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Utah's third-biggest school system has settled a federal complaint related to poor website access for some disabled students.

Granite School District is one of 11 from Montana to Guam that will make online offerings easier to access as part of the agreement with the U.S. Education Department, its Office for Civil Rights announced Wednesday.

The federal probes found that pictures and graphics on the agencies' sites were missing "alt tags," which describe images to blind and vision-impaired people using special software. Several websites could be accessed only by people who could control a computer mouse, presenting problems for those with reduced motor control. And some had colors that were too similar for people with poor eyesight to decipher. Last of all, video captioning wasn't available for deaf viewers.

Granite and the other districts are now on the hook to address those problems and ensure all students have access to school offerings and activities, as stipulated in the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

For example, they must post notices with information on how to gain access to online information or programs by Aug. 1. They also will begin providing website accessibility training to faculty and staff and have an expert review how well their websites and online programs work for people with disabilities.

Granite is planning to put an in-house consultant to work. It's a move that won approval from the federal office, said district spokesman Ben Horsley.

"We're happy to do so," Horsley added. "It's our obligation and responsibility to ensure that all resources are available to all of our students."

District administrators believe the complaint came from a national advocacy organization, not any Granite student or parent. Horsley's district is tasked with adopting new policies based on the review — making all new website content accessible and hashing out a plan to remove the current obstacles.

Roughly 66,000 students attend Granite's 91 schools, show Utah State Office of Education data. That's more than all but Davis and Alpine school districts. Other states who settled included Montana's School for the Deaf and Blind, two Nevada schools and another in Juneau, Alaska.

"As schools, school districts, states, and territories turn to the internet as a way to provide relevant and up-to-date information to their audiences in a cost-effective manner, they must make sure they are not inadvertently excluding people with disabilities from their online programs, services, and activities," said Catherine Lhamon, assistant secretary for civil rights, in a prepared statement.

The Office of Civil Rights enforces federal law barring discrimination in schools on the base of disability, race, nationality, sex and age.

Twitter: @anniebknox —

Departments investigated by the federal Office for Civil Rights

Alaska • Juneau School District

Guam • Guam Department of Education

Montana • Montana School for the Deaf and Blind

New Mexico • Santa Fe Public Schools

Nevada • Washoe County School District, The Davidson Academy of Nevada, Nevada Department of Education

Oregon • Oregon Department of Education

Utah • Granite School District

Washington state • Bellingham School District, Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction