| (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 state agencies 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; or
(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
agency or through the department's commodity procurement contracts
for which the solicitation is issued on or after April 18, 2020, the
agency 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 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 agency 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; or
(3) the URL to a web page which explains how to request
completed ACRs or VPATs for any products under contract;
(4) If credible accessibility documentation cannot
be provided, then EIR shall be considered noncompliant.
(c) An agency shall implement a procurement accessibility
policy, and supporting business processes and contract terms, for
making procurement decisions. An agency shall monitor the procurement
processes and contracts for accessibility compliance.
(d) This subchapter applies to EIR developed, procured,
or materially changed by an agency, or developed, procured, or materially
changed by a contractor under a contract with an agency 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 agency head
pursuant to Texas Government Code §2054.460 and 1 Texas Administrative
Code §213.17 or unless an exemption is approved by the department,
pursuant to Texas Government Code §2054.460, and 1 Texas Administrative
Code §213.17, 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
state agency staff member to validate compliance with 1 Texas Administrative
Code §206.50 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 state agency or institution
of higher education; or
(3) substantially alters work methods of agency personnel
or the delivery of services to clients.
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| Source Note: The provisions of this §213.18 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 |
