Anne Arundel County Public Schools has launched a new website accessibility tool that makes online information easier for people with disabilities to access and navigate. The tool allows users to customize how information is presented on the website to meet their specific accessibility needs while also providing background guidance to help staff make web content more accessible.

Those visiting pages on the www.aacps.org domain will find an icon in the lower right corner of any page. Clicking on that icon will bring up a variety of accessibility adjustments. Choosing one or more of those adjustments will instantly adapt the page to make the content easier for the user to access and understand.

“If we are going to be school system where everyone can Belong, Grow, and Succeed, we need to be able to present information in ways that our community can access and understand,” Superintendent of Schools Dr. Mark Bedell said. “Our Division of Communications & Community Engagement has spent considerable time researching an accessibility tool like this, and it should prove to be a huge help in allowing those with disabilities to more easily retrieve information.”

A second component of the tool allows staff to better identify potential accessibility issues as they build and update the website. The tool is also part of the school system’s effort to meet enhanced federal Web Content Accessibility Guidelines that will go into effect next year.