WCAG 2.2AA Standard for school websites?

[PotNoodleTech]

Anyone had anything to do with this? Apparently goverment websites have to comply with these standards and can be fined if not - I can not find anything that this applies to schools though? From what I have read I can only see that it applies to .gov domain websites?

 

Had some scarmongering emails from website providers "pay for our WCAG upgrade or risk being fined" type ones.

[DeGrimmy]

Anyone had anything to do with this? Apparently goverment websites have to comply with these standards and can be fined if not - I can not find anything that this applies to schools though? From what I have read I can only see that it applies to .gov domain websites?

 

Had some scarmongering emails from website providers "pay for our WCAG upgrade or risk being fined" type ones.

We also received a similar email today. It doesn't look like we received any emails previously from our website host, and then suddenly this supposedly has to be done by the end of January...

 

I've not had a chance to do any research about it, but I've handed it off to the powers that be so they can decide.

[36Degrees]

Just looking at this myself!!

 

From the appropriate gov.uk webpage:

 

"The following organisations are partially exempt from the accessibility regulations:

 

primary and secondary schools or nurseries - except for the content people need in order to use their services, for example a form that lets you outline school meal preferences

Partially exempt organisations would need to publish an accessibility statement on their website or mobile app."

 

So I read that as you definitely need an accessibility statement.

[PotNoodleTech]

We also received a similar email today. It doesn't look like we received any emails previously from our website host, and then suddenly this supposedly has to be done by the end of January...

 

I've not had a chance to do any research about it, but I've handed it off to the powers that be so they can decide.

 

Same website provider then

 

OK cheers both I will pass haton to my powers that be.

[andy_b]

Last year, the Government mandated that all school websites meet statutory accessibility guidelines. Read more about that here.

 

As your website provider, we must ensure your website meets these guidelines before the end of January's deadline. 

 

If your website does not comply by the end of January, your school could be subject to a fine, so we must move quickly to avoid this.

 

We are rolling out a suite of changes to your website on your behalf and applying a 50% discount due to how urgently we need to act. This will enable your website to be compliant before the deadline.

 

For £249 +VAT (typically £499 + VAT), you’ll get:

 

Staff support and training material.

 

A legally compliant accessibility statement template our lawyers have written for you to adapt as necessary.

 

A webpage template containing this statement will be placed in the footer of your website, which will be set into draft mode for you to customise and publish.

 

A sophisticated dashboard providing clarity on which policy documents require updating.

 

Notifications and ongoing page monitoring capability.

 

These measures will enable your school to demonstrate statutory document compliance the next time Ofsted visits, once you have completed a few tasks in the CMS.

 

Click here to find out more.

 

Seems a bit naughty - when there own faq includes this - https://help.junipereducation.org/hc/en-gb/articles/23770517888797-Juniper-Websites-Does-my-website-have-to-be-accessible

[ozydave]

VERY poor show from juniper education Scaremongering.

Had a letter from them saying we need to respond within "7 days of this letter" or we will implement the "Accessibility Compliance Package" For £249 +VAT (typically £499 + VAT)

The date of the letter is at the very bottom in fairly small font. Clearly in the hope that many customers will not notice it.

[talksr]

Same website provider then

 

OK cheers both I will pass haton to my powers that be.

 

Ditto for us. We do not have the budget to pay for what they are asking. There is a government accessibility statement template which I am going to work through and stick on our site. Really poor show from Juniper who are not cheap as it is.

 

As a school, we are being constantly asked for policies from the council, government etc and this is yet another requirement but sprung on us at the very last minute. Really cross about it.

[PotNoodleTech]

Juniper should be ashamed.

[mikes]

I'd be tempted to say "Sorry we do not have the budget for this - we are looking into other webhosting providers with more reasonable costs as a fix for this" or something along those lines.

We use an education focused website provider and have had no such e-mail of the sort!

[talksr]

I'd be tempted to say "Sorry we do not have the budget for this - we are looking into other webhosting providers with more reasonable costs as a fix for this" or something along those lines.

We use an education focused website provider and have had no such e-mail of the sort!

 

They probably know that most schools could not afford to move away as this would involve a total redesign.

I have been in communication with two other schools both of which are absolutely furious at the scaremongering tactics used by Juniper. This stunt has really not done much for their reputation.

[pete]

Greenhouse just sent out a "some people are scaremongering around accessibility, we've added a template you can use if you want" note to customers.

[Edu-IT]

Greenhouse just sent out a "some people are scaremongering around accessibility, we've added a template you can use if you want" note to customers.

Do you have a link to the template they're suggesting?

[talksr]

Do you have a link to the template they're suggesting?

 

Not sure if it helps but I found this one online.

It seems Juniper is gatekeeping any sample ones unless you pay for their scaremongering "service".

[JOrdan01070]

Hi a link to a sample statement from the gov website Link hope this helps.

 

To opt out you must fill a form out and then they will call you and offer you a reduced rate again, but this is the only way you can opt out if you don't fill the form out they will charge you.

[PotNoodleTech]

Opt out? If we've not put a purchase order in we don't pay as theres no order in existance - simple as.

[CHiLL]

I was just about to create a separate thread about this until I saw this one.

 

Why are we being forced to pay extra for them to do this, when they are the ones who created/designed the website and should ensure it meets the necessary requirements, especially given who they mostly have as customers?

 

So the consensus seems to be that we can just create a new page for our accessibility statement and amend the template? Is there anything else we'd need to consider?

Edited January 30, 2025 by CHiLL

[talksr]

Opt out? If we've not put a purchase order in we don't pay as theres no order in existance - simple as.

 

Agreed, utter nonsense. Had similar with RM a few years ago. You don't just send out emails to organisations saying if you don't fill out our form, we will do the work anyway and charge you. What a disgusting business practice. Really not happy about this and the stress it has caused some of my colleauges.

[BigG]

I filled in the form for a call back and informed them we don't want it. It's literally just the link they have put on the footer of your page (they have actually already done it - said it will be now removed!), which is just a copy and paste from the gov.uk site with a few notes added. The other bit they were trying to sell was about notifications when policies go out of date (we use Every for this). I've just copied the text from the accessibility statement and put it onto a different page on our Website, ridiculous, I hope nobody pays this. Edited January 30, 2025 by BigG

[talksr]

I filled in the form for a call back and informed them we don't want it. It's literally just the link they have put on the footer of your page (they have actually already done it - said it will be now removed!), which is just a copy and past from the gov.uk site with a few notes added. The other bit they were trying to sell was about notifications when policies go out of date (we use Every for this). I've just copied the text from the accessibility statement and put it onto a different page on our Website, ridiculous, I hope nobody pays this.

 

One of the three schools I have been in communication with complained about the charge and managed to get some money off but still ended up paying. I think any school who has ended up paying for this should get their money back.

Tell me a school who has a healthy budget at the moment? Business practice like this is so wrong but even more so when we are all struggling so much and can barely afford the staff we need to deliver lessons to the children. This has really alterered my thoughts on Juniper. Was bad enough with the poor cs and tech support I encountered last year but this is something else.

[pete]

Do you have a link to the template they're suggesting?

 

Not unless you have a login to a Greenhouse CMS, no - (If you do, it's under the Help menu > Accessibility Requirements)

[Steve101]

Who is responsible for ensuring your website is accessible?

[CHiLL]

Is this literally just a statement on the website?

 

On Juniper's own website, they list a portfolio of websites that they host, all of which have the accessibility statement link. 90% of them are just blank pages with no content, but a small handful have content. Can we just copy what other sites have done, amend the wording and that's it? Or is there other stuff (Juniper reference amending things in the CMS).

[drutt]

We have Userway integration on our website, surely that makes us fully compliant?

[JRA]

Is this literally just a statement on the website?

 

I think so. For the moment at least I'm going by the guidance on the gov.uk sample policy page: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sample-accessibility-statement/sample-accessibility-statement-for-a-fictional-public-sector-website

 

I've seen a few out in the wild elsewhere which look to be based on that also: https://schools.oxfordshire.gov.uk/web-accessibility-statement and https://schools.essex.gov.uk/accessibility-statement

 

Hopefully that'll be correct.

Edited January 31, 2025 by JRA

[talksr]

Is this literally just a statement on the website?

 

On Juniper's own website, they list a portfolio of websites that they host, all of which have the accessibility statement link. 90% of them are just blank pages with no content, but a small handful have content. Can we just copy what other sites have done, amend the wording and that's it? Or is there other stuff (Juniper reference amending things in the CMS).

 

Exactly this, I was showing this to my head and said what a fantastic example when all of their example sites don’t have one!