Website Accessibility Policy
The Northeast Regional Education Cooperative (NEREC/REC#4) is committed to ensuring accessibility of its website for students, parents, and members of the community with disabilities. All pages on the NEREC website will conform to the W3C WAI’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, Level AA conformance, or updated equivalents of these guidelines.
The Executive Director is directed to establish procedures whereby students, parents, and members of the public may present a complaint regarding a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 504 and Title II related to the accessibility of any official cooperative web presence which is developed by, maintained by, or offered through the cooperative or third party vendors and open sources.
Website Accessibility
With regard to the NEREC website and any official District or School web presence which is developed by, maintained by, or offered through third party vendors and open sources, the NEREC/REC#4 is committed to compliance with the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 504 and Title II so that students, parents and members of the public with disabilities are able to independently acquire the same information, engage in the same interactions, and enjoy the same benefits and services within the same timeframe as those without disabilities, with substantially equivalent ease of use; and that they are not excluded from participation in, denied the benefits of, or otherwise subjected to discrimination in any NEREC/REC#4 programs, services, and activities delivered online.
All existing web content produced by the NEREC/REC#4, and new, updated and existing web content provided by third-party developers, will conform to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, Level AA conformance, or updated equivalents, by August 1, 2017. This Regulation applies to all new, updated, and existing web pages, as well as all web content produced or updated by the NEREC/REC#4 or provided by third-party developers.
The NEREC/REC#4 will be responsible for reviewing and evaluating new material that is published by member LEAs or others and uploaded to the website for accessibility on a periodic basis. The NEREC/REC#4, with the assistance of third party webmasters, will be responsible for reviewing all areas of the NEREC/REC#4 website and evaluating its accessibility on a periodic basis, and at least once per quarter. Any nonconforming web pages will be corrected in a timely manner.
Website Accessibility Concerns, Complaints and Grievances
A student, parent or member of the public who wishes to submit a complaint or grievance regarding a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 504 or Title II related to the accessibility of any official NEREC/REC#4 web presence that is developed by, maintained by, or offered through the NEREC/REC#4, third party vendors and/or open sources may complain directly to a school administrator, or the school or District webmaster. The initial complaint or grievance should be made using Website Accessibility Complaint/Request Form, however, a verbal complaint or grievance may be made. When a school administrator or School/District webmaster receives the information, they shall immediately inform the NEREC/REC#4.
Whether or not a formal complaint or grievance is made, once the NEREC/REC#4 has been notified of inaccessible content, effective communication shall be provided as soon as possible to the reporting party to provide access to the information. The Complainant should not have to wait for the investigation of the complaint to be concluded before receiving the information that he/she was unsuccessful in accessing.
Complaints should be submitted in writing, via email, or by completing the website complaint form. To file a complaint or grievance regarding the inaccessibility of the NEREC/REC#4 public website content, the Complainant should submit a description of the problem, including:
- Name
- Address
- Date of the Complaint
- Description of the problem encountered
- Web address or location of the problem page
- Solution desired
- Contact information in case more details are needed (email and phone number)
The complaint or grievance will be investigated by the NEREC/REC#4 or another person designated by the Executive Director. The student, parent, or member of the public shall be contacted no later than five (5) working days following the date the website accessibility compliance coordinator receives the information. The procedures to be followed are:
- An investigation of the complaint shall be completed within fifteen (15) working days. Extension of the timeline may only be approved by the Executive Director.
- The investigator shall prepare a written report of the findings and conclusions within five (5) working days of the completion of the investigation.
- The investigator shall contact the Complainant upon conclusion of the investigation to discuss the findings and conclusions and actions to be taken as a result of the investigation.
- A record of each complaint and grievance made pursuant to Governing Board Policy KE Public Concerns and Complaints shall be maintained at the NEREC/REC#4 office. The record shall include a copy of the complaint or grievance filed, report of findings from the investigation, and the disposition of the matter.
A student, parent or member of the public who wishes to submit a complaint or grievance regarding a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 504 or Title II related to the accessibility of any official District/School web presence that is developed by, maintained by, or offered through the NEREC/REC#4, third party vendors and/or open sources may complain directly to NEREC Executive Director. The initial complaint or grievance should be made using the website accessibility complaint/request form, however, a verbal complaint or grievance may be made. When a school administrator or school/District webmaster receives the information, they shall immediately inform the website compliance coordinator.