Rule 3341-6-57 | Web accessibility policy.
(A) Policy statement and purpose
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability in programs and activities by public universities receiving financial assistance from the U.S. department of education. Bowling Green state university ("BGSU") is committed to ensuring that communication with university constituents with disabilities, including students, prospective students, employees, guests and visitors, who have hearing, visual and manual impairments, or who otherwise require the use of assistive technology to access information, is as effective as communication with those without disabilities.
The purpose of this policy is to ensure that all official university web pages and university-related web pages will permit persons with disabilities to acquire the same information, engage in the same interactions, and enjoy the same services with substantially equivalent ease of use as those without disabilities. All web content within the scope of this policy must be accessible to university constituents and must adhere to the web accessibility standards referred to in this policy.
(B) Policy scope
This policy applies to all information on official university web pages and university-related web pages, as defined within this policy, except for information to which access is limited by means of a password.
(C) Definitions
(1) "Official university web page." An official university web page is any web page created by the university, its departments, colleges, or other administrative offices for the official business of the university.
(2) "University-related web page." A university-related web page is any web page (other than an official university web page) created by or linked from a web page created by faculty, staff, students and/or registered student organizations that is:
(a) Linked from an official university web page;
(b) Stored on one of the university-controlled web servers;
(c) Created in support of university businesses and courses; or
(d) On servers contracted by the university.
(3) "Content editors." authorized university faculty or staff trained by the information technology services ("ITS") and marketing and communications ("M&C") departments on the web accessibility standards and on the approved content management system such that they are approved to maintain an official university web page or a university-related web page.
(4) "Web accessibility training" is described at www.bgsu.edu/learncms. it is required training conducted by staff of the ITS and M&C departments for all content editors prior to having authorization to publish content on an official university web page or a university-related web page.
(5) The "web accessibility coordinator" is a staff member authorized to coordinate and implement the web accessibility policy. BGSU will always have at least one designated web accessibility coordinator. Contact information for the web accessibility coordinator is in the appendix. The web accessibility complaint procedure is described at www.bgsu.edu/web-accessibility-complaint-procedure.
(6) The "web accessibility standards" are set forth at www.bgsu.edu/web-accessibility-standards. BGSU's web accessibility standards are drawn from w3c web accessibility initiative ("WAI") and section 508 standards.
(7) "Web content" or "content" is information on an official university web page or university-related web page.
(D) Policy
(1) Each administrative unit, department, or office, through an authorized content editor, is responsible for ensuring that web content is accessible (in accordance with the web accessibility standards) and that all software and ITS systems purchased are able to produce accessible products and documents or are compatible with assistive technology.
The web accessibility standards include standards for web and social media content and the use of third party content like youtube.
(2) Content editors may develop and maintain official university web pages and university-related web pages and are responsible for their content subject to the following requirements:
(a) Software used to develop official university web pages will be limited to packages approved by information technology services ("ITS").
(b) Official university web pages must run on ITS servers or servers contracted for by ITS.
(c) All official university web pages and university-related web pages must conform to the web accessibility standards.
(3) The web accessibility coordinator shall provide direction and guidance on standards to be followed for accessibility of all web pages. The web accessibility standards shall be posted on the accessibility services web page. The web accessibility coordinator is responsible for developing and implementing a plan to do the initial and periodic audits of all official university web pages and all university-related web pages for compliance with the web sccessibility standards. Any member of the web accessibility team (see appendix) or their designee is authorized to disable any web page found to be in violation of the web accessibility standards.
(4) All official university web pages and university-related web pages must adhere to:
(a) Applicable copyright laws.
(b) Applicable state of ohio and federal laws and rules.
(c) Rule 3341-6-07 of the Administrative Code, BGSU information technology, where appropriate.
(d) The web accessibility standards.
(5) All university computer labs shall provide equal access afforded by technology to all users, including users with disabilities. BGSU shall make assistive technology available at all computer labs and shall provide a "notice of accessibility" that includes contact information for questions, inquiries, or complaints on the web site https://www.bgsu.edu/accessibility-services.html and at each computer lab.
(6) Procedures for creating and posting accessible web content.
(a) Authorized content editors may develop and maintain official university web pages and university-related web pages.
(b) Anyone (including administrative and academic units, individuals, and organizations) who needs to be able to place content on an official university web page or a university-related web page must first visit www.bgsu.edu/learncms to sign up for the training necessary to request access to the content editor. After completing this training, users are required to take an online accessibility course to become authorized content editors in their requested access areas. Annual training or updating is required to maintain authorized status. Users who have already been fully trained in the web accessibility policy can satisfy the annual training requirements by reviewing and confirming they have read the updates to the policy and resource information that will be posted at www.bgsu.edu/webaccessibilityupdates.
(c) The web systems coordinator will complete an internal accessibility audit (audit) quarterly under the direction of the web accessibility coordinator, during which web content provided by the content editor is measured against the web accessibility standards. The web systems coordinator is identified in the appendix.
(d) If any web content is determined to be in violation of the parameters in this policy, including the web accessibility standards, an effort will be made beforehand to discuss the violation(s) with the content editor and to correct any errors. The web content coordinator (identified in the appendix) is responsible for correcting the errors. Any member of the web accessibility team has the authority to disable any web content from the BGSU servers, if in their discretion such action is necessary.
(7) Purchasing accessible software compatible with assistive technology.
(a) It is the policy of the university to ensure that all IT software and systems purchased meet the web accessibility standards by producing accessible products and documents. The software or systems shall permit persons with disabilities to acquire the same information, engage in the same interactions, and enjoy the same services with substantially equivalent ease of use as those without disabilities.
(b) The BGSU purchasing department will provide computer software accessibility purchasing standards that will be placed into the terms and conditions and request for proposal documents.
(8) Reporting violations.
(a) Accessibility concerns with any web content may be directed to the web accessibility coordinator for prompt resolution by clicking on "report an issue" at the bottom of every web page or by using the following hyperlink: https://www.bgsu.edu/accessibility.html.
(b) Any person desiring to make an anonymous complaint with regard to a violation of this policy or any federal or state law with regard to web accessibility may do so by reporting violations through a confidential site located at https://secure.ethicspoint.com/domain/media/en/gui/29886/index.html.
(c) Any student desiring to file a formal complaint for web accessibility issues may contact the ADA/Section 504 compliance officer at access@bgsu.edu. A written outline of the complaint procedure can be found at https://www.bgsu.edu/web-accessibility-complaint-procedure.html. The accessibility services web page (https://www.bgsu.edu/accessibility-services.html) contains the contact information for individuals serving in those roles on behalf of the university.
Supplemental Information
Amplifies: 3345