Web-First Content Standard - Reaching Document Accessibility Compliance

At CMS4Schools, we believe that every member of your school community deserves to be connected. Our commitment to accessibility goes far beyond our websites and mobile apps - we are dedicated to being your partner on the journey toward ADA Title II Digital Accessibility Compliance. This article is offered as a guide to frame the conversations, decisions, and actions needed for your district or school to reach your accessibility goals.

Moving Forward: A Web-First Approach to the new ADA Standards

The April 2024 update to the Title II Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) included specific, strengthened requirements for web content and mobile apps. For schools, this isn't just about compliance, it’s an opportunity to shift from a reactive mindset to a proactive, "start-from-accessible" culture.

To meet these new standards, your district can lead the way by adopting a web-first content policy. It starts with a simple change in perspective: before creating a PDF, ask if a PDF is truly the best tool for the job.

The goal is simple: ensure your families, students, staff, and community can access critical school information on any device, using any assistive technology. Beyond compliance, a web-first approach solves common frustrations that users face with traditional PDFs:

• Solving the Mobile "Struggle": PDFs are static documents that do not reflow for smaller screens. This forces parents and community members to pinch and zoom just to read a newsletter or lunch menu on their phones. A web-first approach ensures a quality User Experience (UX) that works seamlessly across all devices.
• Closing the Search Gap: While search engines can crawl PDFs, the content locked inside them is often harder to index effectively without complex metadata. Web content is naturally more searchable, making it easier for your community to find exactly what they need on your site.
• Removing Accessibility Barriers: As educators, we know that inclusion matters. PDFs are not automatically accessible and often require significant remediation to meet standards. Building content directly on your website ensures it is accessible by default, removing barriers for users with disabilities from day one.

Decision Matrix

To lead with a web-first content standard, you'll need to arm your staff with some guidelines on web page versus PDF. Here is a sample to get you started on creating your own matrix.

Sample Content Types:

Staff Action Steps

Include a few practical steps and tips for your staff:

1. Paste as plain text. If you are using CMS4Schools - no worries! As part of our accessibility tools, all text pasted is automatically pasted as plain text, stripping any unseen formatting tags or other unwanted elements that can cause barriers or a poor user experience.
2. Use native tools. For all digital applications this means creating content using the rich editor (text editor) formatting tools - headings, bullets, etc. For CMS4Schools, explore additional tools such as columns, expand collapse, resource links and more.
3. No-scan, no-image-of-text rule. Never upload or embed a photo of a document or flyer. A scanned PDF becomes an image, or flattened asset, and cannot be read by a screen reader.