Settlement Agreement Between the United States of America, Louisiana Tech University, and the Board of Supervisors for the University of Louisiana System Under the Americans with Disabilities Act

EXHIBIT 1

POLICY REGARDING THE REQUIREMENT OF
DEPLOYING ACCESSIBLE TECHNOLOGY IN THE UNIVERSITY SETTING

This Exhibit clarifies the requirements of Paragraph 13(a) of the Settlement Agreement Between the United States of America, Louisiana Tech University, and the Board of Supervisors for the University of Louisiana System Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“Settlement Agreement”).

Under Paragraph 13(a), the University must implement a policy that requires the deployment of accessible technology and course content in the University setting. To that end, the University shall conduct a review of the accessibility of its technology and instructional materials and shall ensure that, from the effective date of and consistent with the Settlement Agreement, all technology, including websites, instructional materials and online courses, and other electronic and information technology for use by students or prospective students, is accessible. The required policy will include provisions to the following effect:

• The University will only purchase, develop or use technology and instructional materials that do not exclude persons who are blind or who have other vision disabilities; and

• The University will only purchase, develop or use technology and instructional materials that allow persons who are blind or who have other vision disabilities the equal opportunity to access, use, and avail themselves of such technology or instructional materials in as full, equal, and independent a manner as persons without disabilities.

Web Pages

• New Pages: All new and redesigned web pages, web applications and web content (“web pages”) published by any college, department, program, unit, or professor that are available to students, prospective students, or applicants must comply with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 level AA (“WCAG 2.0 AA”).

• Pre-Existing Pages (published prior to the effective date): Each college, department, program, unit and professor that controls or operates a web page(s) available to students, prospective students, or applicants will develop and implement a plan to make pre-existing web pages posted since January 2010 comply with WCAG 2.0 AA by December 1, 2014.

  • The plan should prioritize pages that are most used or of most importance to students, prospective students, or applicants.

  • The plan should be posted on the department, program, unit, or professor’s website and updated as implementation proceeds.

• Each University web site, including pre-existing pages, must indicate, in plain text, a method of contact for users having trouble accessing content within the site.

• Legacy and Archive Pages: Upon a specific request for access by an individual with a disability, pre-existing pages, legacy pages (i.e., published prior to January 2010) and pages in archive status (e.g., no longer in use but subject to records retention schedules) containing core administrative or academic information, official records, and similar information must be updated to be in compliance with WCAG 2.0 AA or the content must otherwise be made available to the requesting individual in a timely and accessible manner. Timeliness should be considered in the context of the type of information or service a page provides and generally within ten (10) business days.

• For pre-existing pages, if timely access cannot be accomplished, equally effective alternate access must be provided in a timely manner.

Instructional Materials

• All instructional materials and online courses created by a college, department, program, unit or professor must be fully accessible to individuals with disabilities at the same time they are available to any other student enrolled in that program.

• Each college, department, program, unit and professor using pre-existing instructional materials and online courses created or used since January 2010 will develop and implement a plan to make them accessible in compliance with WCAG 2.0 AA by December 1, 2014. The plan should be posted on the department, program, unit, or professor’s website and updated as implementation proceeds.

Other Technology for Effective Communication

• The University will ensure that any new technology it makes available to students, prospective students or applicants, including web applications, hardware, software, telecommunications, and multimedia is accessible, if such new technology is commercially available and its purchase does not result in undue financial and administrative burdens or a fundamental alteration. If a product is available and meets some, but not all, of the relevant accessibility provisions of WCAG 2.0 AA, the product that best meets the standard must be procured.

• The University will develop and implement a process to ensure electronic and information technology purchased by the University is accessible, including:

  1. Language in all technology contracts requiring contractors to warrant their compliance with WCAG 2.0 AA, to provide accessibility testing results and written documentation verifying accessibility, to promptly respond to and resolve accessibility complaints, and to indemnify and hold the University harmless in the event of claims arising from inaccessibility.

  2. A process for determining whether providing effective communication in the University’s electronic and information technology would result in undue financial and administrative burdens or a fundamental alteration.

  3. Procedures for providing equally effective alternate access for technology acquisitions that are approved for exception (see below).

  4. Milestones and timelines.

Technical Assistance, Exceptions, and Monitoring

• An appropriate office will provide resources, information and assistance to programs on plan development and implementation, as well as on achieving accessibility of web pages, instructional materials, and other technology.

• When compliance is not technically possible, would require a fundamental alteration, or would result in undue financial and administrative burdens, exceptions to the policy may be granted by an appropriate official. Requests for exceptions must be in writing. Whenever an exception is granted, the University must develop a plan to provide equally effective alternate access to the information or service of the technology to students, prospective students, and applicants.

• The University will periodically conduct audits of websites, instructional materials, and other technology used by colleges, departments, programs, units and professors, inform them of the results, and initiate remedial action for accessibility problems identified.

• Equally Effective Alternate Access: “Equally effective alternate access” to electronic and information technology for persons with disabilities is based on (1) timeliness of delivery, (2) accuracy of translation, and (3) delivery in a manner and medium appropriate to the disability of the person. Such alternate(s), to be equally effective, are not required to produce the identical result or level of achievement for disabled and non-disabled persons, but must afford disabled persons equal opportunity to obtain the same result, to gain the same benefit, or to reach the same level of achievement, in the most integrated setting appropriate to the person’s needs.

• Fundamental Alteration: A change to a university program or service may constitute a fundamental alteration if it alters the essential purpose of the program or service or any of its components. In situations where a fundamental alteration can be documented, equally effective alternate access must still be provided.

• Undue Financial and Administrative Burdens: Undue financial and administrative burdens are created when a proposed course of action causes significant difficulty or expense. Because an institution must consider all resources available when reviewing claims of undue financial and administrative burdens, the decision to invoke undue financial and administrative burdens should be carefully weighed and sufficiently documented. In situations where undue financial and administrative burdens can be documented, equally effective alternate access must still be provided.