In April of 2023, USD 259 began working on a new and improved district website. It was launched in October of this year. 

 “The company that owned our old website was bought out by a new company, so we had to switch vendors. Also, we wanted to make sure that we’re providing a website that meets four key pillars for our customers, that it is accessible, that it’s mobile friendly, that it’s searchable, and that it’s translatable, and this new website tool allows us to accomplish all four of those things,” USD 259 marketing and strategic partnership advisor Suzy Finn said.

The site was redone to fit a government mandate that requires all school websites to be accessible.

“The Americans with Disabilities Act has something called title two, and that requires that all digital content be accessible. And by accessible, that means that if somebody is using a screen reader because they can’t see the website, or they’re using visual cues because they can’t hear the video content on a website, that they’re able to access that content in a different way. It also accounts for things like color contrast, that you don’t have a dark color text on a dark color background because people can’t read that when it’s on the screen,” Finn said.

In order to be accessible, the website has new features to assist those with disabilities or people who are more comfortable reading their native language.

“It’s supposed to be more user-friendly, as far as on smartphones or tablets, so it will adjust better to those types of technology. And then the other thing is, it’s also supposed to be more easily translated to different languages, so all of our students and parents and community can reach out and get the information from our website,” said Business teacher Lisa Calvert, who helps maintain the Southeast website.

The district says they will continue working to improve the new site.

“A website is a living thing, so it’s never really done,” Finn said. “It’s live. It’s out there for people to find. And we’ll continue to seek feedback and continue to make updates as we go.”