Law / United States / 
Maryland
Equivalent access to digital tools for students with disabilities: procurement, evaluation, selection, WCAG and reporting duties of a local school system (section 7-910 as rewritten in 2022)
Md. Code Ann., Educ. § 7-910(b) to (f), (h) and (i)
In force since .
An accessibility requirements rule binding government bodies.
- Instrument type
- an act of a legislature
- Obligation class
- Governance, Reporting
- Conformance standard
- US Section 508 standards
What it requires
- If you are a local school system, include notice of the equivalent access requirement in each invitation for bids, request for proposals, procurement contract, grant or modification whenever the funds awarded may be used to develop or obtain digital tools (Educ. 7-910(c)(1)).
- Establish a process to evaluate a digital tool being considered for development or purchase for conformity with section 7-910, including an evaluation for equivalent access and nonvisual access by an employee or contractor who specializes in accessibility and the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines or is a blindness specialist knowledgeable in accessibility (Educ. 7-910(c)(3)).
- Do not approve a procurement contract for a digital tool that fails to meet section 7-910, except as the Department’s approval under subsection (e)(2) allows (Educ. 7-910(c)(5)).
- From , after evaluating digital tools, select the available product that offers pedagogical value and best meets the equivalent access standards, with the greatest functionality for equivalent access for students with disabilities, including blindness (Educ. 7-910(e)(1)(ii)).
- Make each digital tool the county board develops or purchases for use by the local school system include specifications for access for students with disabilities, including nonvisual access, in accordance with the technical standards issued under Section 508(a)(2) of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973 or any other widely accepted and freely available technical standard (Educ. 7-910(f)(1)).
- Give a student with disabilities access to digital tools that provide equivalent access, are independently usable by the student, and let the student acquire the same information, take part in the same interactions and use the same services as a student without disabilities, with substantially equivalent ease of use (Educ. 7-910(f)(2)).
- Make any online platform, online content, website, web service, webpage, educational resource product or online curriculum that a county board developed or purchased, and that is available to enrolled students or online to the public, comply with the most recent version of the World Wide Web Consortium’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (Educ. 7-910(h)(2)).
- By October 1 of each year, submit a report to the State Department of Education on the accessibility of the digital tools you developed or purchased for use during the preceding fiscal year (Educ. 7-910(i)(1)).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text.
What this law does
Invitations for bids, requests for proposals, procurement contracts, grants and modifications issued by the State or any local school system must include notice of the equivalent access requirement whenever funds awarded may be used to develop or obtain digital tools. A local school system must establish a process to evaluate a digital tool being considered for development or purchase for conformity with the section.
Except as subsection (e)(2) allows, the State Board or a local school system may not approve a procurement contract for a digital tool that fails to meet the section. Beginning , a local school system must select the available product that offers pedagogical value and best meets the equivalent access standards, with the greatest functionality for equivalent access for students with disabilities, including blindness.
A digital tool that a county board develops or purchases for use by the local school system must include specifications for access for students with disabilities, including nonvisual access, in accordance with the technical standards issued under Section 508 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973 or any other widely accepted and freely available technical standard.
A local school system must provide a student with disabilities access to digital tools that provide equivalent access to and are independently usable by the student. An online platform, website, web service, webpage, educational resource product or online curriculum that a county board developed or purchased, and that is available to enrolled students or online to the public, shall comply with the most recent version of the World Wide Web Consortium’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.
On or before October 1 of each year, each local school system must submit a report to the State Department of Education on the accessibility of the digital tools it developed or purchased for use during the preceding fiscal year. Beginning with the 2025-2026 school year through the 2027-2028 school year, section 7-910 does not apply to the procurement and use of a digital tool that utilizes artificial intelligence to support student learning.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app serves K-12 schools.
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