District unveils redesigned website with ADA, search and multimedia features

District staff demonstrated the Concord School District's redesigned website and outlined features intended to improve public access to policies, documents and multimedia content.

Terry (staff member) told the board the new site is "very flexible, very adaptable" and said navigation, searchability and mobile-first design have been priorities. Terry noted older content still resides on Google Drive and will be migrated gradually; budgets dating to 2016 are available but moving them into the new site is an ongoing task.

The presentation highlighted that policies are now directly searchable on the website and that the platform supports photos, short videos and a component-based dashboard that can be updated or removed with start and end dates. Terry said the site is designed to be ADA-compliant going forward and that full accessibility is required by the Department of Justice by 2027. She also said PDFs remain grandfathered but emphasized moving content onto the site to improve translation and accessibility.

Board members asked whether the site could supply usage data to inform communications priorities. Terry said the platform can be connected to Google Analytics and other metrics; the district will be able to see which pages users search for most and use that information to tailor communications.

The board discussed linking the district site to ParentSquare for family communications and the need to establish norms about what is public-facing. Terry said the new design should be less costly to maintain than the old setup and will let the district remove outdated items automatically by setting end dates for components.

No formal action was taken; staff said they will continue migration and will accept board feedback as the site is refined.