The Hermiston School District announced today that on Wednesday, April 25, the district and its schools will have a different online look.
In 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law. Among other things, the law guaranteed that people with disabilities have the same opportunities as everyone else to access employment, housing, public accommodations, education, transportation, communication, recreating, institutionalization, health services, voting, and access to public services.
In January 2017, the federal government moved forward and adopted a new standard, requiring websites and electronic content of federal agencies to comply with the WCAG 2.0 AA standard within a year of the date the rule published in the Federal Register. The new standard requires websites to be accessible to all individuals. Barriers that may limit the content or make it difficult for people with disabilities to access site content must be removed or brought up to standard.
In addition to being ADA compliant, the district wants to better communicate and engage with its parents and the public. District officials say the new site format is easy to navigate and will allow better access through a mobile device, broadcast educational videos, provide a calendar option to keep parents informed of upcoming events at each school, and allows staff and teachers to manage and share content in a better way.
