Introduction to EEAAPs
Digital technologies routinely lack features that support use by users with disabilities and users of assistive technologies. If the technology you provide does not work for all users, it is your responsibility to remedy this. Having an EEAAP in place for technologies that are not fully accessible will help ensure that all users will have fair and equal access in a timely manner and in a medium appropriate for their needs as required by law. Learn more about Equally Effective Alternate Access Plans (EEAAP).
What goes into an EEAAP?
- Information about the technology in question (e.g., title, vendor, contact, audience)
- What are the potential access barriers (e.g., keyboard inaccessibility, missing ALT text, missing captions)? Determine these through:
- Vendor disclosure or disclosure through a Voluntary Product Accessibility Template/Accessibility Conformance Report (VPAT/ACR)
- In-house testing
- Discovery after acquisition and deployment
- Who is likely to be affected by accessibility issues and how?
- What is the role of the user (e.g., student, faculty/staff, administrator, public)?
- How might accessibility issues impact the user (e.g., missing captions deny context to a user who is deaf)?
- How will the responsible party provide alternative means of completing the task or process?
- What tasks will be required?
- What resources will be required? (for example, will another software be required, or will an individual need assistance to navigate the product?)
- Who is responsible for implementing the EEAAP? This will typically be the product requestor.
- Job role and contact information for the responsible party should be readily available in the event that a user experiences a barrier to access
- The responsible party should already be familiar with, and ready to execute, the EEAAP
- How will the vendor or technology provider correct accessibility issues in their product?
- Who will communicate the issues to the vendor?
- In what order will the vendor address the issues?
- What is the timeline for correcting the issues?
When to Create an EEAAP
An EEAAP may be appropriate in several scenarios. Create an EEAAP if:
- Your technology is in wide use, and particularly if the technology is public or student facing
- Your technology is required for classroom, program, or other participation
- Your technology is required for transactions
- Your technology's cost rises above the purchase card level
- You are unable to obtain accessible technology that meets your needs
- You identify a potential accessibility barrier in your current technology
No technology is 100% accessible; therefore ITS recommends that units develop an EEAAP for any new technologies and consider developing EEAAPs in support of existing technologies. An EEAAP is especially indicated when a technology contains known accessibility defects, which are often exposed by an Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR, or VPAT), during user testing, or by vendor disclosure.
Because accessibility defects may emerge after a product has been deployed, the EEAAP should be considered a living document, subject to review and revision as circumstances change.