Content author: Office of Accessibility

Over the past year, we worked with our statewide digital accessibility coordinators to improve the process to request an exception. Today’s article covers the updated process. This is the second part of our two-part series on accessibility exceptions; part 1 explores the reasons behind having exceptions.

Filing an Accessibility Exception Request

If an agency chooses to proceed with the purchase or use of a potentially inaccessible application because it best meets their business need, they must file an accessibility exception. 

 An exception serves to help the agency:

• Acknowledge that the technology may present barriers to some users.
• Accept the associated risks.
• Plan strategies to mitigate those risks.

The original process, which our office inherited in 2012, was an opaque, paper-based approach. Recent advancements in accessible workflow technology allowed us to create a more transparent process that includes all relevant parties.

This process uses a combination of Microsoft's SharePoint and PowerApps. The site, housed on the Office of Accessibility’s extranet, is available to qualified State of Minnesota employees.

This workflow allows us to apply a risk matrix, helping agencies understand the risks they accept when using an application. The matrix analyzes agency-provided data to assign a risk level. For example, an expensive, hard-to-replace application used by the general public carries significantly more risk than a specialized scientific tool used by three lab technicians.

The risk matrix helps agencies determine whether to proceed with the purchase. If they do move forward, it highlights the need to take additional steps to prevent negative user experiences.

Additionally, since each exception carries a specific level of risk, agencies can access a dashboard of all their filed exceptions to determine their overall exposure.

Over time, agencies will have a better understanding of the scale of their risk and can make more informed decisions.