Bill not drafted by TLC or Senate E&E.
Line and page numbers may not match official copy.
By: Moncrief S.B. No. 1059
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to access by blind and visually impaired individuals to
1-2 information technology.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Subtitle B, Title 10, Government Code, is amended
1-5 by adding Chapter 2055 to read as follows:
1-6 CHAPTER 2055. ACCESS TO INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY BY BLIND AND
1-7 VISUALLY IMPAIRED INDIVIDUALS
1-8 SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS
1-9 Sec. 2055.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
1-10 (1) "Blind" means a person having not more than 20/200
1-11 visual acuity in the better eye with correcting lenses or visual
1-12 acuity greater than 20/200 but with a limitation in the field of
1-13 vision such that the widest diameter of the visual field subtends
1-14 an angle no greater than 20 degrees.
1-15 (2) "Information technology" means the equipment and
1-16 software that are designed, built, operated, and maintained to
1-17 collect, record, process, store, retrieve, display, and transmit
1-18 information.
1-19 (3) "State agency" means a department, commission,
1-20 board, office, council, or other agency in the executive or
1-21 judicial branch of state government that is created by the
1-22 constitution or a statute of this state, including a university
1-23 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 PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS.
2-8 (a) Subject to Section 2055.012, the head of a state agency or
2-9 state-funded program shall ensure that information technology
2-10 equipment and software used by employees or program participants,
2-11 including students, who are blind or visually impaired:
2-12 (1) can present information for effective, interactive
2-13 control and use by both visual and nonvisual means;
2-14 (2) is compatible with equipment and software used by
2-15 other individuals with whom the blind or visually impaired
2-16 individual must interact; and
2-17 (3) can be integrated into the network or networks
2-18 used to share communications among employees or program
2-19 participants.
2-20 (b) Nothing in this section requires the installation of
2-21 specific nonvisual access software or peripheral devices at a
2-22 workstation during any period of time in which the individual using
2-23 the equipment does not require nonvisual access.
2-24 (c) Notwithstanding the provisions of Subsection (b), the
2-25 applications programs and underlying operating systems, including
3-1 the format of the data, used for the manipulation and presentation
3-2 of information at all workstations shall permit the installation
3-3 and effective use of nonvisual access software and peripheral
3-4 devices.
3-5 Sec. 2055.003. PUBLIC ACCESS. Subject to Section 2055.012,
3-6 the head of a state agency or state-funded program shall ensure
3-7 that information technology used in the dissemination of services
3-8 to the public:
3-9 (1) provides blind or visually impaired individuals
3-10 access, including interactive use of the equipment and services,
3-11 which is equivalent to that provided to individuals who are not
3-12 blind or visually impaired; and
3-13 (2) is designed to present information, including
3-14 prompts used for interactive communications, in formats intended
3-15 for both visual and nonvisual use.
3-16 (Sections 2055.004 to 2055.010 reserved for expansion
3-17 SUBCHAPTER B. PROCUREMENT REQUIREMENTS
3-18 Sec. 2055.011. TECHNOLOGY ACCESS CLAUSE. (a) The General
3-19 Services Commission and the Department of Information Resources, in
3-20 consultation with other state agencies and after public comment,
3-21 shall develop a technology access clause to be included in all
3-22 contracts entered into by the state, state agencies, or
3-23 state-funded programs.
3-24 (b) The clause shall clearly state, as a condition for the
3-25 expenditure of state funds in the purchase of information
4-1 technology, that the technology:
4-2 (1) will provide equivalent access for effective use
4-3 by both visual and nonvisual means;
4-4 (2) will present information, including prompts used
4-5 for interactive communications, in formats intended for both visual
4-6 and nonvisual use; and
4-7 (3) can be integrated into networks for obtaining,
4-8 retrieving, and disseminating information used by individuals who
4-9 are not blind or visually impaired.
4-10 Sec. 2055.012. EXISTING SYSTEMS. Compliance with Sections
4-11 2055.002 and 2055.003 in regard to information technology purchased
4-12 prior to the effective date of this chapter shall be achieved at
4-13 the time of the procurement of an upgrade or replacement of the
4-14 existing equipment or software.
4-15 (Sections 2055.013 to 2055.020 reserved for expansion
4-16 SUBCHAPTER C. ACTION FOR INJUNCTION
4-17 Sec. 2055.021. INJUNCTION. (a) A person injured by a
4-18 violation of this chapter may maintain an action for injunctive
4-19 relief to enforce the terms of this chapter.
4-20 (b) A civil action brought under Subsection (a) must be
4-21 commenced within four years after the cause of action accrues. For
4-22 the purposes of this subsection, a cause of action for a continuing
4-23 violation accrues at any and all times during the period of the
4-24 violation.
4-25 SECTION 2. The General Services Commission shall develop a
5-1 technology access clause as required by Section 2055.011,
5-2 Government Code, as added by this Act, not later than January 1,
5-3 1998.
5-4 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
5-5 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-6 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-7 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-8 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
5-9 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
5-10 passage, and it is so enacted.