System Office of Institutional Equity Digital Content Accessibility Policy

BACKGROUND

The World Wide Web is a major, if not a primary, source of information for many people. Acknowledging that the System Office of Institutional Equity (hereafter referred to as the “OIE”) is engaged in publishing Web content for all its constituencies, this policy establishes minimum standards for Web accessibility.

The OIE, along with the UH System, endorses the Guidelines of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) as the standard for World Wide Web accessibility and compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act as Amended. W3C is composed of members from over 400 public/private organizations world-wide who developed common protocols to promote the evolution of the World Wide Web and ensure its interoperability. As part of its work, the W3C has developed accessibility guidelines for the World Wide Web. We have conformed to the WCAG 2.0 Priority 1 guidelines for web accessibility and are presently WCAG 2 compliant.

The standards of the Federal Rehabilitation Act (Section 508) are consistent with the W3C Guidelines and provide achievable and well documented guidelines for implementation.

After August 1, 2017, the System Office of Institutional Equity Director has responsibility for ensuring adherence to the following:

1. All new or revised Web pages and other Web resources published, hosted or otherwise provided by the System Office of Institutional Equity (OIE) must be in compliance with the standards defined in Section 508 of the Federal Rehabilitation Act (29 U.S.C. 794d), specifically subsections 1194.22 and 1194.31 of the regulations (36 CFR 1194) implementing section 508.
   1. Legacy Web pages and resources will be in reference to those that are published prior to August 1, 2017. Reasonable efforts were taken to ensure that legacy Web pages and resources are compliant with subsections of the Federal regulations pertaining to Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. A variety of evaluation methods were used to test the accessibility of Web pages and resources, including client and/or device testing, our vendor’s expert evaluation, and end user testing.
   2. Upon specific request, information on legacy Web pages and resources will be made available to any individual needing access to such content, by revision or otherwise, in a time frame commensurate with the nature of the request. The unit responsible for creating the information on the Web is responsible for providing the alternative means of access.
   3. Upon specific request, information on Web pages and resources in archive status (e.g. no longer in use but subject to records retention plans) containing core administrative or EP 1.204 related information and similar information will be made available/accessible to any individual needing access to such content, by revision or otherwise.
   4. What constitutes a Web page or other Web resource is to be interpreted broadly and, for example, does not depend upon the type of client or host device, the type of software on the client or host device, or the technical means by which the client and host communicate over the Web.
2. Formal requests for access to web pages or resources will be addressed as soon as possible, or an equally effective alternative means of access shall be provided. “Equally effective” means that it communicates the same information and provides the equivalent functions in as timely a fashion as does the Web page or resource.
3. For items 1 and 2 above, undue administrative or financial burdens may contribute to a determination that alternative means of access be used to provide the information to individuals requiring use of the information. If compliance, in specific instances, appears to be impossible or an undue burden, the System Office of Institutional Equity Director may grant exceptions. Exceptions shall be documented.
4. Each Web site must contain a link or contact information to request an alternative means of access if users have trouble accessing content within the site. The addition of a link or contact person is not sufficient, in and of itself, to comply with the Digital Content Accessibility Policy.

CONTACT

Please direct questions about this policy or accessibility requests to institutional.equity@hawaii.edu.

RESOURCES

Contact information for the University of Hawai‘i’s ADA and 504 coordinators.
The University of Hawai‘i Accessibility Homepage