accessible if making them accessible would cause them to be fundamentally altered, or when ensuring accessibility would result in an undue financial and administrative burden. The District will maintain all documents supporting its exemption determinations as required by law.

Training

The District will provide Web site accessibility training as necessary to appropriate personnel, including any website content developers, webmasters, and procurement officials, and all others who develop, load, maintain, or audit its web content or functionality.

Third-Party Sites

Any links to third-party sites on the District’s Web site are not under its control, and thus, the District is not responsible for the content or accessibility of third-party sites. Third-party sites may not comply with accessibility standards.

É«ÖÐÉ« Policy 3000 - Web site Accessibility