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ICT Accessibility General Policy

The University seeks Information and Communication Technology (ICT) that is universal in design and accessible to all individuals, including individuals with disabilities. In the event this is technically infeasible or imposes undue burden, the University ensures an equally effective accessible alternative. All ICT must meet the 51³Ô¹ÏÍøÍòÄÜ¿Æ´ó Accessibility Standards and Procedures and implementation under the

ICT Accessibility Procurement Policy

All ICT procured or acquired must meet the applicable accessibility standards set forth in 51³Ô¹ÏÍøÍòÄÜ¿Æ´ó Accessibility Standards and Procedures. The detailed ICT Procurement Procedures are published on the 51³Ô¹ÏÍøÍòÄÜ¿Æ´ó Accessibility Standards and Procedures website.

Authority and Responsibility

The Office of the Vice Provost for Academic Programs (VPAP) oversees the implementation of and compliance with the ICT Accessibility Policy. The Office of Accessibility Resources, as the VPAP’s designee, shall coordinate those efforts. Technology accessibility is an institution-wide responsibility. Technology access for individuals with disabilities must provide comparable functionality, affordability, accuracy of content and timeliness of service delivery. Products and services must be usable by the greatest number of people including individuals with disabilities.

Each University college, school, department, program or unit, faculty member, and employee is responsible to ensure compliance with this policy, required to adhere to this policy’s corresponding standards and procedures, and, if notified of non-compliance, is required to remediate.

Scope

The ICT Accessibility Policy applies to all technology and any equipment or interconnected system or subsystem of equipment that is used in the creation, conversion, or duplication of data or information employed in support of university business.

ICT includes, but is not limited to, the internet and intranet websites, content delivered in digital form, electronic books and electronic book reading systems, search engines and databases, learning management systems, classroom technology, instructional materials, student response systems ("clickers"), and equipment such as classroom podiums, copiers and fax machines. ICT also includes, but is not limited to, telecommunications products (such as telephones), information kiosks, Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), transaction machines (such as payment terminals), computers, ancillary equipment, software, services (including support services), equipment maintained and services operated by third-party vendors, and related resources.

Procedures and Guidelines

The Office of Accessibility Resources is responsible to maintain the  and its implementation through the 51³Ô¹ÏÍøÍòÄÜ¿Æ´ó Accessibility Standards and Procedures. All newly created, procured, deployed or otherwise acquired ICT must comply with the 51³Ô¹ÏÍøÍòÄÜ¿Æ´ó Accessibility Standards and Procedures and implementation under the 51³Ô¹ÏÍøÍòÄÜ¿Æ´ó Five Phase Accessibility Plan. All existing ICT must be brought into compliance with the 51³Ô¹ÏÍøÍòÄÜ¿Æ´ó Five Phase Accessibility Plan as determined in the annual University college, school, department, program or unit accessibility plan following the 51³Ô¹ÏÍøÍòÄÜ¿Æ´ó Accessibility Standards and Procedures.

The Office of Accessibility Resources may establish subcommittees and working groups responsible for subsections of the 51³Ô¹ÏÍøÍòÄÜ¿Æ´ó Five Phase Accessibility Plan.

The Office of Accessibility Resources must:

1. In collaboration with the ADA Coordinator, provide an annual report of progress of the University’s, college’s, school’s, department’s, program’s or unit’s accessibility plan, subcommittees, working groups and compliance statistics to the Office of the Vice Provost for Academic Programs.
2. Establish and maintain the 51³Ô¹ÏÍøÍòÄÜ¿Æ´ó Accessibility Standards and Procedures.
3. In collaboration with the ADA Coordinator, review the ICT Accessibility Policy and submit revisions via the Vice Provost for Academic Programs as needed.

Instructional Materials

All instructional materials and tools (i.e., video, images, documents, mobile applications, student response systems ("clickers"), etc.) are required to be accessible. All third-party content (i.e. publisher content, linked materials, etc.) used in a course must be accessible and is the responsibility of the department or faculty member providing the materials.

All faculty and staff are required to use university approved learning management systems (LMS), video servers, instructional tools (such as the plagiarism detection tool), student response systems ("clickers"), etc. for all instructional activities.

Procedures for accessing the accessibility of instructional materials and tools and the use of University approved systems and tools can be found on the 51³Ô¹ÏÍøÍòÄÜ¿Æ´ó Accessibility Standards and Procedures website.

Websites and Web Content

All websites, web pages, web-based applications, and social media published or hosted by the University or otherwise used to conduct official university academic and business activities must be in compliance with the ICT Accessibility Policy and must meet accessibility standards as published in the 51³Ô¹ÏÍøÍòÄÜ¿Æ´ó Accessibility Standards and Procedures. This includes, but is not limited to, University websites, academic division websites, departmental websites, student organization websites, faculty/staff websites, and externally hosted sites and content provided for official university business or instruction. Personal or faculty websites, are not to be used for the dissemination of any instructional materials or content nor to conduct official university academic or business activities.

Official university websites must contain a link to the Web Accessibility webpage describing 51³Ô¹ÏÍøÍòÄÜ¿Æ´ó’s Commitment to Accessibility and the method to report barriers and/or to receive an equally effective accessible format.

Exceptions

In some instances, ICT may be either not covered by this policy or eligible for exception from this policy when approved by the Executive Accessibility Advisory Board as defined in the Exception section of the 51³Ô¹ÏÍøÍòÄÜ¿Æ´ó Accessibility Standards and Procedures. Situations may include undue burden and fundamental alteration as identified in the exception section of the 51³Ô¹ÏÍøÍòÄÜ¿Æ´ó Accessibility Standards and Procedures and are evaluated on an individual basis.