FAQ

We recommend having your legal counsel review the statutes and administrative rules. If your counsel has further questions, let us know. We can put them in touch with a lawyer assigned to OMES Information Services.

The due dates are in place to give OMES adequate time to compile and prepare the necessary information for state leadership as directed by the relevant statutes and administrative rules. We request that all agencies try to deliver their information to us as close to the due dates as possible to ensure that no agencies are listed as unreported when state leadership requests information. If a minor portion of information is not available for reporting by the due date, all other information should be reported. The missing information should be supplemented as soon as possible after the due date.

Agencies should review the relevant statutes and administrative rules with legal counsel. The requirements for receiving, reporting and responding to accessibility complaints are defined there.

Yes, and note that no complaints were filed.

If you have any questions about the new forms or need to request access, contact the OMES Service Desk.

Oklahoma’s Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility (EITA) law itself did not change. The EITA law went into effect in January of 2005.

The law applies to Oklahoma agencies under the Executive Branch, the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, institutions under the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education and Oklahoma’s Career and Technical System. The law requires that covered entities avoid discriminating against people with disabilities by making sure that information and communication technology provided by those entities is accessible. The law focuses on

[I]nformation and communication technology developed, procured, maintained or used by state departments or agencies directly; or used by a contractor under a contract with a state department or agency which requires the use of such product, or requires the use, to a significant extent, of such product in the performance of a service or the furnishing of a product; or when state departments or agencies administer contracts or grant programs that include a significant allotment of funding for the procurement, development or upgrading of information and communication technology

The documented complaint procedure (cite), accessibility compliance representative and other provisions of the EITA law and rules remain the same. What changed is the EITA standards that provide guidance to Oklahoma’s executive agencies, higher education institutions, Regents for Higher Education and Career and Technical Systems.

Oklahoma’s new EITA standards incorporate the refreshed standards from Section 508 of the Federal Rehabilitation Act. The refreshed Section 508 standards are effective as of January 18, 2018 for federal agencies and those that do business with them.

These refreshed Section 508 standards have a few notable differences from the old standards:

• Incorporate the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0, Level AA (WCAG 2.0 AA)
• Explicitly apply WCAG 2.0 AA to non-web content, such as Microsoft Office and Adobe PDF files
• Explicitly include internal agency communication in web and non-web formats
• Incorporation of PDF/UA-1 as a technical standard for authoring and conversion tools that create PDF documents 

Oklahoma’s EITA originally went into effect in January, 2005. In addition to providing technical standards, EITA defines other key components. In part, this includes:

• Identification of an accessibility compliance representative and annual updating of the person that fills that role and their contact information
• A defined complaint process that agencies must follow if a constituent encounters barriers to access in agency information and communication technology
• The scope of the law, which includes state agencies from the executive branch, the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, member institutions under the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education and the Career and Technical System

These elements are still in place. This update applies to the standards and not to the actual law or rules published in the Oklahoma Administrative Code.

Yes. The text of the Section 508 standards now referenced by Oklahoma’s standards is available from the United States Access Board.

Information and communication technology is a phrase used to describe many forms of technology commonly used in a modern environment. This is different terminology than electronic and information technology. However, the use of ICT is intended to describe technology that is more modern. The United States Access Board defines information and communication technology as:

Unless otherwise noted, it is intended to broadly encompass electronic and information technology covered by Section 508, as well as telecommunications products, interconnected Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) products, and Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) covered by Section 255. Examples of ICT include computers, information kiosks and transaction machines, telecommunications equipment, multifunction office machines, software, websites, and electronic documents. 

Yes. Covered entities are responsible for ICT that they provide whether the ICT is created in-house, purchased or used for no fee.

For example, if your entity’s website has a plugin that lets your entity create interactive forms, then the forms that it creates are subject to the EITA standards. The interface used to create the forms is also subject to EITA standards.

In short, your entity’s entire procurement and use decision making process must account for accessibility.

No. The WCAG 2.0 standards are built so that each higher level of standards includes the level or levels below it. WCAG 2.0 AA includes WCAG 2.0 A as well. So covered entities must use both WCAG 2.0 A and WCAG 2.0 AA when assessing accessibility in information and communication technology.

The WCAG 2.0 AA standard provides more flexibility than the former EITA standards. Oklahoma’s EITA standards that went into effect in 2005 were based on the WCAG 1.0 standards. The WCAG 1.0 standards were written in the late 1990’s. Technology such as smartphones and interactive kiosks simply did not exist at that time. So the WCAG 1.0 standards did not give clear guidance about how to make modern technology more accessible to people with disabilities.

The WCAG 2.0 AA standards focus more on how something works than how it is built. WCAG 2.0 standards describe how a ICT should look and how it should function so that it passes information to assistive technology such as screen reading software or speech recognition software. You can think of the WCAG 2.0 standard set as one that looks at function over form. This makes it easier to apply the same set of standards across different devices, websites, software and other document types.

The EITA law requires that you select the most accessible product that meets the business need without creating an undue burden to the procuring entity or a fundamental alteration to the function of the ICT product. More generally, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 503 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act say that entities do not have to incur an undue burden or create a fundamental alteration to their programs, services or activities in order to achieve the highest level of accessibility.

Remember to document thoroughly any determinations of undue burden and/or creating a fundamental alteration. Undue burden is generally determined at the organizational level and not at the departmental level.

As defined under the refreshed Section 508 standards:

A document that is not: a Web page, embedded in a Web page, or used in the rendering or functioning of Web pages.

Examples include Microsoft Word, Adobe PDF, Microsoft Publisher, Apple Keynote and similar file types.

Section 508 also defines non-web software as:

Software that is not: a Web page, not embedded in a Web page, and not used in the rendering or functioning of Web pages.

Examples of non-web  software include installed applications such as Microsoft Office (excluding Office 365) and Adobe Acrobat Professional.

Any web or non-web deliverable that is required under a contract with a state agency must be accessible to the updated EITA standards. Entities covered by EITA need to make sure that deliverables under the contract conform to WCAG 2.0 AA standards.

A vendor working under a contract may acquire software or hardware that they use to create the contracted deliverables. This kind of software or hardware does not need to meet the EITA standards unless the vendor will turn the software or hardware over to the contracting, covered entity.

On the other hand, if the vendor acquired a third party plugin that it integrates into the contracted deliverable then that third party plugin must be accessible to EITA standards.

Modern administration software is usually available on any computer and many devices that attach to an entity’s network. However, some administration tools are only available in a maintenance room that few people ever enter. In this case, the Americans with Disabilities Act already states that such a maintenance space does not need to be accessible to ADA standards for accessibility in the built environment. Software only found in this sort of space is exempt from the accessibility requirement under EITA.

Modern software that is available on computers and/or devices outside of this maintenance space must still conform to the EITA standards.

As noted in the Oklahoma State Finance Act, located at 62 O.S. Section 34.28, and in the Oklahoma Administrative Code, located at OAC Title 260, Chapter 15-1-5, agencies are required to submit evidence of assurance of compliance with state standards on accessibility of information technology for individuals with disabilities.

Please ensure your assigned accessibility compliance representative is aware of the updated standards and complies with submitting the annual reports as outlined in statute.

Oklahoma’s executive agencies, higher education Institutions, Regents for Higher Education and Career and Technical Systems must provide the following information annually on Oct. 1 to the state CIO.

• Certified statement assuring agency’s compliance with the IT accessibility standards.
• Submit name and contact information of the agency accessibility compliance representative.
• Accessibility compliance representative provides an IT accessibility complaint report.

Please review the IT Statutory and Regulatory reporting requirements webpage for more information.