Procuring IT Products and Services

IT accessibility is the set of strategies, guidelines, and resources that make Electronic and Information Resources (EIR) accessible to everyone. It involves developing policies and implementing processes to ensure the functional use of EIR by people of all abilities in an independent manner.

Steps to procuring accessible EIR

Ensuring the procurement of accessible EIR is the first step to enabling everyone—including those with disabilities—to perceive, understand, navigate and interact with technology.

Basis for procuring accessible EIR products and services

Effective April 18, 2020, unless an exception is approved by the president or chancellor of an institution of higher education or an exemption has been made for the following EIR categories pursuant to 1 Texas Administrative Code §213.37, all EIR developed, procured, or changed by an institution of higher education shall comply with Texas Administrative Code accessibility requirements (specifically 1 TAC §206 and 1 TAC §213) which reference standards contained within Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act and subsequently require conformance with 1) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 Level AA and 2) Functional Performance Criteria contained within.

Further, Texas A&M University is committed to the recently incorporated guidelines of WCAG 2.1 in order to be fully compliant with federal standards, including Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. See What's New in WCAG 2.1 to see how standards have changed from the WCAG 2.0 version. For more information about these and upcoming modifications, see the WCAG 2 FAQ

Texas A&M Standard Administrative Procedure 29.01.04.M0.02 supports state and federal laws that govern EIR which include, but are not limited to:

  • Software applications and operating systems
  • Websites, including public-facing and intranet
  • Telecommunications products
  • Video and Multimedia products
  • Hardware, including desktop computers, laptops, and closed products such as copiers, printers, kiosks, digital signage, etc.
  • Functional performance criteria described in 1 TAC §213.35
  • Information, documentation, and support described in 1 TAC §213.36
  • Emerging technologies



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