Digital Accessibility Exception Requests
As a public institution of higher education, Texas A&M is committed to providing equal access to Digital Resources for all users. In limited circumstances, a Digital Accessibility Exception may be approved when full compliance with accessibility standards cannot be achieved immediately.
An accessibility exception does not eliminate the obligation to provide access. Instead, it documents a temporary acceptance of risk while steps are taken to remediate, replace, or retire a noncompliant digital resource.
What Is a Digital Accessibility Exception?
A Digital Accessibility Exception is a formal approval that allows a digital resource to be used temporarily when one or more accessibility standards cannot be met. Exceptions are granted only when specific conditions are present and documented, such as:
- Full compliance would fundamentally alter the academic, administrative, or operational purpose of the resource
- No comparable accessible alternative is currently available to meet the university’s business or instructional need
- The resource is nearing end of life and will be discontinued or replaced within a defined timeframe
Exceptions are time‑limited, reviewed by appropriate stakeholders, and must include plans to ensure access for individuals with disabilities.
What an Exception Does—and Does Not—Mean
An approved exception:
- Documents temporary acceptance of accessibility risk by the institution
- Allows continued use of the resource while remediation or transition planning occurs
- Requires the provision of alternative means of access upon request
An approved exception does not:
- Remove the requirement to make digital resources accessible
- Prevent individuals from requesting accommodations
- Indicate that accessibility concerns should be deferred or ignored
Providing Alternative Means of Access
When a digital resource has an approved accessibility exception, the institution will ensure access through reasonable and timely accommodations, which may include:
- Providing accessible versions of content (e.g., documents, transcripts, captions)
- Offering direct assistance or support from trained staff
- Coordinating with vendors to address barriers or provide interim solutions
- Utilizing assistive technologies where appropriate
- Collaborating with Human Resources or Disability Resources to determine suitable accommodations
Accommodation requests are evaluated on a case‑by‑case basis, with the goal of providing a comparable user experience.
Notifying Users About Accessibility Accommodations
Individuals who use a resource with an approved exception will be informed that accommodations are available. Notification methods may include:
- Statements in course syllabi or instructional materials
- Information shared during orientations or trainings
- Notices within the digital resource or on a related support page
- Departmental or program‑specific communications
Each notice will clearly explain how to request an accommodation and whom to contact for assistance.
Requesting an Accessibility Exception
Accessibility exception requests must be submitted through our institution's compliance review process and must include:
- A justification explaining why compliance cannot be achieved at this time
- Documentation of accessibility status (e.g., VPAT/ACR, vendor statements, roadmaps)
- A description of how access will be provided during the exception period
- An anticipated end date tied to remediation, replacement, or contract renewal
Exceptions are reviewed and approved by designated university authorities and may require leadership approval depending on scope and impact.
For more information, contact the IT Accessibility team.
Did you know?
- In the United States, about 55 million people have a disability (src: 2010 U.S. Census).
- About 1 in 5 Americans have some kind of disability (src: 2010 U.S. Census).
- The percentage of people affected by disabilities is growing as our population ages.
- Two popular, free screen readers are VoiceOver (Mac OS and iOS) and NVDA (Win).
- Good accessibility practices can improve the search ranking of your website.
- Form fields without labels can cause problems for some assistive technology users.
- Low color contrast makes content difficult to see, especially for users with low vision.
- Documents linked on a website need to be accessible too (e.g., PDF and Word files).
- Audio content, like podcasts, need transcripts for deaf or hard of hearing users.
- Online videos should be captioned for deaf or hard of hearing users.
- Using HTML tags correctly is very important for accessibility.
- Descriptive link text helps make a website more accessible. Avoid using "Click here" or "Read more."
- A "screen reader" is an application that reads content aloud to a user.
- There is no "alt tag" in HTML. "Alt" is an attribute used with the img tag.
- HTML uses the alt attribute to provide a text description of an image.
- Alt text should describe an image, if the purpose of the image is to convey information.
- If an image is a link, the alt text for the image should explain where the link goes.
- If an image is only being used for decoration, the alt text should be null (i.e., alt="").
- If a table has headers, using header tags (<th>) will make the table more accessible.
- An accessible website is one that can be navigated and understood by everyone.