(a) General Applicability
This regulation sets forth the general application of the nonvisual access standards. Except for information technologies incidental to a contract, all information technologies, including services, that are procured, used, maintained, developed or provided by or on behalf of non-exempt units of the Executive Branch of State government will be nonvisually accessible.
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(b) Applied to IT Procured or Developed
The regulation clarifies the procurement conditions under which compliance with the nonvisual access standards is required. That is, agencies within the scope of these regulations procure information technologies, including services, that are compliant with COMAR 14.33.02 when the technologies are either available in the commercial marketplace or are developed in response to State government solicitation.
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(c) Procure Products that Best Meet the Standards
In general, most information technology products will not meet compliance with all of COMAR 14.33.02. That said, agencies should procure products that best meet the standards. It is recommended that the agency procurement officer make a selection decision upon consultation with agency information technology subject matter experts or end-users as needed. However, if a commercially available technology (that is not otherwise accessible) can be made nonvisually accessible through modification or the use of assistive or adaptive products without increasing the price of the procurement by more than 5 percent, an Agency must use such modifications or assistive or adaptive products.
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(d) Alternative Designs or Technologies
Programmers designing agency information technologies are not limited to the standards promulgated in COMAR 14.33.02, but may select alternative designs or technologies so long as the end result would be State information technologies substantially equivalent or providing even greater access for people with visual disabilities. An Agency may not use an alternate method if the end result is information technologies or services that are less accessible than the technologies or services would be if the standards of COMAR 14.33.02 were followed. These regulations are not designed to foreclose other means of providing nonvisual access but to encourage equivalent access. Agencies or others are encouraged to suggest to the Department of Information Technology other standards that will provide equivalent access for review and possible inclusion in future revisions of this subtitle.
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