Accessible EIR Design and/or Development
Not all electronic and information resources (EIR) we procure or use is pre-built, often called a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) product. We hire companies to provide design and/or development work.
Design work is sometimes called creative deliverables:
- online marketing materials, like ad banners or videos
- website maintenance, like copywriting and graphics design
- electronic documents, like Microsoft Word and Adobe PDF documents
Development work often includes design but has a general point:
- develop a marketing or informational website, which may include content pulled from a database
- develop or customize a component or module on a COTS product.
These must be reviewed for digital accessibility compliance like any other IT procured or used by TAMU-CC. The accessibility review process is different from reviewing COTS products.
Steps in the IT accessibility review process for design/development work
The company needs to follow technical accessibility standards, but we have no EIR to review to ensure compliance. It has not been designed and/or developed.
- With no EIR to review, the company needs to fill out the Vendor Accessibility Development Services form. The survey asks about the company's culture of inclusivity and how they test their EIR for accessibility.
- If they need to address information security as well, they can file the current Higher Education Community Vendor Assessment Toolkit (HECVAT) (version 3.03 or later). The above IT accessibility survey questions are already included.
Companies are often compared by their documentation at this point. The company that is most compliant and addresses TAMU-CC's business needs is hired. If concerns cannot be addressed, TAMU-CC will start over and reach out for new bids for the services.
When the company is hired, the accessibility review is addressed throughout the "project life cycle". Note the cycle is shorter for just design work.
See example: IBM's Equal Access Toolkit
Note: This is an ongoing, cyclical process until the university is no longer using the EIR.
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.
If the EIR will not be accessible at launch, an accessibility exception will need to be filed. This needs to include the roadmap showing the work that will continue to improve the digital accessibility compliance of the EIR.