Do you help maintain a university website or any other electronic media? If so, have you checked out DOIT’s new Accessibility User Guides? Our staff have compiled helpful resources and items to consider when working on a website, email, or other electronic documents. How you structure these (e.g., use of alt text, etc.), may ultimately determine whether someone with a disability can interpret your content and receive the information presented or needed. These types of accessibility measures are required by law and are responsibilities for us all. If you have any questions regarding electronic accessibility or would like to receive training, please reach out to Evan Pickrel, Electronic Information Resources Accessibility Coordinator, at EIRAccessCoord@txstate.edu.
There is a huge legal case underway currently between a visually impaired individual and Domino’s Pizza (https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2019/10/07/dominos-pizza-website-accessibility-supreme-court-wont-hear-case/3904582002/). The outcome of this case could have some staggering effects on accessibility of all websites and the potential penalties if a business’ site is not accessible. At Texas State University, we need to ensure we are doing our best at making our electronic resources accessible to those with disabilities: not just because we are legally required to by federal and state law, but because it is the right thing to do.
The IT Division assesses the accessibility of our electronic resources by scanning websites and by evaluating compliance by software vendors at both initial purchase time and renewals. While many software providers are compliant and understand ADA of electronic resources, many do not. If not, this can create a roadblock when attempting to acquire their products, and cause significant delays in procurement, if not a complete rejection of the purchase.
More information on electronic accessibility, including WAVE training and other free resources, is available at https://doit.txstate.edu/accessibility/.
Ken Pierce is Vice President for Information Technology and CIO.
