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Accessibility in Procurement Deep(-er) Dive

#39708

Speaker(s)

  • Rob Carr, Strategic Accessibility Coordinator, WebAIM

Session Details

  • Length of Session: 3-hr
  • Format: Lecture
  • Expertise Level: All Levels
  • Type of session: Pre-conference

Summary

Third-party technology is a huge part of most organization's technology portfolio and a key focus area in the new rules about web and mobile accessibility under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act. This session will introduce tools and techniques that aim to rebalance the load when it comes to vetting accessibility in third-party products that we purchase or use. We'll discuss leveraging documentation, demonstrations, manual testing, and common purchasing tools to help.

Abstract

Particularly since the spring of 2020, third-party technology has been a significant part of most organizations' portfolios. While we can't directly change a tool we don't create or maintain, most organizations must provide accessible technology to their various audiences, whether built in-house or sourced from a vendor. There is more to accounting for accessibility in our purchase or use decisions than getting a vendor’s accessibility conformance report and checking a box that we have received it. We need to put accessibility in alongside the various technical and aesthetic requirements that we account for thoroughly. At the same time, we need to find ways to scale any more thorough vetting of candidate vendors and products. This session will discuss a few ways to vet candidate products. We will suggest answers to questions such as: • How do we engage accessibility conformance reports to ensure that they are accurate, complete, current, and thorough? • What other processes or tools can we use to gather vital information about product accessibility? • How can we find information about a given vendor’s overall approach to accessibility and not just about a specific product? • How can we use existing procurement processes and tools to help us to receive more information sooner? • What should our contracts do to help to protect us after our purchase? • What partnerships in our organization can help us do more without more? You will leave the session ready to fold accessibility into your technology procurement process so that the money you invest in technology also helps to provide more inclusive digital spaces. While we'll discuss best practices across several touchpoints, we will also respect the fact that organizations may need to approach any changes or additions deliberately.

Keypoints

  1. Examine at least 3 different, specific ways to vet candidate products for accessibility and distribute work.
  2. Discover how to use tools like requests for proposals and contracts to make accessibility a business need.
  3. Consider how and when to approach existing vendor partners when a product is already in place.

Disability Areas

All Areas

Topic Areas

Procurement, Uncategorized

Speaker Bio(s)

Rob Carr

Rob Carr is the Strategic Accessibility Coordinator at WebAIM. Rob has been in the digital accessibility space since 2010. He has spent loads of time training, consulting, and learning about digital accessibility topics large and small. Rob has worked with thousands of individuals and dozens of organizations on everything from accessibility in a single PDF to integrating accessibility into organizations’ digital strategies. Rob presents at national conferences, organizes the occasional conference, and tries to be more active and less snarky on LinkedIn.

Accessibility in Procurement Deep(-er) Dive

Handouts

Presented at 1:30pm in Colorado I-J on Tuesday, November 7, 2023.

#38039

Speaker(s)

  • Rob Carr, Strategic Accessibility Coordinator, WebAIM

Session Details

  • Length of Session: 3-hr
  • Format: Lecture
  • Expertise Level: All Levels
  • Type of session: Pre-conference

Summary

Let's dedicate some time to digging a little bit deeper into accessibility in purchasing and use decisions. In this session, you will learn techniques to lean on vendors more when collecting important information about accessibility. We'll discuss leveraging accessibility conformance reports, demonstrations, manual testing, and common procurement documents and processes to better account for accessibility in third-party technology. We'll also discuss ways to share the work.

Abstract

There is more to accounting for accessibility in our purchase or use decisions than getting a vendor’s accessibility conformance report and checking a box that we have received it. We need to put accessibility in alongside the various technical and aesthetic requirements that we account for thoroughly. At the same time, we need to find ways to scale any more thorough vetting of candidate vendors and products. In this session, we will discuss a few different ways to vet candidate products. We will suggest answers for questions such as: • How do we engage accessibility conformance reports to ensure that they are accurate, complete, current, and thorough? • What other processes or tools can we use to gather vital information about product accessibility? • How can we find information about a given vendor’s overall approach to accessibility and not just about a specific product? • How can we use existing procurement processes and tools to help us to receive more information sooner? • What should our contracts do to help to protect us after our purchase? • What partnerships in our organization can help us to do more without having more? You will leave the session ready to fold accessibility into your technology procurement process so that the money you invest in technology also helps to provide more inclusive digital spaces. And while we'll discuss best practices across several touch points, we will also respect the fact that organizations may need to approach any changes or additions deliberately.

Keypoints

  1. Examine at least 3 different, specific ways to vet candidate products for accessibility and distribute work.
  2. Discover how to use tools like requests for proposals and contracts to make accessibility a business need.
  3. Consider how and when to approach existing vendor partners when a product is already in place.

Disability Areas

Topic Areas

Administrative/Campus Policy, Procurement, Uncategorized

Speaker Bio(s)

Rob Carr

Rob Carr is the Strategic Accessibility Coordinator at WebAIM. Rob has been in the digital accessibility space since 2010. He has spent loads of time training, consulting, and learning about digital accessibility topics large and small. Rob has worked with thousands of individuals and dozens of organizations on everything from accessibility in a single PDF to integrating accessibility into organizations’ digital strategies. Rob presents at national conferences, organizes the occasional conference, and tries to be more active and less snarky on LinkedIn.

Handout(s)