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Accessibility

BP 1113

Community Relations

District and School Web Sites

To enhance communication with students, parents/guardians, staff, and community members, the Governing Board encourages the Superintendent or designee to develop and maintain district and school web sites. The use of district and school web sites shall support the district's vision and goals and shall be coordinated with other district communications strategies.

(cf. 0000 - Vision)
(cf. 0440 - District Technology Plan)
(cf. 1100 - Communication with the Public)
(cf. 1112 - Media Relations)
(cf. 1114 - District-Sponsored Social Media)
(cf. 6020 - Parent Involvement)

Design Standards

The Superintendent or designee shall establish design standards for district and school web sites in order to maintain a consistent identity, professional appearance, and ease of use.

A U.S. Department of Justice technical assistance publication, Accessibility of State and Local Government Websites to People with Disabilities, states that an agency with a web site that is otherwise accessible to individuals with disabilities may meet its legal obligations by providing an alternative accessible way for them to use the programs or services (e.g., a staffed telephone information line), but points out that these alternatives are unlikely to provide an equal degree of access in terms of hours of operation or range of options and programs available. See the accompanying administrative regulation for accessibility guidelines.

The district's design standards shall address the accessibility of district-sponsored web sites to individuals with disabilities, including compatibility with commonly used assistive technologies.

(cf. 0410 - Nondiscrimination in District Programs and Activities)

Guidelines for Web Site Content

The Superintendent or designee shall develop content guidelines for district and school web sites and assign staff to review and approve content prior to posting.

Board policy pertaining to advertising in district and school publications, as specified in BP 1325 - Advertising and Promotion, shall also apply to advertising on district and school web sites.

(cf. 1325 - Advertising and Promotion)

Privacy Rights

The Superintendent or designee shall ensure that the privacy rights of students, parents/guardians, staff, Board members, and other individuals are protected on district and school web sites.

(cf. 1340 - Access to District Records)
(cf. 4119.23/4219.23/4319.23 - Unauthorized Release of Confidential/Privileged Information)
(cf. 5022 - Student and Family Privacy Rights)|
(cf. 5125 - Student Records)

Phone numbers, home addresses, and email addresses of students or their parents/guardians shall not be published on a district or school web page.

(cf. 5125.1 - Release of Directory Information)

Photographs of individual students shall not be published on district or school web sites accompanied by the student’s name or other personally identifiable information without the prior written consent of the student's parent/guardian.

If students’ names are not included, photographs of individual students or groups of students, such as at a school event, may be published on school or district web sites.

Employees’ home addresses, personal telephone numbers, and personal email addresses shall not be posted on district or school web sites.

The home address or telephone number of any elected or appointed official including, but not limited to, a Board member or public safety official, shall not be posted on district or school web sites without the prior written permission of that individual. (Government Code 3307.5, 6254.21, 6254.24)

No public safety official shall be required as a condition of employment to consent to the posting on the Internet of his/her photograph or identity as a public safety officer for any purpose if that officer reasonably believes that the disclosure may result in a threat, harassment, intimidation, or harm to the officer or his/her family.  (Government Code 3307.5)

(cf. 3515.3 - District Police/Security Department)

Legal Reference:

EDUCATION CODE

35182.5  Contracts for advertising

35258  Internet access to school accountability report cards

48907  Exercise of free expression; rules and regulations

48950  Speech and other communication

49061  Definitions, directory information

49073  Release of directory information

60048  Commercial brand names, contracts or logos

BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS CODE

22580-22582 Digital privacy

22584-22585 Student Online Personal Information Protection Act

22586  Preschool and prekindergarten privacy            

GOVERNMENT CODE

3307.5  Publishing identity of public safety officers

6254.21  Publishing addresses and telephone numbers of officials

6254.24 Definition of public safety official

11135  Nondiscrimination; accessibility to state web sites

PENAL CODE

14029.5  Prohibition against publishing personal information of person in witness protection program

UNITED STATES CODE, TITLE 17

UNITED STATES CODE, TITLE 20

1232g  Federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act

UNITED STATES CODE, TITLE 29

705  Definitions: Vocational Rehabilitation Act

794  Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973; accessibility to federal web sites

UNITED STATES CODE, TITLE 42

12101-12213  Americans with Disabilities Act

CODE OF FEDERAL REGULATIONS, TITLE 16

312.1-312.12 Children's Online Privacy

CODE OF FEDERAL REGULATIONS, TITLE 34

99.1-99.67 Family Educational Rights and Privacy

104.1-104.61 Nondiscrimination on the basis of disability

COURT DECISIONS

City of San Jose v. Superior Court, (2017) 2 Cal.5th 608

Aaris v. Las Virgenes Unified School District, (1998) 64 Cal.App.4th 1112

Management Resources:

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION OFFICE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS PUBLICATIONS

Dear Colleague Lettr, May 26, 2011

Joint Dear Colleague Letter: Electronic Book Readers, June 2010

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE PUBLICATIONS

Accessibility of State and Local Government Websites to People with Disabilities, June 2003

WORLD WIDE WEB CONSORTIUM PUBLICATIONS

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, December 2008

WEB SITES

CSBA: http://www.csba.org

California Department of Education, Web Accessibility Standards: http://www.cde.ca.gov/re/di/ws/webaccessstds.asp

California School Public Relations Association: http://www.calspra.org

U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights: https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr

U.S. Department of Justice, Americans with Disabilities Act: http://www.ada.gov

World Wide Web Consortium, Web Accessibility Initiative: http://www.w3.org/wai

Policy                                                           HAWTHORNE SCHOOL DISTRICT

adopted:     January 16, 2008                                         Hawthorne, California

revised:      September 12, 2012

revised:      December 13, 2017