The St. Joseph School District is working to make its website more accessible for everyone to use its features and get news from around the district.

Director of Communications and Community Relations Becky Dunn says new federal guidelines were established with the Americans with Disabilities Act in 2024 adding requirements for digital accessibility.

Dunn says the guidelines are focused on ensuring websites are websites, apps, and digital content are usable for people with disabilities

“So that would include vision, hearing, motor, and cognitive impairments,” Dunn says. “And so, we want to ensure that our sites can be navigated by users of all abilities, and we have some guidelines that we’re using to ensure that we meet those standards.”

Dunn says some of the changes are simple things

“One big thing that we’re working on is adding alternative text descriptions for all of the images on our website so that a screen reader will be able to read a description of what the image is for someone who is unable to see it,” Dunn explains.

Other changes have included shifting from solely attaching documents on the website to making webpages to make news easily translatable or readable. A toggle option is being added with the changes to go from webpage to document.

The deadline for the completion of the changes to the district’s website is this month.