Law / United States / 
Utah
Utah Technology Governance Act: accessibility standards for executive branch agency information technology and basic website standards
Utah Code 63A-16-104(10) and 63A-16-209
In force since .
An accessibility requirements rule binding government bodies.
- Conformance standard
- US Section 508 standards
What it requires
- If you are the chief information officer of Utah state government, establish by rule minimum standards for accessibility of executive branch agency information technology by an individual with a disability, with accessibility criteria for agency websites, for hardware and software an executive branch agency procures, and for information systems executive branch agency employees use, and make the standards at minimum consistent with the most recent Web Content Accessibility guidelines published by the World Wide Web Consortium (Utah Code 63A-16-209(1)(a)).
- Establish by rule grievance procedures for an individual with a disability who is unable to access executive branch agency information technology, including a process to report the access issue to the chief information officer and a mechanism through which the chief information officer can respond (Utah Code 63A-16-209(1)(b)).
- Update the accessibility standards at least every three years to reflect advances in technology (Utah Code 63A-16-209(2)).
- If you are the Division of Technology Services, coordinate with executive branch agencies to provide basic website standards that address accessibility for individuals with disabilities in accordance with the standards of section 794d of title 29 of the United States Code and with section 63A-16-209 (Utah Code 63A-16-104(10)).
- If you are an executive branch agency, make agency websites, hardware and software you procure, and information systems your employees use, created after , conform at minimum to WCAG 2.1, or provide an alternative method of access with full functionality (Utah Admin. Code R895-14-3 and R895-14-3(2)).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text.
What this law does
The chief information officer must establish by rule minimum standards for accessibility of executive branch agency information technology by an individual with a disability, including accessibility criteria for agency websites, for hardware and software an executive branch agency procures, and for information systems executive branch agency employees use.
The standards must include a protocol to evaluate them through testing by individuals with a variety of access limitations and must be, at minimum, consistent with the most recent Web Content Accessibility guidelines published by the World Wide Web Consortium.
The chief information officer must also establish by rule grievance procedures for an individual with a disability who is unable to access executive branch agency information technology, including a process to report the access issue and a mechanism through which the chief information officer can respond. The chief information officer must update the accessibility standards at least every three years to reflect advances in technology.
The Division of Technology Services must coordinate with executive branch agencies to provide basic website standards that address accessibility for individuals with disabilities in accordance with the standards of section 794d of title 29 of the United States Code and with section 63A-16-209.
An executive branch agency is an agency or administrative subunit of state government, and the term does not include the legislative branch, the judicial branch, the State Board of Education, the Utah Board of Higher Education, or institutions of higher education.
Rule R895-14 of the Division of Technology Services, made under these sections, applies to executive branch agencies that are under the jurisdiction of the state chief information officer, and does not apply to information technology deployed before .
Under rule R895-14, agency websites, hardware and software procured by an agency, and information systems used by an agency employee created after must conform at minimum to W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1. An agency must either comply with the accessibility guidelines or provide an alternative method of access with full functionality.
For a legacy information system, an agency must make reasonable efforts to comply with the accessibility guidelines and must provide individuals with disabilities with an alternative method of access. The Department of Technology Services must respond to an accessibility violation report within 30 calendar days with suggestions for remediation. The amendment that set the WCAG 2.1 floor took effect on .
The Department of Technology Services filed a five-year review and statement of continuation of rule R895-14, effective .
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