ITTATC - A National Assessment of State E&IT Accessibility Initiatives

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A National Assessment of State E&IT Accessibility Initiatives

OVERVIEW OF STATE ELECTRONIC AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ACCESSIBILITY INITIATIVES

Related to Websites, E&IT Procurement, and Application Development

August 2004

This is a publication of the Information Technology Technical Assistance and Training Center, which is funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research of the U.S. Department of Education under grant #H133A000405. The opinions contained in this publication are those of the grantee and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of Education. For questions or comments, please contact Trystan Phifer-O'Leary at toleary@mail.law.uiowa.edu.

PURPOSE

The National Assessment of State Electronic and Information Technology (E&IT) Accessibility Initiatives is a project of the Information Technology Technical Assistance and Training Center (ITTATC). The purpose of the assessment is to identify statutes, policies, and standards at the state level related to the accessibility of websites, E&IT procurement, and application development. In a general sense, this assessment also is designed to aid in the larger effort undertaken by ITTATC to identify perceived barriers to improved E&IT accessibility at the state level; to identify the information, training, and technical assistance needed to improve E&IT accessibility; and to provide measurements at various points in time of current state efforts to design and implement E&IT accessibility policies and procedures.

BACKGROUND

E&IT is defined by federal regulations as any equipment or interconnected system of equipment that is used in the creation, conversion, or duplication of data or information. In addition to information technology (IT), which includes computer hardware, operating systems, and application software, E&IT includes: information kiosks, transaction machines, World Wide Websites, multimedia, and office equipment such as copiers and fax machines.

During the months of September 2001 through May 2002, ITTATC conducted a survey to gain a better sense of what states are doing to promote E&IT accessibility. While the results of that survey were being compiled, stakeholders expressed a desire to see tangible examples of current laws, policies, standards, and resources related to state E&IT accessibility practices. Consequently, an in-depth search was conducted for on-line resources during the months of January through April 2003. The results of that search were documented for the core areas of websites, application development, E&IT procurement, and public access to hardware in an "Overview of State Accessibility Laws, Policies, Standards and Other Resources Available On-line."

The current assessment, which was conducted between October 2003 and August 2004, updates and expands on the information that was collected in that earlier survey. In addition, for this installment of the survey, ITTATC focused on the areas of websites, E&IT procurement, and application development.

METHODOLOGY

Researchers at the Law, Health Policy and Disability Center (LHPDC) at the University of Iowa performed an exhaustive search of available electronic resources for each state and the District of Columbia. The objective was to find statutes, policies, standards, guidelines, and other resources that relate to the accessibility of (1) websites, (2) procurement of hardware, software or other electronic and information technology products, and (3) application development. Most information was ultimately identified on and collected from the main web portals of the states and on related websites for state agencies (which were accessed through links included on the state portals). In many cases, relevant information was found on websites for state agencies, the Governor, or the state's Chief Information Officer (CIO). In addition, information about state statutes related to E&IT was identified through state legislative websites, or through the use of a legal electronic database, namely Westlaw®. In addition, the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) website was used to obtain links to state departments of Information Technology (https://www.nascio.org/aboutNascio/profiles/), and to obtain information on current Chief Information Officers.[1] Information on current Procurement Officials in each state was obtained from the National Association of State Procurement Officials (NASPO) website (http://www.naspo.org/directors/). [2]

After the data was collected, it was reviewed, organized by state, and placed in a database using the following categories of information:

Initiative Basis (i.e., whether the existing accessibility initiative is in the form of a statute, policy, standard, etc.)
Effective Date for the statute, policy, standard, etc.
Date by which Compliance with the statute, policy, standard, etc. is required
Standard used as the basis for the statute, policy, standard, etc. (i.e., Section 508, W3C/WCAG, etc.)
Scope of Applicability for the statute, policy, standard, etc.
Whether the statute, policy, standard, etc. requires Validation and Testing
Whether the statute, policy, standard, etc. requires Compliance Monitoring and the name of the person or entity responsible for such monitoring
Whether the statute, policy, standard, etc. includes a Complaint Process and, if so, what the complaint process entails
Name of any Specific Contact Person associated with the statute, policy, standard, etc.
Name of the State CIO
Name of the State Procurement Officer
Link for the State's Main Portal

[1] NASCIO represents "state chief information officers and information resource executives and managers from the 50 states, six U. S. territories, and the District of Columbia." The State Profiles section of the NASCIO website provides "CIO contact information, professional biographies, state government links, and state statistics."

[2] The National Association of State Procurement Officials is a "non-profit association dedicated to strengthening the procurement community through education, research, and communication. It is made up of the directors of the central purchasing offices in each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia and the territories of the United States."

FINDINGS

The information in the database provides the current accessibility-related statutes, policies, standards or guidelines, and other resources available on-line for the core areas of websites, E&IT procurement, and application development. The information is current as of August 2004. (Please note that the details contained in this overview are not meant to be all-inclusive.)

Research revealed that fourteen (14) states have existing statutes that apply to website accessibility; fourteen (14) states have statutes to govern E&IT procurement; and six (6) states have statutes that address application development. Many states, however, have policies or guidelines in place instead of statutes.

A policy is a statement developed by an authority in the state that typically requires that a certain level of accessibility be achieved for the state's websites, procurement process, and/or application development. By contrast, a guideline, also sometimes deemed a standard, is a recommendation by an authority in the state regarding accessibility for the state's websites, procurement process, and/or application development. Sometimes a state distinguishes policies from guidelines in the title of its document. In certain cases, however, a state's statement regarding website accessibility, procurement, or application development is unnamed. For the purposes of this assessment, any statement that was not designated as a policy or a guideline by the state was given a designation on the basis of its content and categorized in the database accordingly.

In certain instances, a state had more than one type of authority on accessibility. For example, some states accompanied their policies or statutes with guidelines that offered further explanation for the implementation of the policy or statute. It is important to note that it is common for states to occasionally revise or amend policies or guidelines, whereas statutes are not frequently amended.

See Table 1 for summary results by statute, policy, and guideline.

**Table 1**
Type of Accessibility Practice	Number of States
Web Statute	14
Web Policy	25
Web Guidelines	37
E&IT Procurement Statute	14
E&IT Procurement Policy	3
E&IT Procurement Guidelines	7
Application Development Statute	6
Application Development Policy	3
Application Development Guidelines	6

All states have a statute, policy, and/or set of guidelines related to website accessibility, while the areas of E&IT procurement and application development were not addressed as often by the states. Thirty (30) states lacked a statute, policy, or set of guidelines to govern E&IT procurement, and thirty-nine (39) states had no statute, policy, or guidelines for application development. See Table 2.

**Table 2**
	Number of States
No E&IT Procurement Statute, Policy or Guidelines	30
No Application Development Statute, Policy or Guidelines	39

Of all of the statutes, policies, and/or guidelines related to website accessibility, thirty-seven (37) applied to some or all branches of the state government, while eleven (11) governed only the state web portal and/or state websites. The scope of application of three (3) of the state statutes, policies, and/or guidelines was unclear.

Notably, the statutes that govern website and E&IT procurement accessibility in Arkansas and Kentucky provide for legal action to enforce compliance with the states' statutes. The compliance measures include injunctive relief against activity that does not adequately promote accessibility under the terms of the state statutes. Wisconsin offers the option of "legal action" when there is a failure by the state to comply with required accessibility measures for application development, but does not specify what type of legal action is permitted. California and Nebraska provide for infractions of state statutes and/or policies to be taken into consideration during funding determinations for state agencies.

Certain state statutes or policies related to procurement require the development and inclusion of a "Technology Access Clause" in all contracts for the procurement of E&IT. Eleven (11) states, including Arkansas, Colorado, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Texas, and Virginia, have statutes or policies that require Technology Access Clauses in procurement contracts for E&IT products. A Technology Access Clause may require compliance with the state's adopted standards, and also may require the vendor to assert that its product complies with the state law. Some states require the contractor to respond to and resolve any complaints regarding its products or services if standards for accessibility are not met.

As a general matter, the states do not exhibit any uniformity in their approach to achieving accessibility. These inconsistencies are most likely a function of the fact that states operate differently, and that each state is faced with a unique set of challenges and issues (e.g., population size, government structure, financial and human resources, etc.). Statutes, policies, and guidelines vary widely among the states, and the presentation of this material in several general categories should not be interpreted as meaning that the states fit neatly into those categories. It is imperative that people seeking to work within the systems of each state examine the statutes, policies, or guidelines of that particular state thoroughly and carefully in order to ensure compliance. It is possible that other on-line resources may exist, that information links may change, and that state departments may move and/or shift responsibility. As a result, this information will be updated twice over the course of the next twelve months. Updates will likely occur in February and October of 2005. Readers who know of existing links that do not appear in the database are asked to inform ITTATC so that accurate and usable information can be maintained.

CONCLUSION

ITTATC expects that the information in this report will be used in a variety of ways and by a wide variety of stakeholders. For example:

State officials considering the development and adoption of accessibility laws and standards can examine what other states have done and use the information to determine what might work well for their state.
Consumers and advocates may use the information to identify progress at the state level and to develop strategies to stimulate the adoption of statutes in other states.
Vendors and industry representatives may use the information to target their sales and promotional efforts for accessible products and services.
On a broader scale, manufacturers may use this information in their market analyses as they determine customer requirements for accessible electronic and information technology.

Several states have developed laws, policies, and/or standards that are working to make E&IT accessibility a reality for thousands of individuals with disabilities by requiring accessibility as a consideration in the procurement process and/or in the development of websites and applications. Section 508 and the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines promulgated by the World Wide Web Consortium inform and structure many of the states' laws, policies, and standards and, indeed, are reflected in the text and spirit of the most effective policies. In some cases, however, states have adopted laws, policies, and/or guidelines based on Section 508, but have not specified or required the development of processes to implement the standards at the state level.

Despite the efforts of several progressive states, many states still lack a strong, coherent law, policy, or set of guidelines to improve E&IT accessibility for individuals with disabilities. In fact, thirty (30) states do not have a law, policy, or standard to establish guidelines for ensuring E&IT accessibility through the procurement process; and thirty-nine (39) states do not have a law, policy, or set of standards designed to incorporate the principles of E&IT accessibility into application development. Thus, while many states have laws, policies, and/or standards to govern website accessibility, they do not have any comparable laws, policies, or standards designed to impact procurement or application development, both of which are essential areas in which to achieve accessibility if individuals with disabilities are to truly have access to E&IT.

The results of this research are not static. States continue to create, revise, and update laws, policies, and standards related to E&IT accessibility. States undergoing such changes are encouraged to contact ITTATC or LHPDC to provide information about any new developments with regard to E&IT accessibility.

AUTHORS

This is a report of the Information Technology Technical Assistance and Training Center (ITTATC, http://www.ittatc.org). The ITTATC Project Director is Mimi Kessler. Michael Morris, Trystan Phifer-O'Leary, and Laura Farah, Principal Investigators of the Law, Health Policy & Disability Center of the University of Iowa College of Law, Washington, D.C. Office, produced the report. The report also was produced with support from Deborah Buck, Executive Director, Association of Assistive Technology Act Programs (ATAP).

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