Nonvisual access to information technology used by the state and state-assisted organizations

Act 1227 of 1999 secures the benefits of access to information technology for individuals who are blind or visually impaired through procurement of such technology in accordance with standards for equivalent access by both visual and nonvisual means. A covered entity is the state or any state-assisted organization. A state-assisted organization is a college, nonprofit organization, person, political subdivision, school system, or other entity supported in whole or in part by state funds.

The head of each covered entity must ensure that the information technology equipment and software used by employees, program participants or members of the general public provides blind or visually impaired individuals with access to interactive use of the equipment and services that is equivalent to that provided to individuals who are not blind or visually impaired. Since 2013 the duty to provide that access applies to the extent provided in the subchapter.

The information technology equipment and software must be designed to present information, including prompts used for interactive communications, in formats intended for both visual and nonvisual use. The information technology equipment and software must have been purchased under a contract that includes the technology access clause.

If technology that allows access for individuals who are blind or visually impaired is not reasonably available, those individuals must be provided a reasonable accommodation as defined in section 12111(9) of title 42 of the United States Code.

The head of a covered entity may not approve the exclusion of the technology access clause from a contract with respect to the compatibility of standard operating systems and software with nonvisual access software and peripheral devices, or with respect to the initial design, development and installation of information systems. A person injured by a violation of the subchapter may maintain an action for injunctive relief to enforce its terms.

An action for injunctive relief must be commenced within four years after the cause of action accrues. Act 308 of 2013 applies retroactively to information technology procured on or after July 30, 1999. The application programs and underlying operating systems, including the format of the data used to manipulate and present information, must permit, to the extent provided in the subchapter, the installation and effective use of nonvisual access software and peripheral devices.

Nothing in the section requires the installation of nonvisual access software or peripheral devices when the information technology is being used by individuals who are not blind or visually impaired. For information technology purchased before the Act took effect, compliance is achieved when an upgrade or replacement of the existing equipment or software is procured.

Section 7 of Act 1227 provides that the Act takes effect from the date of enactment, and the Governor approved it on April 8, 1999. The Act declares no emergency, and the codified subchapter applies the technology access clause to contracts for the procurement of information technology on or after July 30, 1999.