The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced today it is launching a new technical assistance initiative to assist schools, school districts, state education agencies and libraries in making their websites and online programs accessible to individuals with disabilities.

The announcement follows the release on March 5, 2018, of the new Case Processing Manual, which resulted in the OCR dismissing hundreds of website accessibility complaints under a new provision that allows investigators to dismiss cases that are part of serial filings or that they consider burdensome to OCR. 

U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announced that “as more educational opportunities are delivered online, we need to ensure those programs, services and activities are accessible to everyone. OCR’s technical assistance will help us continue to forge important partnerships with schools for the benefit of students and parents with disabilities.”

Through webinars, OCR will provide technical information on website accessibility and tips for making online programs accessible on the following dates:

• May 29, 2018, at 1 p.m. EDT.
• June 5, 2018, at 1 p.m. EDT.
• June 12, 2018, at 1 p.m. EDT.