Laws, Policies, and Standards

Laws, Policies, and Standards

According to the Centers for Disease Control, at least one in four people has a disability. Accessibility is more than a legal requirement; it’s a human right. Texas State University is committed to removing barriers to information encountered by students, faculty, and staff. University policies, state and federal laws, and international standards protect these rights and govern accessibility requirements for websites and other electronic information sources. The university offers a wide range of resources and support to help ensure websites and content are equally accessible to individuals of all abilities.

University Policies

Find information pertaining to all web polices and the specific provision for ADA on Texas State’s Web Accessibility Policy page. Texas State actively monitors all procurement and websites to fulfill these policy requirements. 

State Law 

Title I Texas Administrative Code Chapters 206 and 213 refer to sets of Rules pertaining to accessibility for Texas State agencies and institutions of higher education.  

Federal Law 

The American's with Disabilities Act

Title I and II of the American's With Disabilities Act protects individuals from discrimination on the basis of disability. Title I protects individuals against employment discrimination on the basis of disability, and Title II conforms State and Local agencies to the Federal statute ensuring accessible communications.

The Rehabilitation Act of 1973

In 1998, Congress amended the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to require Federal agencies to make their electronic and information technology (EIT) accessible to people with disabilities. The law (29 U.S.C § 794 (d)) applies to all federal agencies that develop, procure, maintain, or use electronic and information technology. Under Section 508, agencies must afford disabled employees and members of the public access to information comparable to the access available to others. 

Web Accessibility Standards 

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are developed through the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) process with the goal of creating a single shared standard for web content accessibility.  

WCAG is founded on four basic web design and content principles sometimes referred to as POUR. The acronym serves as a reminder to make all websites: 

Quick Reference – How to Meet WCAG  

International Organization for Standardization (ISO/IEC 40500:2012)  

  • ISO is an independent, international organization comprised of 167 national standards bodies experts who develop consensus-based Standards to meet digital challenges on a global scale. 

Consequences of Inaccessibility 

Compliance Check-ups 

Website managers receive regular website reports. These reports can be used to identify accessibility gaps and direct effective remediation. Reports are monitored by the Electronic Information Resources Accessibility Coordinator (EIRAC).

Canvas Course Compliance 

For Canvas course websites only, the UDOIT (Universal Design Online Content Inspection Tool) is an external Canvas used to identify content accessibility issues. When you add UDOIT to your course, the tool can scan content, generate a report, and provide resources to address common accessibility issues.  

UDOIT identifies errors and provides suggestions in the following areas of your course:  

  • Announcements 
  • Assignments, Discussions 
  • Files (i.e., .html files) 
  • Pages 
  • Syllabus 
  • Module URLs 

UDOIT checks for the appropriate use of the following:  

  • Heading structure 
  • Alternative text for images 
  • Table headers 
  • Color contrast 
  • Descriptive link text 
  • Video captions. 

Items UDOIT cannot examine include external documents and some videos or audio files for captioning and transcripts.