ACCESSIBILITY POLICY

Policy Statement

The intent of this policy is to provide individuals with disabilities equal access to products, activities, and services. This policy covers materials developed, purchased, or used in product development. All products and services will either conform to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines or be made available to users on request in an Equally Effective and Accessible Alternative manner.

Reason for Policy

Esolvit is committed to developing and supporting products and services that provide individuals with disabilities equal access. This includes the development of product lines as well as the technology used by employees.

Who is Governed by this Policy

Employees and third-party vendors that create, procure, and maintain the Esolvit custom development services and individual product lines.

Policy

Esolvit is committed to providing products and services that adhere to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 or higher, level AA. Product line teams will maintain appropriate procedures for ensuring products meet these guidelines. The organization will maintain communication lines with customers to ensure that any detected accessibility issue can be reported and remediated.

Purchasing of technologies both for internal use and inclusion within the product lines will be evaluated for accessibility before purchase. This process will include a review of product credible evidence such as an Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR) based on the Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) version 2.4 or better 508 edition and manual testing when appropriate.

Purchasers may undergo an exception process for purchasing of products lacking conformity with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines if it creates an Undue Financial or Administrative Burden or Fundamental Alteration due to the nature of the content, the purpose of the resource, the lack of accessible solutions, or an unreasonably high administrative or financial cost necessary to make the resource meet that goal. These difficulties do not necessarily relieve departments or activities from meeting applicable legal obligations to provide reasonable accommodations to users concerning access to the content and services provided. In the event of an established Undue Financial or Administrative Burden or a Fundamental Alteration, the department must provide Equally Effective Alternative Access in a suitable alternative format or manner upon request. An Undue Financial or Administrative Burden and a Fundamental Alteration will be assessed and established by an administrative review conducted by Usha Boddapu.

Reports or Questions Concerning an Accessibility Issue: Individuals who believe they have encountered an accessibility issue related to the product line or with technology in use within the organization should contact the Usha Boddapu.

Definitions

Americans with Disabilities Act: A civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability.

Digital Content: Digital content or media is information available for download or distribution on electronic media and includes may forms, from text and audio and video files, to graphic, animations, and images.

Equally Effective Alternative Access: An alternative format or medium that communicates the same information in as timely and effective a fashion as does the original format or medium.

Fundamental Alteration: A change so significant that it affects the essential nature of the instruction, program or activity provided.

Undue Financial or Administrative Burden: A significant disruption, expense, or difficulty that may result by the provision of accessible information technology.

University Website(s): Websites and other online and social media platforms that are hosted on university servers or otherwise associated with the George Washington University.