APS Hopes to Accommodate Disabled With Website Redesign

Website accessibility for all people is a part of the law, a law that’s gotten a number of schools in hot water lately.

Alpena Public Schools has proposed the redesign of its website to make it accessible to the disabled, in light of a number of schools facing lawsuits for their website’s inaccessibility to disabled users. According to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), schools are required by law to have a website that is accessible to the disabled.

One example of a common accessibility roadblock is tab navigation for the blind. A blind person doesn’t navigate the web using their mouse, but instead needs to be able to use their keyboard to move around. If tab navigation isn’t available on a particular website, its impossible for the user to access the content. Although APS has yet to receive a complaint about the issue, project head, Principal Stevens of Lincoln Elementary, says its better to get ahead of the issue now.

“Anybody in the world, regardless of disability needs to see our stuff. So the fact that it hasn’t been brought to our attention until this time, doesn’t mean it’s not time to make this right,” Stevens says.

The project would include the hire of an outside company to redesign the district’s website so that’s it’s user friendly for all people, including the blind and deaf. The project will include staff training, support and more, costing around $12,000. The hope is to have the new site up and running by August if the proposals are approved.