Law / United States / 
Maryland
Equivalent access to digital tools for students with disabilities: accessibility conformance report, remedy, penalty and indemnity duties of a vendor to a local school system (section 7-910 as rewritten in 2022)
Md. Code Ann., Educ. § 7-910(c)(2), (c)(4) and (g)
In force since .
A procurement conditions rule binding public and private bodies.
- Instrument type
- an act of a legislature
- Conformance standard
- US Section 508 standards
What it requires
- If you respond to an invitation for bids or request for proposals for a digital tool issued by the State Board of Education or a local school system, submit an accessibility conformance report that includes a Voluntary Product Accessibility Template and explains how your information and communication technology products, including software, electronic content and support documentation, conform to the most recent Section 508 standards (Educ. 7-910(c)(2)).
- Accept a procurement contract term requiring you to indemnify the State Board of Education or the local school system for liability and costs arising from the failure of the digital tool to meet section 7-910 (Educ. 7-910(c)(4)).
- If a local school system notifies you in writing, within 18 months after it developed or bought the digital tool, that the tool fails the equivalent access standards, including nonvisual access, modify the tool at your own expense to meet them within the time frame you agree with the local school system (Educ. 7-910(g)(1)).
- Indemnify the State Board or county board for liability resulting from the use of a digital tool that fails the equivalent access standards, including nonvisual access (Educ. 7-910(g)(2)(ii)).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text.
If you get it wrong
Penalty structure
A vendor that fails to meet the equivalent access standards after written notice is subject to a civil penalty not exceeding $5,000 for a first offense and not exceeding $10,000 for a subsequent offense.
- Rule
- Fixed only
- As of
- Currency
- USD
- Fixed cap
- 10,000
What this law does
Section 7-910 of the Education Article requires an invitation for bids or request for proposals for a digital tool issued by the State Board or a local school system to require a vendor to submit an accessibility conformance report that includes a Voluntary Product Accessibility Template. The report must explain how the vendor’s information and communication technology products, including software, electronic content and support documentation, conform to the most recent Section 508 standards.
A procurement contract for a digital tool must require the vendor to indemnify the State Board or a local school system for liability and costs arising from the digital tool’s failure to meet the section. If a local school system finds within 18 months after development or purchase that a digital tool fails the equivalent access standards, it sends the vendor written notice, and the vendor must modify the tool at its own expense within a time frame agreed with the school system.
A vendor that fails to meet the standards after that notice is subject to a civil penalty of up to $5,000 for a first offense and up to $10,000 for a subsequent offense, and must indemnify the State Board or county board for resulting liability. 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. Chapter 215 of the Acts of 2022 (Senate Bill 617) rewrote section 7-910 effective .
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app serves K-12 schools.
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