75R12090 MLS-F
By Moncrief S.B. No. 1059
Substitute the following for S.B. No. 1059:
By Danburg C.S.S.B. No. 1059
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to access by blind and visually impaired individuals to
1-3 information technology.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Subtitle B, Title 10, Government Code, is amended
1-6 by adding Chapter 2055 to read as follows:
1-7 CHAPTER 2055. ACCESS TO INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY BY BLIND AND
1-8 VISUALLY IMPAIRED INDIVIDUALS
1-9 SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS
1-10 Sec. 2055.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
1-11 (1) "Blind" means a person having not more than 20/200
1-12 visual acuity in the better eye with correcting lenses or visual
1-13 acuity greater than 20/200 but with a limitation in the field of
1-14 vision such that the widest diameter of the visual field subtends
1-15 an angle no greater than 20 degrees.
1-16 (2) "Information technology" means the equipment and
1-17 software that are designed, built, operated, and maintained to
1-18 collect, record, process, store, retrieve, display, and transmit
1-19 information.
1-20 (3) "State agency" means a department, commission,
1-21 board, office, council, or other agency in the executive or
1-22 judicial branch of state government that is created by the
1-23 constitution or a statute of this state, including a university
1-24 system or institution of higher education as defined by Section
2-1 61.003, Education Code.
2-2 (4) "Visually impaired" means a person having not more
2-3 than 20/70 visual acuity in the better eye with correcting lenses
2-4 or visual acuity greater than 20/70 but with a limitation in the
2-5 field of vision such that the widest diameter of the visual field
2-6 subtends an angle no greater than 30 degrees.
2-7 Sec. 2055.002. ACCESS BY EMPLOYEES AND STUDENTS.
2-8 (a) Subject to Section 2055.012, the head of a state agency shall
2-9 ensure that information technology equipment and software used by
2-10 employees or students who are blind or visually impaired:
2-11 (1) can present information for effective, interactive
2-12 control and use by both visual and nonvisual means;
2-13 (2) is compatible with equipment and software used by
2-14 other individuals with whom the blind or visually impaired
2-15 individual must interact; and
2-16 (3) can be integrated into the network or networks
2-17 used to share communications among employees or students.
2-18 (b) Nothing in this section requires the installation of
2-19 specific nonvisual access software or peripheral devices at a
2-20 workstation during any period of time in which the individual using
2-21 the equipment does not require nonvisual access.
2-22 (c) Notwithstanding the provisions of Subsection (b), the
2-23 applications programs and underlying operating systems, including
2-24 the format of the data, used for the manipulation and presentation
2-25 of information at all workstations shall permit the installation
2-26 and effective use of nonvisual access software and peripheral
2-27 devices.
3-1 Sec. 2055.003. PUBLIC ACCESS. Subject to Section 2055.012,
3-2 the head of a state agency shall ensure that information technology
3-3 used in the dissemination of services to the public:
3-4 (1) provides blind or visually impaired individuals
3-5 access, including interactive use of the equipment and services,
3-6 that is equivalent to that provided to individuals who are not
3-7 blind or visually impaired; and
3-8 (2) is designed to present information, including
3-9 prompts used for interactive communications, in formats intended
3-10 for both visual and nonvisual use.
3-11 (Sections 2055.004-2055.010 reserved for expansion
3-12 SUBCHAPTER B. PROCUREMENT REQUIREMENTS
3-13 Sec. 2055.011. TECHNOLOGY ACCESS CLAUSE. (a) The General
3-14 Services Commission and the Department of Information Resources, in
3-15 consultation with other state agencies and after public comment,
3-16 shall develop a technology access clause to be included in all
3-17 contracts entered into by the state or state agencies.
3-18 (b) The clause shall clearly state, as a condition for the
3-19 expenditure of state funds in the purchase of information
3-20 technology, that the technology:
3-21 (1) will provide equivalent access for effective use
3-22 by both visual and nonvisual means;
3-23 (2) will present information, including prompts used
3-24 for interactive communications, in formats intended for both visual
3-25 and nonvisual use; and
3-26 (3) can be integrated into networks for obtaining,
3-27 retrieving, and disseminating information used by individuals who
4-1 are not blind or visually impaired.
4-2 Sec. 2055.012. EXISTING SYSTEMS. Compliance with Sections
4-3 2055.002 and 2055.003 in regard to information technology purchased
4-4 before the effective date of this chapter shall be achieved at the
4-5 time of the procurement of an upgrade or replacement of the
4-6 existing equipment or software.
4-7 SECTION 2. The General Services Commission shall develop a
4-8 technology access clause as required by Section 2055.011,
4-9 Government Code, as added by this Act, not later than January 1,
4-10 1998.
4-11 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
4-12 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-13 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-14 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-15 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
4-16 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
4-17 passage, and it is so enacted.