Accessibility Exception Requests

All websites, web applications, and other electronic and information resources (EIR) must comply with certain technical accessibility standards (see the EIR Accessibility Standards table below). If achieving compliance with these standards is not possible, an EIR Accessibility Exception Request Form (pdf) must be submitted for each non-compliant EIR. See instructions for completing the form.

Exception Request Process

  1. Fill out the EIR Accessibility Exception Request Form (pdf).
  2. Send a saved copy of the completed PDF form and the VPAT® for the product or service to itaccessibility@tamu.edu.
  3. The request is reviewed by the EIR Accessibility Coordinator and recommendations are made regarding the EIR in question.
  4. The request is routed to the President through the Division of Information Technology.
  5. The requestor is notified of the final decision.*

*An approved exception request is not an exemption from making EIR accessible. Instead, it is documentation of temporary acceptance of risk until the EIR or associated service can be brought into compliance through modification, substitution with a comparable EIR, or discontinuation of use due to end of life (EOL).

EIR Accessibility Standards

EIR Category Technical Accessibility Standards
Software Applications and Operating Systems Title 1, Rule §213.30 of the Texas Administrative Code
Websites
Telecommunications Products Title 1, Rule §213.31 of the Texas Administrative Code
Video and Multimedia Products Title 1, Rule §213.32 of the Texas Administrative Code
Self Contained, Closed Products Title 1, Rule §213.33 of the Texas Administrative Code
Desktop and Portable Computers Title 1, Rule §213.34 of the Texas Administrative Code

Contact the Division of Information Technology accessibility team if you have any questions or comments.

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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.