Accessible EIR Procurement and Development

As the Requester, you submit a request to use EIR in the Service Portal. The request form will ask you questions about the EIR and then send it up for review by all appropriate IT departments.

Why do we have an accessibility review on IT acquisitions (or EIR)?

We want our community to be able to use all our EIR, no matter their ability or disability. Anyone can become disabled at any time. A disability should not interrupt your experience of university programs, services, and activities.

• If you were working, you should be able to continue to work whether you have or acquire a disability.
• If you were learning, you should be able to continue to learn whether you have or acquire a disability.

Federal and state laws include requirements for accessible EIR:

• Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): provide accessible accommodations for all activities, programs and services.
• Texas Administrative Code §206, Texas Administrative Code §213, and Chapter 2054, Subchapter M of the Texas Government Code: procure accessible EIR.

See Guide to Disability Rights Laws from the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division that maintains the ADA website.

As the Requester, you are the best point of contact with the company. You can encourage them to improve their digital accessibility. The EIRAC can assist, but as the business partner of the company, your voice is recommended. 

Federal and state laws provide options on how to show progress on accessibility. Generally, they are called accessibility documentation. 

If the company does not provide accessibility documentation, their EIR is automatically non-compliant. Providing accessibility documentation does not mean the EIR will be compliant.

What are the determinations after an accessibility documentation review?

1. Compliant:
   
   1. Occurrence: Rare
   2. Next steps: Move forward with procurement.
   3. Cautions: Check that company will assist with ADA accommodation requests. EIR can still be inaccessible for some disabilities.
2. Non-Compliant:
   
   1. Occurrence: Very common
   2. Next steps: If liability risk is lower than business impact, submit an exception form. Justification must include market research. It must also build a case on how the liability risk is lower than business impact.
   3. Cautions: Exception form may not be approved. If exception is approved, it does not guarantee immunity for the university.
3. Exempt or holds an exception from accessibility standards compliance:
   
   1. Occurrence: Occasional
   2. Next steps: Move forward with procurement.
   3. Cautions: Exemptions and exceptions can and will change in the future. As technology improves, some will be removed. Companies cannot declare themselves exempt, only request exemption. Federal and state governments have lists of exemptions and exceptions.

Employees are protected from job discrimination based on disability. They are not required to disclose their medical conditions. Employees disclosing their medical conditions to their supervisor and human resources office may help them acquire reasonable accommodations. Yet they fear they will be discriminated against if they do disclose their medical conditions. This means you may work with people who have disabilities they have not disclosed.

Our TAMU-CC community is a diverse population. With disclosure not required, and the ability for any person to acquire a disability at any time, we assume our TAMU-CC community includes people with disabilities. This means all EIRs must be reviewed for compliance with accessibility requirements.

Depends on how much information we have on the EIR. Provide information early on about your EIR. If it is already in the IT Repository, we may request less information.

• If it is already reviewed, approval will be quick.
• If a previous exception has expired, you will be submitting a new exception for approval.

Best case scenario is a day or two. Worst case scenario may be a month or two. Delays typically come from the company. Delays sometimes come if we need clarification about the EIR from you.

Note: The accessibility review is one part of the entire IT vetting process. Other IT areas may take longer or shorter time to review depending on the request.

Yes. Almost every government agency and university does procure inaccessible EIR. Some have stricter procurement policies.

Many companies, including large corporations, still have inaccessible EIR. Some universities act as companies who provide EIR for procurement. Many of those universities, including major universities, still have inaccessible EIR.

Many companies do not know about accessibility laws. Many companies are improving their accessibility but not there yet. Some accessibility issues are technologically impossible to resolve right now. Some take time to do more research and development.

The law makes our university accountable and liable to spread the word to companies.

Their technical teams often do not have digital accessibility training. They do not know the legal requirements we must follow. For example, accessibility overlays are in the news for lawsuits. However, it is the companies who buy and use the accessibility overlays that are noted in the lawsuits, not the ones selling the overlays.

It is up to us to inform the companies, since it will affect our ability to use their EIR in the future. We provide them with educational materials. We point them to accessibility consulting companies that can assist them. We are often the first to tell them about digital accessibility.

If we do not inform them, it may impact our business relationships in the future. We must document the improvement of our EIR. If companies refuse to improve accessibility, we may have to end those relationships.

Some universities have already been forced to end relationships. The university and the company may appear in the news, harming both their reputations. Companies may lose money when relationships end. Universities may lose federal funding and programs. Communities may lose services provided by universities.

A team effort to improve accessibility is important to continue these business relationships.

We do not want to get to that point. Our desire is to ensure business processes continue and strategic goals are met. But, that may mean looking into other alternatives if this EIR is rejected:

• Give yourself enough time to look at other options. The justification section in the exception form includes market research. You should have considered all alternatives when documenting that market research.
• Give yourself enough time to communicate a transition period. If you are switching to another EIR, determine what that will take. Who do you need to assist you with the transition? Discuss plans with IT. They may be able to help you with remediation or alternative accommodations.

No matter where EIR is in a project life cycle, accessibility checks are important. The company should address their process in the Vendor Accessibility Development Services questionnaire. If you are developing EIR, consider these steps as well:

1. Plan: Determine where digital accessibility compliance will need to be addressed. Is content being created or an interface/layout being adjusted? Note those areas that will need review time.
2. Design: Some visual or usability aspects can be reviewed during the design process. These accessibility concerns include color choice, font size/choice, and layout spacing.
3. Develop: Some interactivity may need to be addressed. For example, how can a keyboard access all the options? How can a user tell where they are on an application? How can a user stop some interactive element from becoming too distracting?
4. Test: Many tools already have accessibility checkers to assist you with digital content. For example, Microsoft 365, Cascade CMS, and Adobe Acrobat DC Pro. Web browsers have accessibility tools or you can install plugins. However, automated tools do not address all accessibility issues. Some elements of accessibility will need to be manually checked. These are typically concerned with basic human understanding or context. For example, does the alternative text address the context of the image? Does the order of navigation make sense?
5. Maintain: Regularly check modifications to content or development. Technological advances may make some accessibility standards easier to include. That typically means adjusting some code or options to set those in motion.

This is an ongoing, cyclical process until the university is no longer using the EIR. For example, IBM's Equal Access Toolkit incorporates accessibility into their project life cycle.

Note that not all areas or elements may be accessible upon launch of the EIR. Ensure a roadmap is in place to address non-compliant items soon. One week after launch? Two weeks? Whatever the plan, the main goal is progress.