The Office of Accessibility, a program of MNIT Services, recently lent its expertise to a nationwide report published by the National Association of Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) about accessibility requirements in IT procurement. Jay Wyant, the State’s Chief Information Accessibility Officer, co-wrote the report, Accessibility in IT Procurement, with representatives from Massachusetts and Texas.

The two-part report outlines a new framework for measuring vendor support for accessibility, termed Policy Driven Adoption for Accessibility (PDAA). Part one introduces a new, policy-driven approach to information and communications technology (ICT) accessibility for state CIOs, procurement organizations, and vendors. Currently, government buyers can ask product manufacturers to submit voluntary product accessibility templates (VPATs); however, VPATs only work for existing products – not for services such as websites, application development, or integration/customization. PDAA seeks to drive accessibility accountability upstream to the policy level to include all the elements impacting product development, including policies, training, awareness outreach, and hiring. Part two of the report provides more detail on the framework, as well as adoption information for states.

“Changing the way state buyers and vendors do business is a tremendous challenge. This report is the start of a long road toward effecting that change, said Jay. “I’m excited to be a part of it, and hope we can engage more people within MN government as well as other states and vendors to make it happen.”

You also can download the full report of Accessibility in IT Procurement, from the NASCIO website.  

For more information about the Office of Accessibility and accessible content, /mnit/about-mnit/accessibility/index.jspvisit the MNIT website.