| (a) The department, in establishing commodity procurement
contracts, for which the solicitation is issued on or after April
18, 2020, shall obtain and make available to institutions of higher
education accessibility information for products or services, where
applicable, through one of the following methods:
(1) inclusion of or URLs to manufacturer pages of completed
VPATs or ACRs for applicable Commercial Off the Shelf products / or
services submitted in vendor solicitation responses;
(2) other documents / forms requested by the department
in commodity procurement solicitations that provide credible evidence
of the vendor's capability or ability to produce accessible EIR products
and services. Such evidence may include, but is not limited to, a
vendor's internal accessibility policy documents, contractual warranties
for accessibility, accessibility testing documents, and examples of
prior work results;
(3) the URL to a web page which explains how to request
completed ACRs or VPATs for any products under contract;
(b) For the procurement of EIR made directly by an
institution of higher education or through the department's commodity
procurement contracts for which the solicitation is issued on or after
April 18, 2020, the institution shall require a vendor to provide
accessibility information for the purchased products or services,
where applicable, through one of the following methods:
(1) inclusion of or URLs to manufacturer pages of completed
VPATs or accessibility conformance reports for applicable Commercial
Off the Shelf products / or services;
(2) other documents / forms requested by the institution
that provide credible evidence of the vendor's capability or ability
to produce accessible EIR products and services. Such evidence may
include, but is not limited to, a vendor's internal accessibility
policy documents, contractual warranties for accessibility, accessibility
testing documents, and examples of prior work results;
(3) The URL to a web page which explains how to request
completed ACRs or VPATs for any product under contract; or
(4) If credible accessibility documentation cannot
be provided, then EIR shall be considered noncompliant.
(c) An institution of higher education shall implement
a procurement accessibility policy, and supporting business processes
and contract terms, for making procurement decisions. The institution
of higher education shall monitor the procurement processes and contracts
for accessibility compliance.
(d) This subchapter applies to EIR developed, procured,
or materially changed by an institution of higher education, or developed,
procured, or materially changed by a contractor under a contract with
an institution of higher education which requires the use of such
product, or requires the use, to a significant extent, of such product
in the performance of a service or the furnishing of a product.
(e) Unless an exception is approved by the president
or chancellor of an institution of higher education pursuant to Texas
Government Code §2054.460 and 1 Texas Administrative Code §213.37
or unless an exemption is approved by the department, pursuant to
Texas Government Code §2054.460 and 1 Texas Administrative Code §213.37,
all EIR products developed, procured or materially changed through
a procured services contract, and all electronic and information resource
services provided through hosted or managed services contracts, shall
comply with the provisions of Chapter 206 and Chapter 213 of this
title, as applicable.
(f) Nothing in this subchapter is intended to prevent
the use of designs or technologies as alternatives to those prescribed
in this subchapter provided they result in substantially equivalent
or greater access to and use of a product for people with disabilities.
(g) Accessibility testing, planning, and execution
criteria shall be documented for the project and accessibility testing
shall be performed by a third-party testing resource or knowledgeable
institution of higher education staff member to validate compliance
with 1 Texas Administrative Code §206.70 and this chapter for
any EIR project whose developments costs exceed $500,000 and that:
(1) requires one year or longer to reach operations
status;
(2) involves more than one institution of higher education
or state agency; or
(3) substantially alters work methods of institution
of higher education or agency personnel or the delivery of services
to clients.
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| Source Note: The provisions of this §213.38 adopted to be effective September 16, 2008, 33 TexReg 7744; amended to be effective November 17, 2009, 34 TexReg 8027; amended to be effective September 18, 2014, 39 TexReg 7565; amended to be effective December 12, 2019, 44 TexReg 7679 |
