Letter to GCS Staff

GCS Staff,

As we begin to transition into the 2019-2020 School Year, I would like to let you know about a few changes that are taking place as it relates to Web Content. With the recent changes and enforcement of ADA compliance and WCAG guidelines, GCS will no longer post content that is not Accessible. A non accessible  document is one that:

• Has been placed on a copier, scanned and saved as a PDF or Word Document
• Has images that were scanned and placed in a Word, PDF or PPT Document
• Documents that contain images (photos, clipart, or pictures) that are not tagged with Alternative Text
• Documents that are saved without a Title (the file name is not a substitute for the title) 

This is a link to a document that details how to create an accessible Word Document. You can create the document and then save it as a PDF to upload to the website. 

Another step we are taking as a district is to ensure we are following all Copyright Laws. You may no longer copy or download work in which you are not the author unless you have written permission to do so. We can no longer use the excuse, “ for educational purpose”. This includes but not limited to sheet music, chapter books, novels, and news articles. If this information is on another website and you would like to place a link to the information, you may do so, releasing us from being responsible for non-compliant information. Please do your research on the website before linking to it. 

The reason for the changes is that the GCS website is a Front facing or Public website which can be viewed by any individual in the world as long as they have internet access. Because of that we can no longer assume that the material posted will only be seen by Parents, Students, Staff, or Community. 

We currently have over 12,000 documents on the website, this includes Newsletters (Word), Powerpoints, and PDFs that contain images that are not tagged. This means those documents are non-compliant and are in the process of being removed from the site. If you know of any documents you have placed on the website that are non-compliant, please help the district in becoming compliant by removing the documents.

Elbert “JT” Tonkins
District Web Technician