Evidence of an Accessibility Plan
Thompson School District is committed to ensuring accessibility to digital content for all community members, including individuals with disabilities, in accordance with federal and state law.
Accessibility Standards Applied
The Colorado Governor’s Office of Information Technology (OIT) has developed accessibility technical standards with the intent of providing enterprise standard configurations for technologies that provide service to those with disabilities, following the technical standards provided by:
- World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA or higher
- Section 508 of the U.S. Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Chapters 3,4,6
- and following C.R.S. 24-85-101 to 24-85-104, ARTICLE 85
Our Efforts
Thompson School District is committed to ensuring our digital content is accessible to everyone, including individuals with disabilities. Accessibility means that all digital content must be perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust, allowing everyone to access the same information and services easily.
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 prohibits discrimination based on disability and requires us to provide reasonable accommodations and accessible communications. Similarly, Colorado House Bill 21-1110 mandates that all government entities, including Thompson School District, meet accessibility standards to ensure no one is excluded from receiving services due to a lack of accessibility.
We have established an Accessibility Committee to develop and implement our accessibility plan, which includes the following key areas:
- Requirements: We aim to ensure that the district’s digital media meets or exceeds the Level AA requirements of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Version 2.1.
- Ongoing Review: We will conduct regular accessibility audits of all district and school websites, documents, and other digital content and implement necessary improvements to ensure accessibility.
- Training and Awareness: We will train staff on accessibility best practices, ensuring everyone is equipped to create and maintain accessible content.
Accessibility compliance is an ongoing journey. We will provide regular updates on our progress and continue to seek ways to enhance accessibility across all our digital platforms.
Accessibility Maturity
Thompson School District has identified that we are at the Integrate stage of the state's accessibility maturity level for April 2025.
| Stage | Criteria |
|---|---|
| Inactive | No awareness and recognition of need. At this stage organizations are inventorying their technology, have begun to make investments, etc. |
| Launch | Recognized need organization-wide. Planning initiated, but activities not well organized. |
| Integrate | Roadmap including timeline is in place, overall organizational approach defined and well organized. |
| Optimize | Incorporated into the whole organization, consistently evaluated, and actions taken on assessment outcomes. |
Why We Are At This Stage
Organizational Measures
Next Steps
- The Accessibility Committee is coordinating with district leadership to approve plans for department and school-level roles and responsibilities for accessibility implementation.
- Continue migrating district and school content from unmonitored website platforms to primary district and school websites.
- Continue incorporating the accessibility statement into athletics websites and other district online resources.
- Review and improve communications with vendors to include accessibility criteria and evaluation.
- Refine the software approval process and incorporate accessibility evaluation and documentation into the renewal process.
- Identify targeted training to address skill gaps and enhance accessibility practices across all divisions.
- Monitor the effectiveness of the professional development module and make adjustments to meet district needs better.
Last updated April 23, 2025.
Adopted by the Thompson School District Superintendent's Cabinet on May 16, 2025.