[Major revision–posted 7/21/22 (replaces 10/13/17 edition)]
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Operating Policy and Procedure

OP 52.05: Electronic and Information Resources Accessibility

DATE: July 21, 2022

PURPOSE: The purpose of this Operating Policy/Procedure (OP) is to establish rules for the procurement, development, maintenance, and use of electronic and information resources that will be accessible to persons with disabilities.

REVIEW: This OP will be reviewed in November of even-numbered years by the IT Accessibility Coordinator, the Senior Director of IT Policy & Planning, the Chief Procurement Officer, the Vice President for Marketing & Communications, and the Office of the General Counsel with substantive revisions forwarded to the TTU Chief Information Officer (CIO).

POLICY/PROCEDURE

1.  Electronic and information resources (EIR) includes information technology and any equipment or interconnected system or subsystem of equipment that is used in the creation, conversion, duplication, storage, or delivery of data or information.*

2.  All EIR products developed, procured, or changed through a procured services contract, and all EIR services provided through hosted or managed services contracts, shall comply with the provisions of Chapter 206, State Websites, and Chapter 213, Electronic and Information Resources, of the Texas Administrative Code (TAC), as applicable, unless such requirement imposes a significant difficulty or expense, as determined and given an exception by the TTU President or TTUS Chancellor or an exemption is granted by the State of Texas.†

3.  In order for an EIR product or service to be considered accessible, the product must offer an alternate format or method of comparable quality for providing information, including product documentation, to people with disabilities. Additionally, it must work with the assistive technology commonly used to increase, maintain, or improve functional capabilities for individuals with disabilities.

4.  Required accessibility compliance is divided into three areas:

a.    Electronic and information resources

(1)    Software applications and operating systems

(2)    Telecommunications products

(3)    Video and multimedia products

(4)    Hardware

(5)    Functional performance criteria

(6)    Support documentation and services

The specific technical standards for each of the above categories of EIR are documented at TAC §213, Electronic and Information Resources.

b.    Procurement

(1)    Before any purchases of EIR can be approved, vendors, regardless of originating state, must certify that their products comply with the TAC §206, State Websites, and §213, Electronic and Information Resources, as applicable, and provide credible evidence of the vendor's capability or ability to produce accessible EIR products and services for every product under consideration using one of the following methods. Per TAC §213.38, if credible accessibility documentation cannot be provided, then the EIR shall be considered noncompliant.

(a)    Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) (https://www.itic.org/policy/accessibility/vpat) or Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR);

(b)    Other documents that provide credible evidence of the vendor's capability or ability to produce accessible EIR products and services; or

(c)    URL to a web page that explains how to request a completed VPAT or ACR for any product(s) under contract.

(2)    The degree of accessibility of a given product should be determined by the department using the product. The IT Accessibility Coordinator is available to assist departments and areas in making this determination.

(3)   Accessibility testing, planning, and execution criteria shall be documented for the project, and accessibility testing shall be performed by a third-party testing resource or knowledgeable institution of higher education staff member to validate compliance with 1 TAC §206.70 and 1 TAC §213 for any EIR project whose development costs exceed $500,000 and that:

(a)    Requires one year or longer to reach operations status;

(b)    Involves more than one institution of higher education or state agency; or

(c)    Substantially alters work methods of institutions of higher education or agency personnel or the delivery of services to clients.

(4)    Departments shall coordinate purchases of EIR with Procurement Services and the IT Accessibility Coordinator to ensure compliance with the Texas Administrative Code and this policy. Per TAC §213.41, purchases that do not meet the EIR accessibility requirements must have a plan for corrective actions to remediate noncompliant items.

(5)    All purchases must follow the established TTU OPs for procurement, including OP 72.09, Procurement of Goods and Services.

c.    Websites

(1)    Per the TAC §206, State Websites, all university public entry points must be accessible.

(a)    Specific TTU website design guidelines are published at http://www.ttu.edu/webguidelines/.

(b)    Specific accessibility requirements for the websites (per TAC §206) are documented at TAC §206, State Websites.

(2)    Key public entry points are web pages that an institution of higher education has specifically designed for the public to access official information. Designated TTU key public entry points are:

(a)    The Texas Tech University System home page at http://www.texastech.edu.

(b)    The Texas Tech University home page at http://www.ttu.edu.

5.  Under the provisions of the TAC §213, Electronic and Information Resources, an IT Accessibility Coordinator must be appointed for the university; per OP 52.01, Information Technology (IT) Operations, the TTU CIO has designated the Senior Director – IT Policy & Planning as the TTU IT Accessibility Coordinator.

6.  The TTU CIO has final authority on all TTU IT-related issues, including exceptions to existing IT policies.

7.  Right to Change Policy

Texas Tech University reserves the right to interpret, change, modify, amend, or rescind this policy, in whole or in part, at any time without the consent of employees or students.

 

* Defined by Texas Administrative Code §213.1(9)

† Mandated by Texas Administrative Code §213.37

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