The Compliance & Accessibility Committee will establish procedures for ensuring compliance with regulations as specified in Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended (29 U.S.C. § 794 (d)) the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as well as 2001 NC Senate Bill 866.
New and updated digital content produced by Isothermal Community College will meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WGAG) 2.1 Level AA. Legacy content is subject to the standards in place at the time of development of the original content.
Digital content provided for our organization by third-party developers will meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA. This does not include student-generated content, unless the content is used on behalf of the Isothermal Community College.
Digital content may refer to all official electronic documents and communications from employees of Isothermal Community College, including but not limited to:
Upon a specific request for access by an individual with a disability, legacy content must be updated to be compliant with WCAG 2.1 Level AA guidelines, or the content must otherwise be made available to any individual requesting access in a timely manner. Timeliness should be considered in the context of the type of information or service the content provides and generally within ten (10) business days. Individuals seeking an accommodation must contact web@isothermal.edu to initiate an accommodation request.
Upon a specific accommodation request, digital content in archive status (e.g. no longer in use but subject to records retention schedule) containing core administrative or academic information, official records, and similar information must be made available to any individual eligible for and needing access to digital content, by revision or otherwise.
Web accessibility and standards must be taught and reinforced via professional development opportunities for employees of the College for designing, developing, and maintaining digital content. Professional development is conducted several times throughout the academic year for faculty and staff who create digital content. Topics include, but not limited to:
Digital content testing tools and processes must assess the accessibility of digital content prior to sharing publicly. Tools and processes utilized must follow current standards utilized by the College. The Compliance & Accessibility Committee maintains a list of recommended tools.
All College vendor contracts commencing after the effective date of this policy should contain a provision requiring the vendor to comply with this policy. Vendors must provide documentation and/or supporting statements about accessibility compliance to meet the current standards utilized by the College. Employees of the Isothermal Community College should verify vendor responses with demonstrated ability in accessibility evaluation prior to purchase.
Report any issues to web@isothermal.edu.
The Compliance & Accessibility Committee may grant exceptions to the policy, unless the exception violates federal policy or state law. Exception requests for each non-compliant item must be submitted to the Compliance & Accessibility Committee for review. Individuals seeking an accommodation must contact web@isothermal.edu to initiate the exception request.
An approved exception request is not an exemption from making digital content accessible. Instead, it is documentation of temporary acceptance of risk until the digital content can be brought into compliance through modification, substitution with comparable digital content or discontinuation of use due to end-of-life (EOL).
Legacy content refers to digital content created or modified prior to date of this policy. Legacy subject to the standards in place at the time of development of the original content. As legacy content is updated, the revisions must meet the current standards utilized by the Isothermal Community College. An exception to this requirement may be requested per the general exception request process. Individuals seeking an accommodation must contact web@isothermal.edu to initiate the exception request.
An exception to the requirements of digital content that is only available in instances where a website is deemed essential to the operations of the College would be where accessibility would require extraordinary measures or is simply not possible. An exception to this requirement may be requested per the general exception request process. Individuals seeking an accommodation must contact web@isothermal.edu to initiate the exception request.
Policy Number: 801-01-03AP
Cross-reference:
Adopted: November 20, 2017