Lafayette Parish School System Website Accessibility Policy

The Lafayette Parish School System is committed to ensuring accessibility of its website for students, parents, and members of the community with disabilities. All pages on the LPSS website will conform to the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative’s (WAI) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, Level AA conformance, or updated equivalents of these guidelines.

The Superintendent or his/her designee is directed to establish procedures whereby students, parents, and members of the public may present a complaint regarding a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 504 and Title II related to the accessibility of any official District web presence which is developed by, maintained by, or offered through the District or third party vendors and open sources.

Website Accessibility

With regard to the LPSS website and any official LPSS web presence which is developed by, maintained by, or offered through third party vendors and open sources, the Lafayette Parish School System is committed to compliance with the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 504 and Title II so that students, parents and members of the public with disabilities are able to independently acquire the same information, engage in the same interactions, and enjoy the same benefits and services within the same timeframe as those without disabilities, with substantially equivalent ease of use; and that they are not excluded from participation in, denied the benefits of, or otherwise subjected to discrimination in any Lafayette Parish School System programs, services, and activities delivered online.

All existing web content produced by the Lafayette Parish School System, and new, updated and existing web content provided by third-party developers, will conform to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, Level AA conformance, or updated equivalents, within the timeframe determined by the Department of Justice. This Regulation applies to all new, updated, and existing web pages, as well as all web content produced or updated by the Lafayette Parish School System or provided by third-party developers.

Website Accessibility Concerns, Complaints and Grievances

A student, parent or member of the public who wishes to submit a complaint or grievance regarding a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 504 or Title II related to the accessibility of any official LPSS web presence that is developed by, maintained by, or offered through the Lafayette Parish School System, third party vendors and/or open sources may complain directly to a school administrator, or the school or District webmaster. The initial complaint or grievance should be made using the online LPSS Website Accessibility Complaint/Request Form; however, a verbal complaint/request, mailed written complaint/request, emailed complaint/request or grievance may be made. When a school administrator or School/District webmaster receives the information, they shall immediately inform the Website Accessibility Coordinator.

Whether or not a formal complaint or grievance is made, once the Lafayette Parish School System has been notified of inaccessible content, effective communication shall be provided as soon as possible to the reporting party to provide access to the information. The Complainant should not have to wait for the investigation of the complaint to be concluded before receiving the information that he/she was unsuccessful in accessing.

Complaints should be submitted in writing to:

Superintendent
Lafayette Parish School System
202 Rue Iberville
Lafayette, LA 70508-1502

or via email webmaster@lpssonline.com, or by completing the LPSS Web Accessibility Complaint/Request Form found on the LPSS website.

The formal ADA non-compliance complaint should include the following:

Name
Address
Your contact information (email and telephone number)
Date of the Complaint
Description of the problem encountered
Web address or location of the problem page
Solution desired
Contact information in case more details are needed (email and phone number)

The complaint or grievance will be investigated by the Website Accessibility Coordinator or another person designated by the Superintendent or his/her designee. The student, parent, or member of the public shall be contacted no later than five (5) working days following the date the website accessibility compliance coordinator receives the information. The procedures to be followed are:

An investigation of the complaint shall be completed within fifteen (15) working days. Extension of the timeline may only be approved by the Superintendent or his/her designee.
The investigator shall prepare a written report of the findings and conclusions within five (5) working days of the completion of the investigation.
The investigator shall contact the Complainant upon conclusion of the investigation to discuss the findings and conclusions and actions to be taken as a result of the investigation.
A record of each complaint and grievance made pursuant to Governing Board Policy shall be maintained at the Lafayette Parish School System office. The record shall include a copy of the complaint or grievance filed, report of findings from the investigation, and the disposition of the matter.