School district websites and the ADA

The Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has resolved many complaints about school district websites. Here's what the two laws ask, when, what OCR has looked at, and where a district can start.

Two laws

ADA Title II

Covers public bodies, including school districts. The Department of Justice's 2024 web rule under it sets the standard: WCAG 2.1 level AA for websites and mobile apps (WCAG explained).

Section 504

Part of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. It covers anyone receiving federal money, which includes public school districts.

Who enforces them

OCR enforces both for schools. People can file a complaint with OCR, and can also go to court.

Before your date

The duty already applies. The Department of Justice says that "regardless of the compliance dates", public bodies must keep making what they offer online accessible under Title II.

Your date

ADA.gov says a school district is not a special district government, so it doesn't automatically get the later date. It goes by population:

• City school district: the city's population.
• County school district: the county's population.
• Independent school district: the most recent Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates, the Census Bureau's population figure for school districts.

50,000 people or more: April 26, 2027. Fewer: April 26, 2028. These are a year later than first set; the Department moved them on April 20, 2026. More on the rule and its exceptions: the ADA Title II website rule.

What OCR has looked at

OCR's letters and agreements are public. Two from Michigan in 2016 show how a complaint starts:

• Detroit. The person who complained ran an automated checker on the district's home page and sent OCR the report. OCR's own review found keyboard controls that didn't reach all content, videos without meaningful captions, and images without meaningful text.
• Macomb Intermediate School District. OCR found code errors (such as missing end tags) that can make screen readers skip content, and pictures with no alt text.

OCR made no finding that either district broke the law. Both signed agreements to fix their sites, and OCR monitored them. Other agreements show what OCR asks for:

• An audit of the whole site, including content "offered through a third-party vendor" (Clark County School District, Nevada, 2016).
• A plan within 12 months, starting with the menus and templates, then key information: registration, student records, school calendars, after-school programs, codes of conduct, special education, transportation and grievance procedures (Duval County, Florida, 2020).
• Within a month, an accessible way for people to tell the district about pages that don't work (Duval County).

The lesson: a complaint can start with an automated check of your home page. Run those checks first.

What's covered

• The district site and every school site, including pages teachers and staff post. Only posts from members of the public are left out.
• Board meeting agendas, packets, minutes and livestreams. See PDFs, agendas and minutes.
• Enrollment, lunch payments, transportation and sign-up forms, even when a vendor runs them.
• The district's mobile app, if it has one.
• Older PDFs only if families still use them to enroll, apply or take part in something.

Where to start

1. Fix the template first. The header, menu and footer appear on every school's pages. Run Full Check on the district home page and one school's home page.
2. Then the pages families need: enrollment, calendars, transportation, special education, lunch and the code of conduct, in that kind of order. Check each with Accessibility Check.
3. Pictures. School sites post lots of photos and flyers. Picture Check finds ones with no description, and the Alt text writer drafts them.
4. Colors. School colors are often too pale for text. Color check suggests the nearest shade that's readable.
5. Plain words. Letters home and policies go to every family. Readability gives the US grade level and marks long sentences.
6. Captions on board meeting videos and any video you post.
7. A way to report problems. Add an accessibility page with a named contact; the Accessibility statement generator has a school district option.
8. Train whoever posts. Secretaries, teachers and coaches post most of the content. A short guide on headings, alt text and link words helps more than a one-off fix.

PageKiwi finds many common problems, not all of them, and it doesn't look inside learning platforms or logged-in parent portals. For those, ask the vendor for its accessibility report, and for a large district ask an accessibility specialist to test with real assistive technology (screen readers, voice control, switches).