[ATcoord] contract language for inaccessible technologies

Fri Apr 28 11:42:12 PDT 2017

Yes, this is to cover a piece of software that is already purchased, but has not been implemented yet. Its paid by a grant. Once we found out about it I met with them and we found that the software is not very compliant at all, but the company is aware of the accessibility issues and says they have it on their roadmap. So we told the department if they plan to purchase the software and not pull the PO, then they will not be able to use the software as required material. It will have to be completely optional, no assessments or outcomes based on the software. That we can work with the company and see how serious they are about changing it.
In the end we agreed they will use it for one year as an optional resource only, and we will notify the company we will be piloting the software for one year and if it is not compliant or if they have not made great progress in becoming accessible the software cannot be renewed. In a year if they have shown sufficient progress or are compliant we will require termination contract language to be in our contract with them. We have asked for a copy of their roadmap showing accessibility work. I don't know how they will respond, this was just sent out to them this week, but will probably know pretty soon.
The companies attitude was that they knew they weren't compliant but wanted to become. But that they have contracts with a pile of Ivy League schools that are letting them slide basically. For some reason no one is telling these companies no we won't buy your product because its not accessible. I guess no one wants to do the work to find one that is accessible, or none exist. So we have come up with this middle ground approach at our school to get us started. It's not perfect, and its does not directly meet the policy per se. But it gets us moving in the right direction and makes the company aware that we are giving them a very limited time to get compliant, and that we won't be making their product a core piece of the curriculum, but as a optional resource.  We will still be submitting it for a waiver if the waiver system survives. We have put the termination contract language in a few new purchases that are compliant, so the companies know they have to keep it compliant.

Ward Naf
IT Director
Whatcom Community College
(360) 383-3430

From: ATcoord [mailto:atcoord-bounces at lists.ctc.edu] On Behalf Of Jess Thompson
Sent: Friday, April 28, 2017 10:42 AM
To: Rosalie Madison <rmadison at everettcc.edu>
Cc: atcoord at lists.ctc.edu
Subject: Re: [ATcoord] contract language for inaccessible technologies

There is no waiver right now. WaTech (to my knowledge) has not released info on that process. You need to contact Ryan Leisinger about that.

Maybe Ward, when/if he gets time, can chime in, but he was using this for a situation where the dept had already selected a product and under the grant timeline they were working in they couldn't go out to find another product.

Jess Thompson
Program Administrator, eLearning & Open Education
Washington State Board for Community & Technical Colleges
p: 360.704.4327 | c: 253.229.8591
Current Projects<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KXjxctpTAa2R06iRksMrjaeiCkphAJzqkwX-awvJh9g/edit?usp=sharing>

________________________________
From: Rosalie Madison <rmadison at everettcc.edu<mailto:rmadison at everettcc.edu>>
Sent: Friday, April 28, 2017 10:31:38 AM
To: Jess Thompson
Cc: atcoord at lists.ctc.edu<mailto:atcoord at lists.ctc.edu>
Subject: Re: [ATcoord] contract language for inaccessible technologies

What would this be for exactly?

It is my understanding from Policy#188 that all purchased software if non-compliant has to have a waiver from the state.

Is this for existing software?

Rosalie (Rose) Madison
Everett Community College
IT4, IT Business Analyst/Project Manager
IT Accessibility Coordinator (ITAC)
Email: rmadison at everettcc.edu<mailto:rmadison at everettcc.edu>
Phone: (425) 259-8719
--Believe in the power of hard questions and honest answers

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On Fri, Apr 28, 2017 at 10:23 AM, Jess Thompson <jess.thompson at sbctc.edu<mailto:jess.thompson at sbctc.edu>> wrote:

Hello!

Ward Naf at Whatcom has been trying to figure out how to handle situations where an office insists on purchasing a technology that is not fully compliant. He decided to allow a one year pilot with contract language that allows them to terminate the pilot if the product does not get into compliance within that pilot time frame.

Sample contract language:

TERMINATION
This Agreement and all rights granted herein may be terminated upon thirty (30) days of written notice from either Party, provided, however, that Licensor may terminate this Agreement immediately upon any breach of this Agreement by Licensee. The Licensee may terminate this Agreement immediately should the Software not meet Federal 508 accessibility standards show on a VPAT or not meet WGAC 2.0 AA accessibility standards; per Washington State OCIO Policy 188 requirements. Upon such termination for breach or noncompliance with accessibility standards, all of Licensee's rights under this Agreement and Licensee's right to the use of the Software shall terminate immediately.

In addition to the contract language, there's a letter to the vendor spelling out the agreement. I've attached a generic version where you insert specific info where the red text in brackets is.

Big shout out to Ward at Whatcom -- this is a fabulous resource and I already know a few folks in similar positions that will find this very useful.

Jess

Jess Thompson
Program Administrator, eLearning & Open Education
Washington State Board for Community & Technical Colleges
p: 360.704.4327 | c: 253.229.8591
Current Projects<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KXjxctpTAa2R06iRksMrjaeiCkphAJzqkwX-awvJh9g/edit?usp=sharing>

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