Strategies for Procuring Accessible IT

OIT Technology Accessibility Program (TAP)

September 27, 2023

Getting Started

There are things you can do now to begin including accessibility into your procurement process.

• Update boilerplate contract language with accessibility requirements
• State consolidated branch agencies should use the State Contract Templates from DPA’s State Purchasing and Contracts Office.
• Start talking with vendors about their accessibility compliance and commitment to being accessible. Use a vendor checklist to help guide the conversation.
• Request an accessibility conformance report when vetting new products. Include this request in your RFI/RFPs(RFx).
• You can also add vendor checklist questions to your RFx as well

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Continue to Improve Processes and Tools

As you continue with process improvements you can also:

• Perform an analysis of your current procurement processes and tools to identify gaps
• Create a procurement vetting and review process to identify issues and levels of risk
• Develop an accessibility packet for your vendors to fill out during the RFx or procurement process.
• Include a Policy-driven Adoption for Accessibility (PDAA) for vendors to demonstrate how the organization has implemented accessibility.
• Develop a website for vendor submission and review process with tools and resources
• Example: Texas Department of Information Resources

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Start By Updating Contract Language

You will want to include accessibility language in your standard boilerplate contract language, preferably something that “has teeth”.

Recommendations for boilerplate language include adding:

• Submission of an accessibility conformance report
• “Must meet WCAG 2.1 Level A and AA as outlined in the State Technical Accessibility Rules”
• Penalties for non-compliance with a defined schedule
• Regular conformance (yearly) reporting and (yearly or bi-yearly) testing requirements
• Include testing requirement for product upgrades or enhancements
• Be sure to include testing to be done against your current version of the WCAG guidelines
• Include assurances in your contract language that commitment to accessibility and requirements will be met by launch of the product and for any upgrades.

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Ask Vendors About Accessibility

Use a “Vendor Checklist” to ask vendors questions about the accessibility of their products and/or development services including their organization’s accessibility practices and systems.

A few key questions to ask include:

• Is your product WCAG compliant?
• Do you have a completed Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR)?
• Do you have an accessibility team or developer roles who specifically address accessibility?
• If your product is not compliant, do you have a roadmap and timeline (preferably within 90-120 days) to come into compliance?
• Do you have anyone on your team proficient in using JAWS or other screen readers technologies?
• Can you provide a third-party attestation (evidence) of product accessibility?

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Request an Accessibility Compliance Report

Request an Accessibility Conformance Report(ACR), such as a completed Voluntary Accessibility Product Template (VPAT), from vendors. You can have vendors use the current ITIC VPAT 2.5Rev WCAG (November 2023) (downloadable Word file).

Once you have a compliance report from the vendor, you will need to review and validate that the information is complete, accurate and meets requirements.

Note that compliance reports are not confirmation of compliance but are a starting point.

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Reading a Compliance Report

If your team members are reviewing solicitations from vendors, and they do not know how to read a compliance report, it’s time to teach them. You can begin with our training guide, “Understanding an Accessibility Compliance Report”.

Quick tips:

• Make sure to check that all information, including the conformance rating and remarks for every success criteria, in the report has been filled out.
• Ideally, you want all criteria to be at the “fully supports” conformance level. When a criteria indicates “partially supports” or “does not support” discuss those items with the vendor.
• If you see a lot of “partially supports” items that are “showstoppers” , a lot of “does not support” items, this should be a red flag.

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Reviewing Vendor Accessibility Information

• Review the vendor’s initial answers from the vendor checklist and any additional reference materials provided.
• Validate that all information including the compliance report is complete and accurate. Use web accessibility evaluation tools to spot check the vendor website and/or product.
• Use a high level risk assessment tool to calculate level of risk.
• Follow up with the vendor on any questions or concerns you have. You can continue to use the vendor checklist to help guide the conversation.

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Making an Initial Decision

Once you have completed your review, it’s time to decide whether you want to work with that vendor. This can be nuanced and will depend on the documentation provided as well as discussions with both the vendor and your internal stakeholders.

Here are a few considerations:

• Was the compliance report incomplete?
• Are there a large number of partially or non-compliant criteria?
• Are the non-compliant or partially compliant criteria showstoppers to use of the product?
• Is the vendor willing to fix those issues in a timely manner? Will they give a timeline and roadmap for fixes?
• Is the vendor willing to work with you as a partner to meet compliance in a reasonable timeline?

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Working with Vendors on Accessibility

Working with your vendors should be a partnership. Vendors should be committed to providing a quality product that includes being accessible and they should be willing to work with you to achieve compliance.

• If you can, provide training to vendors on how to respond to RFx in relation to accessibility. (help them be prepared)
• If you don’t have an accessibility compliance report yet, ask the vendor if they are willing to have their product tested to provide a compliance report.
• Ask whether the vendor will provide a roadmap and timeline for accessibility fixes.
• Weigh your options and risk. Sometimes a product is vital to your organization and working with the vendor on accessibility is your best bet.
• Work with the vendor to develop an accommodation plan.

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Accommodations, Exceptions and Exemptions

When you can’t procure a product that is fully accessible you may need to provide an approved and documented exception or exemption with an accommodation plan.

• Exceptions are when an element or area of a product does not meet accessibility.
• Exemptions are when an entire product does not meet or is guaranteed to meet accessibility.
• Accommodations can be planned for and provided when an area of a product can’t be made compliant immediately.
• Develop an Equally Effective Alternative Access Plan to “describe how those affected by the inaccessible product can continue to participate in professional, academic, or other activities”. - University of Iowa

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Questions?

If you’re thinking it… most likely someone else is as well.

Reach out to the Technology Accessibility Program at OIT_Accessibility@state.co.us.

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