Private and independent school website accessibility: admissions, calendars and parent portals

Private, independent, faith-based and Montessori schools use the website to do most of the admissions work: explain the program, show tuition, book a campus tour and take inquiries and applications. Once a family enrolls, the same site carries the calendar, lunch menus, newsletters, forms and the parent portal link. Parents, grandparents and students with disabilities use all of it, often on a phone, with a screen reader, magnification or voice control. Here's what to check.

1. Admissions inquiry and application forms

Inquiry and application forms need visible labels (not placeholder text), autocomplete on parent name, email and phone, and errors that say which field and how to fix it in text. Keep what families already typed, don't ask twice for details they gave earlier, and warn before any time limit ends a session. Grade choices should be a labelled select or radio group. (WCAG 3.3.2, WCAG 1.3.5, WCAG 3.3.1, WCAG 3.3.7, WCAG 2.2.1)

<label for="pname">Parent or guardian name</label>
<input id="pname" name="pname" autocomplete="name" required>
<label for="pemail">Email</label>
<input id="pemail" type="email" autocomplete="email" aria-describedby="pemail-err" required>
<p id="pemail-err" class="error">Enter an email like [email protected].</p>
<label for="grade">Grade applying for (fall 2027)</label>
<select id="grade" name="grade">
  <option>Pre-K</option><option>Kindergarten</option><option>Grade 1</option>
</select>
<!-- example values -->

See accessible contact forms and form error messages.

2. Campus tours and open house sign-ups

Tour booking is often a third-party scheduler. Check that a date and time can be picked with the keyboard, that full slots say so in text (not just greyed out), and that the confirmation is announced. Offer a phone or email option next to it. (WCAG 2.1.1, WCAG 1.4.1, WCAG 4.1.3) Run our booking widget test on it.

<button type="button" disabled>Tue, Nov 10, 9:00 AM, full</button>
<button type="button">Thu, Nov 12, 9:00 AM, 3 spots left</button>
<p role="status">Tour booked for Thursday, Nov 12 at 9:00 AM. We've emailed a confirmation.</p>
<!-- example values -->

3. Tuition, fees and financial aid as text

Tuition grids are often a PDF or an image. Put them in a real table with headers, and give the financial aid deadline and steps as text. (WCAG 1.3.1, WCAG 1.4.5) See accessible pricing tables.

<table>
  <caption>2027–28 annual tuition</caption>
  <tr><th scope="col">Grades</th><th scope="col">Tuition</th></tr>
  <tr><th scope="row">Pre-K (half day)</th><td>$6,500</td></tr>
  <tr><th scope="row">K–5</th><td>$11,200</td></tr>
</table>
<!-- example values -->

4. School calendar, lunch menus and newsletters

An embedded calendar should work with the keyboard and offer a list view. Lunch menus, supply lists and newsletters posted as scanned PDFs or images read as blank to a screen reader; publish them as a web page or a tagged PDF. Event and closure notices need dates in text, not only on a flyer image. (WCAG 1.1.1, WCAG 2.1.1) See accessible PDFs and menus.

5. Parent portal, payments and logins

The "Parent login" link is often an icon; give it real text. Logins should let password managers fill in and paste, and offer an alternative to picture puzzles. If the portal or tuition payment system is a vendor product, ask for its accessibility conformance report (often called a VPAT) and give families a phone or email alternative. (WCAG 3.3.8, WCAG 2.4.4) See accessible logins and VPATs explained.

6. Photos, galleries and videos

Describe what matters in photos ("Third graders measuring plants in the school garden"), and don't hide key information like dates or tuition inside images. Caption admissions videos, head-of-school messages and performance recordings, and don't auto-play them with sound. Sliders need a pause button. (WCAG 1.1.1, WCAG 1.2.2, WCAG 2.2.2) See alt text examples, video captions and accessible sliders.

7. Navigation, contrast and pop-ups

School sites tend to have deep menus (Admissions, Academics, Athletics, Arts, Parents). Dropdowns must open with the keyboard, and the "Inquire" or "Apply" button should be easy to find on every page. Text over campus photos and school-colour buttons often fail contrast; body text needs at least 4.5:1. Enrollment pop-ups must close with Escape and not trap focus, and pages must work at 200% zoom on a phone. (WCAG 1.4.3, WCAG 1.4.10, WCAG 2.4.3, WCAG 3.2.6) See accessible menus and the contrast checker guide.

8. Access details, stated factually

Families ask about step-free entrances, accessible parking, elevators, and how to request accommodations for tours or events. Say what you actually have and who to contact. Avoid "fully accessible" with no detail. Example: "The main office entrance on Oak Street is step-free. To request an accommodation for a tour, call the admissions office." (example wording)

Common mistakes

• Inquiry forms with placeholder text instead of labels.
• A tour scheduler that only works with a mouse.
• Tuition, menus and newsletters as scanned PDFs or images.
• An icon-only "Parent login" link.
• Uncaptioned admissions videos that auto-play.
• White text over campus photos.
• An overlay widget instead of real fixes; see overlays vs real fixes.

A 15-minute check you can do today

1. Using only Tab, Shift+Tab, arrow keys, Space and Enter, open the Admissions menu, fill in the inquiry form and book a tour.
2. Submit the form with one field empty. Does the error say which field and how to fix it?
3. Find this year's tuition. Is it text you can select?
4. Open the latest newsletter or lunch menu. Can you select its text?
5. Zoom to 200% on a laptop and check nothing is cut off or needs sideways scrolling.

Our keyboard test and screen reader test walk you through it.

What a scan can and can't check here

Our scan is automated, so it finds only part of the barriers on the pages it visits: missing alt text, unlabelled fields and buttons, low contrast and similar code problems. It can't log in to a parent portal, test a vendor's application system behind a login, read every PDF, or judge whether your access details are accurate, which is why the 15-minute check matters. Public schools and districts have separate obligations and usually their own accessibility staff; this guide is aimed at private schools. Related: childcare and preschool websites, tutoring, music and dance school websites, nonprofit and church websites, accessibility statement template.

This is general technical guidance, not legal advice, and it doesn't certify compliance with the ADA or any law.

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This is general technical guidance, not legal advice, and it does not certify compliance with the ADA or any law.

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This guide is general technical information, not legal advice. Following it does not certify ADA or any legal compliance. Automated checks find only part of accessibility barriers.