Website Accessibility Standard

February 10, 2012

Purpose

To make external State of Iowa websites accessible to the widest possible audience including people with disabilities.

Overview

Inaccessible websites interfere with an individual's ability to obtain and use information quickly and easily. This standard will help eliminate barriers in websites, make available new opportunities for people with disabilities, and encourage development of websites that will help achieve these goals.

Scope

All State of Iowa agencies, boards or commissions, and contractors for the State developing and maintaining websites, must give employees and members of the public with disabilities access to website information that is comparable to the access available to others.

Web content developed after the effective date will be expected to comply. Reference the State of Iowa Web Page Policy Notice Standard for Accessibility Policy notices concerning content accessibility. The Director of the Department of Administrative services or designee will determine Agency compliance with this Standard.

Definitions

Selected terms used in this standard are defined below:

• Agency - Any agency as listed in Iowa Code section 8A.201, subsection 5.

• Standard – A technique, method, process, or activity that is believed to be effective at delivering a particular outcome. Standards noted in this document are viewed as requirements, not recommendations.

• Website (Web Content) – web pages, electronic documents, images, videos or other digital assets that are addressed with a common domain name or IP address in an Internet Protocol-based network.

Website Accessibility Standard

It is the website accessibility standard of Iowa that:

1. Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended will supersede and replace this standard in cases where agencies have in place funding agreements with the Federal Government requiring websites be Section 508 compliant.
2. The State of Iowa will adopt all Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)2.0 levels A and AA as Iowa’s standard for website accessibility. (See World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) website for definition of terms: http://www.w3.org)
3. Contractors are required to comply with this standard when providing services to develop or maintain State of Iowa websites. State website RFPs for contractors shall include a reference to this standard. Awarded contracts shall include a written acknowledgement that their product will meet this standard. The department receiving the contracted website service is responsible for auditing the compliance for this standard.

Effective Date

This standard takes effect 180 days following the beginning of the statewide availability of training.

Grandfather Provision

Content that exists prior to the effective date is not required to be modified to comply with this standard.

Enforcement

This standard will be enforced pursuant to Iowa Administrative Code 11-25.9 (8A).

Waiver

Iowa Administrative Code 11-25.6 (8A) provides for waivers of information technology operational standards. Requests for a waiver of any requirements of this standard will be submitted in writing to the State CIO or DAS Director.

Update
This standard will be reviewed at least every two years and updated as needed.