Ohio Administrative Code
Title 3341 - Bowling Green State University
Chapter 3341-6 - Compliance with Occupational Safety and Health Standards
Section 3341-6-57 - Web accessibility policy
Universal Citation: OH Admin Code 3341-6-57
Current through all regulations passed and filed through September 16, 2024
(A) Policy statement and purpose
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability in programs and activities by public universities receiving financial assistance from the U.S. department of education. Bowling Green state university ("BGSU") is committed to ensuring that communication with university constituents with disabilities, including students, prospective students, employees, guests and visitors, who have hearing, visual and manual impairments, or who otherwise require the use of assistive technology to access information, is as effective as communication with those without disabilities.
The purpose of this policy is to ensure that all official university web pages and university-related web pages will permit persons with disabilities to acquire the same information, engage in the same interactions, and enjoy the same services with substantially equivalent ease of use as those without disabilities. All web content within the scope of this policy must be accessible to university constituents and must adhere to the web accessibility standards referred to in this policy.
(B) Policy scope
This policy applies to all information on official university web pages and university-related web pages, as defined within this policy, except for information to which access is limited by means of a password.
(C) Definitions
(1) "Official university web page." An
official university web page is any web page created by the university, its
departments, colleges, or other administrative offices for the official
business of the university.
(2)
"University-related web page." A university-related web page is any web page
(other than an official university web page) created by or linked from a web
page created by faculty, staff, students and/or registered student
organizations that is:
(a) Linked from an
official university web page;
(b)
Stored on one of the university-controlled web servers;
(c) Created in support of university
businesses and courses; or
(d) On
servers contracted by the university.
(3) "Content editors." authorized university
faculty or staff trained by the information technology services ("ITS") and
marketing and communications ("M&C") departments on the web accessibility
standards and on the approved content management system such that they are
approved to maintain an official university web page or a university-related
web page.
(4) "Web accessibility
training" is described at www.bgsu.edu/learncms. it is required
training conducted by staff of the ITS and M&C departments for all content
editors prior to having authorization to publish content on an official
university web page or a university-related web page.
(5) The "web accessibility coordinator" is a
staff member authorized to coordinate and implement the web accessibility
policy. BGSU will always have at least one designated web accessibility
coordinator. Contact information for the web accessibility coordinator is in
the appendix. The web accessibility complaint procedure is described at
www.bgsu.edu/web-accessibility-complaint-procedure.
(6) The "web accessibility standards" are set
forth at www.bgsu.edu/web-accessibility-standards.
BGSUs web accessibility standards are drawn from w3c web accessibility
initiative ("WAI") and section 508 standards.
(7) "Web content" or "content" is information
on an official university web page or university-related web page.
(D) Policy
(1) Each administrative unit, department, or
office, through an authorized content editor, is responsible for ensuring that
web content is accessible (in accordance with the web accessibility standards)
and that all software and ITS systems purchased are able to produce accessible
products and documents or are compatible with assistive technology.
The web accessibility standards include standards for web and social media content and the use of third party content like youtube.
(2) Content editors may develop
and maintain official university web pages and university-related web pages and
are responsible for their content subject to the following requirements:
(a) Software used to develop official
university web pages will be limited to packages approved by information
technology services ("ITS").
(b)
Official university web pages must run on ITS servers or servers contracted for
by ITS.
(c) All official university
web pages and university-related web pages must conform to the web
accessibility standards.
(3) The web accessibility coordinator shall
provide direction and guidance on standards to be followed for accessibility of
all web pages. The web accessibility standards shall be posted on the
accessibility services web page. The web accessibility coordinator is
responsible for developing and implementing a plan to do the initial and
periodic audits of all official university web pages and all university-related
web pages for compliance with the web sccessibility standards. Any member of
the web accessibility team (see appendix) or their designee is authorized to
disable any web page found to be in violation of the web accessibility
standards.
(4) All official
university web pages and university-related web pages must adhere to:
(a) Applicable copyright laws.
(b) Applicable state of ohio and federal laws
and rules.
(c) Rule
3341-6-07 of the Administrative
Code, BGSU information technology, where appropriate.
(d) The web accessibility standards.
(5) All university
computer labs shall provide equal access afforded by technology to all users,
including users with disabilities. BGSU shall make assistive technology
available at all computer labs and shall provide a "notice of accessibility"
that includes contact information for questions, inquiries, or complaints on
the web site https://www.bgsu.edu/accessibility-services.html
and at each computer lab.
(6)
Procedures for creating and posting accessible web content.
(a) Authorized content editors may develop
and maintain official university web pages and university-related web
pages.
(b) Anyone (including
administrative and academic units, individuals, and organizations) who needs to
be able to place content on an official university web page or a
university-related web page must first visit www.bgsu.edu/learncms to sign up for the
training necessary to request access to the content editor. After completing
this training, users are required to take an online accessibility course to
become authorized content editors in their requested access areas. Annual
training or updating is required to maintain authorized status. Users who have
already been fully trained in the web accessibility policy can satisfy the
annual training requirements by reviewing and confirming they have read the
updates to the policy and resource information that will be posted at
www.bgsu.edu/webaccessibilityupdates.
(c) The web systems coordinator will complete
an internal accessibility audit (audit) quarterly under the direction of the
web accessibility coordinator, during which web content provided by the content
editor is measured against the web accessibility standards. The web systems
coordinator is identified in the appendix.
(d) If any web content is determined to be in
violation of the parameters in this policy, including the web accessibility
standards, an effort will be made beforehand to discuss the violation(s) with
the content editor and to correct any errors. The web content coordinator
(identified in the appendix) is responsible for correcting the errors. Any
member of the web accessibility team has the authority to disable any web
content from the BGSU servers, if in their discretion such action is
necessary.
(7)
Purchasing accessible software compatible with assistive technology.
(a) It is the policy of the university to
ensure that all IT software and systems purchased meet the web accessibility
standards by producing accessible products and documents. The software or
systems shall permit persons with disabilities to acquire the same information,
engage in the same interactions, and enjoy the same services with substantially
equivalent ease of use as those without disabilities.
(b) The BGSU purchasing department will
provide computer software accessibility purchasing standards that will be
placed into the terms and conditions and request for proposal
documents.
(8) Reporting
violations.
(a) Accessibility concerns with
any web content may be directed to the web accessibility coordinator for prompt
resolution by clicking on "report an issue" at the bottom of every web page or
by using the following hyperlink:
https://www.bgsu.edu/accessibility.html.
(b) Any person desiring to make an anonymous
complaint with regard to a violation of this policy or any federal or state law
with regard to web accessibility may do so by reporting violations through a
confidential site located at
https://secure.ethicspoint.com/domain/media/en/gui/29886/index.html.
(c) Any student desiring to file a formal
complaint for web accessibility issues may contact the ADA/Section 504
compliance officer at access@bgsu.edu. A written outline of the complaint
procedure can be found at
https://www.bgsu.edu/web-accessibility-complaint-procedure.html.
The accessibility services web page (https://www.bgsu.edu/accessibility-services.html)
contains the contact information for individuals serving in those roles on
behalf of the university.
Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Ohio may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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