Accessibility Quarterly Report 12/30/2024

This report is a summary of progress made towards achieving digital accessibility by 27J Schools since the first quarterly report published 9/30/2024. As stipulated by HB24-1454, the purpose of this report is continued demonstration of good-faith efforts towards achieving accessibility for all prior to July 1, 2025.

Overview

Since the last report, 27J district and school websites have been audited to identify specific instances of non-compliance with WCAG 2.1 level AA accessibility standards. Remediation is ongoing, with approximately 75% of content updated. Ongoing challenges include mitigation of accessibility issues caused by third-party software providers, refinement and dissemination of training to all content contributors, and conversion of complex PDFs to accessible formats.

Progress to Date

Since HB 21-1110 passed, 27J has taken specific steps to ensure web content is accessible to all users. Highlights since the last update (9/30/2024) include:

• Implementation of standardized audit reporting service to identify errors caused primarily by site frameworks and content contributors.
• Systematic ‘recheck’ of updates to ensure changes satisfy WCAG 2.1 level AA (19/27 domains complete, approximately 15 issue types per domain).
• Development of training guides and materials to help content contributors convert previously inaccessible materials and content to accessible formats.
• Ongoing meetings with purchasing lead to institute accessibility compliance verification (VPAT or similar) for current and future vendors.
• Integration of semi-regular accessibility section into monthly staff and faculty newsletter.
• Integration of Board Docs tool to host committee meeting minutes (previously PDF). Migration of old minutes to new format is ongoing and expected to be completed in Spring 2025.

Next Steps

• Formalize integration of risk assessment evaluation tools into vendor contract approval.
• Introduce training guides to district departments and integrate feedback before distribution to individual school website editors.
• Develop accessibility check training for ‘sub-contract’ level credit card purchases (e.g., teacher purchasing monthly software subscription).
• Diversification of accessibility training library.
• Create acknowledgment of accessibility in 27J district policy.
• Formalize algorithm for converting complex .pdfs to accessible formats (pdfs only as a last resort).
• Engage charter partnerships to assess compliance and provide guidance for making materials and content accessible.
• Ensure planned apps and intranet portals are audited by accessibility testing tools.
• Investigation of options for data display using customized JavaScript & React libraries.
• Pursuant to HB 24-1454, next report to be posted by 3/31/2025.

Conclusion

27J Schools is committed to addressing all accessibility shortcomings before July 1, 2025, and will post quarterly progress reports where the public may also comment.