Goodwill Technical College Website Accessibility Policy 

PURPOSE

To ensure College’s Compliance to Americans with Disabilities Act Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Title II.

SCOPE

All web content is provided by Goodwill Technical College.

POLICY

Goodwill Technical College is committed to ensuring accessibility of its website for students, parents, and members of the community with disabilities. All pages on the Goodwill Technical College 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 Chief Academic Officer / Director of Student Affairs 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 college web presence which is developed by, maintained by, or offered through Goodwill Industries Southeastern Lousiana or third party vendors and open sources.

Website Accessibility

With regard to the Goodwill Technical College website and any official Goodwill Technical College web presence which is developed by, maintained by, or offered through third party vendors and open sources, the college 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 Goodwill Technical College programs, services, and activities delivered online.

All existing web content produced by the Goodwill Technical College, 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, by June 9, 2022. This Regulation applies to all new, updated, and existing web pages, as well as all web content produced or updated by the Goodwill Technical College 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 Goodwill Technical College web presence that is developed by, maintained by, or offered through the Goodwill Technical College, third party vendors and/or open sources may complain directly to Goodwill Technical College, Director of Student Affairs, Jada Boudoin. Office location: Administrative Office, 2nd floor. Phone: (504) 889-5568. Email: Jboudoin@goodwilno.org.

As soon as the initial complainants or grievance is made the college website administrator should be notified.

A grievance may be resolved through either an informal or formal process. Informal or formal resolutions of complaints should be conducted in a prompt and fair manner.

Whether or not a formal complaint or grievance is made, once the Goodwill Technical College 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, via email, or by completing the website complaint form. To file a complaint or grievance regarding the inaccessibility of the Goodwill Technical College public website content, the Complainant should submit the website feedback form.

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

• Name
• Address
• 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 Director of Student Affairs or the Chief Academic Officer. 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 College Administration.
• 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.

RETENTION OF COMPLAINTS AND GRIEVANCES

A record of each complaint and grievance made pursuant to Goodwill Southeastern Louisiana shall be maintained at the Goodwill Technical College office. The record shall include a copy of the complaint or grievance filed, a report of findings from the investigation, and the disposition of the matter.