Accessibility
Estes Park School District Accessibility StatementWe want everyone who visits the EPSD website to feel welcome and to be able to access the digital content we provide. EPSD is committed to monitor and enhance accessibility for all users.
What are we doing?
To help us make the EPSD website a positive place for everyone, we've been using the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). These guidelines explain how to make web content more accessible for people with disabilities, and user friendly for everyone.
The guidelines have three levels of accessibility (A, AA and AAA). We are aiming for Level AA compliance, as outlined in House Bill 21-1110, to ensure our website is user-friendly and accessible to people with disabilities.
Objectives:
- To ensure our EPSD Website, online content and communication is accessible according to HB21
- To educate staff and provide support in creating accessible online content.
Please note that some pages on the Estes Park School District website contain links to third-party sites. Estes Park School District is not responsible for the content, facts, opinions or accessibility of third-party sites.
Contact Us
We've worked hard on the EPSD website and monitor the website regularly to maintain accessibility. We encourage individuals to submit feedback and/or request reasonable accommodations, please get in touch.
970-586-2361 or EP LISTENS
Estes Park School District Evidence of an Accessibility Compliance Plan
Updated January 30, 2025
Website Compliance Plan
- Accessibe will be used to scan the website and provide a monthly accessibility compliance report.
- Accessibe widget will provide an accessibility adjustment menu for users, allowing them to customize their web experience.
- Accessibe will conduct regular scans, providing feedback for manual adjustments as necessary.
- Estes Park School District will address all identified issues promptly.
- Estes Park School District will use Allyant CommonLook to review and adjust PDFs, ensuring all documents are fully compliant with accessibility standards.
- All new PDF’s will be checked for compliance before being added to the website.
- Estes Park School District will address any identified PDF issues as needed.
Staff Training
- Estes Park School District will provide ongoing district-wide mandatory accessibility training to all staff.
- Accessibility training will be included in the onboarding process for all new hires.
- The district will offer annual refresher training to ensure that all staff are updated on accessibility best practices.
- Optional training sessions will cover the following:
- Digital Accessibility Foundations: An introduction to accessibility requirements and principles.
- Accessibility in Google Workspace Tools: Focused on using accessibility features in Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides.
Application Compliance
- Estes Park School District will use a Vendor Accessibility Form for all new software and application requests to ensure compatibility with HB21-1110.
- The district will review responses and deny requests for non-compliant applications, following guidelines for documenting undue burden or fundamental alteration, if necessary.
- Compliance with accessibility standards will be a prerequisite for all new vendor approvals.
- Estes Park Schools use LearnPlatform to keep record of vendor accessibility.
Documents and Other Digital Resource Compliance
- The Grackle Add-on will be utilized to check for accessibility in all Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides documents.
- The Canva Accessibility checker will be used for any documents or resources created in Canva.
- Microsoft Office’s built-in accessibility checker will be used as needed for all Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents.
- Allyant CommonLook will be used to ensure that PDFs are properly tagged and accessible.
Ongoing Support and Oversight
Budget Planning: Estes Park School District will request a dedicated budget to support HB21-1110 compliance activities, including:
- Purchasing necessary tools, resources, and training to ensure ongoing compliance.
Accessibility Maturity Level
Estes Park School District is currently at the Launch stage of accessibility maturity, with a well-organized approach and a defined roadmap in place. The district plans to optimize accessibility practices in 2024 by embedding them into regular operations and consistently evaluating outcomes.
Rationale for Current Stage:
- Vendor Non-Compliance: Developing criteria for vendor accessibility assessment and establishing a timeline for phasing out non-compliant tools.
- Resource Limitations: Exploring grant opportunities for remediation projects and incentives for staff training participation.
Definition of stages and criteria:
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Inactive: No awareness and recognition of need. At this stage organizations are inventorying their technology, have begun to make investments, etc…
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Launch: Recognized need organization-wide. Planning initiated, but activities not well organized.
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Integrate: Roadmap including timeline is in place, overall organizational approach defined and well organized.
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Optimize: Incorporated into the whole organization, consistently evaluated, and actions taken on assessment outcomes.
Progress and Challenges
- Vendor Non-Compliance: Developing a scorecard for vendor assessment and establishing timelines for rejecting non-compliant applications.
- Resource Limitations: Securing additional grants for remediation projects and exploring staff incentives to boost participation.
- Training Deployment: Comprehensive training sessions hosted on Schoology and in-person, integrated into staff development programs.
- Vendor Management: Sending accessibility forms to vendors with strict response deadlines to ensure compliance.
- Technology Audits and Remediation: Using tools like Allyant and Grackle to scan and remediate non-compliant files (PDFs, Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides).
Compliance Oversight
- Regular updates and strategic meetings to track progress such as HB21-1110 Updates and Issues Meetings.
- Development of job descriptions, budget plans, and summaries of next steps for leadership teams.
- Maintenance of compliance documentation templates, including Undue Burden Documentation
- The Undue Burden Documentation includes a description of the product, a summary of the accessibility issues, and summary of planned actions when applicable.
Item | Date of Completion |
---|---|
Initial Committee Meeting for HB21-1110 | 2/2/2024 |
Initial contact and trial of accessiBe widget | 8/22/2024 |
Website accessibility vendor meeting with Finalsite | 8/29/2024 |
Hosted accessibility training for the District Leadership Team | 11/15/2024 |
Received initial website audit report from acceessiBe | 11/20/2024 |
Accessibility widget installed on the website | 12/2024 |
Demo presentation of Grackle | 12/5/2024 |
Hosted accessibility training for the Communications Team | 12/9/2024 |
Entered into Execute Eligible Government Entity (EGE) Agreement with the Colorado Statewide Internet Portal Authority (SIPA) | 12/17/2024 |
Accessibility Team created accessibility plan and undue burden document | 1/16/2025 |
Accessibility Team created the Accessibility Requirements for Submitted Materials guideline | 1/30/2025 |
The Accessibility Team holds bi-weekly meetings to advance progress on implementing the district's plan and attends monthly virtual HB21-1110 planning coalition meetings with other districts across the state.