Law / United States / 
Washington
Digital Accessibility Standard, accessibility conditions on covered technology procured by state agencies
WaTech Standard USER-01-01-S, sec. 4, procurement and contracting, under RCW 43.105.054
In force.
A procurement conditions rule binding public and private bodies.
- Conformance standard
- WCAG 2.2 AA
What it requires
- This reaches a vendor that sells covered technology, IT project systems, applications or IT services to a Washington state agency, through the accessibility requirements, validation and remediation terms the agency's procurement and contracting must include (USER-01-01-S sec. 4).
- If you sell covered technology to a Washington state agency, meet the accessibility requirements its procurement and contract carry, at a minimum Level AA of WCAG 2.2 since , and support the agency's validation with human user testing and a third-party accessibility validation report, a Vendor Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) or compliance review documentation against the applicable WCAG level (USER-01-01-S secs. 3, 4(a) and 4(b)).
- Give the agency a remediation plan for the accessibility issues found, with a timeline the agency evaluates and contract clauses that enforce it (USER-01-01-S sec. 4(c)(i) and (ii)).
- Where you have no remediation plan and no other accessible solution meets the agency's needs, the agency reserves the right to reduce or terminate the contract if you show a lack of accountability for timely response, remediation and accessibility improvements in new releases and updates, or misrepresent your product's current accessibility, and it weighs your accessibility track record, contract violations included, in renewals and new procurements (USER-01-01-S sec. 4(c)(iii)).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text.
What this law does
The Digital Accessibility Standard, USER-01-01-S, was adopted by the State Chief Information Officer and approved by the Technology Services Board on , and states those dates and no separate effective date. Each state agency must certify annually to Washington Technology Solutions that it complies with the policies and standards developed under chapter 43.105 RCW.
Agency procurement and contracting for covered technology must include accessibility requirements in the procurement, design, project scope, budget and maintenance of IT project systems, applications and IT services. Accessibility validation must include agency or third-party human user testing, together with a third-party accessibility validation report or one of the alternatives the standard lists.
The alternatives are a Vendor Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) or compliance review documentation showing an evaluation of the solution's compliance with the applicable WCAG level. Agencies must require a remediation plan from the vendor for addressing accessibility issues, evaluate the plan and its timeline, and determine contractual clauses to enforce remediation.
Where the vendor has no remediation plan and no other accessible solution meets the agency's needs, the agency must reserve the right to reduce the amount of or terminate contracts where vendors demonstrate a lack of accountability for timely response, remediation and accessibility improvements in new releases and updates, which also applies where a vendor misrepresents the current accessibility of its products.
The agency must also consider vendors' accessibility track record, including contract violations, in renewal and new procurement processes. Effective , the minimum level of compliance is Level AA compliance with WCAG 2.2.
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