79R11538 MXM-F
By: Rose H.B. No. 2819
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to access to state electronic and information resources by
individuals with disabilities.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 2054, Government Code, is amended by
adding Subchapter M to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER M. ACCESS TO ELECTRONIC AND INFORMATION
RESOURCES BY INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES
Sec. 2054.451. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "Electronic and information resources" means
information resources and any equipment or interconnected system of
equipment that is used in the creation, conversion, or duplication
of information resources. The term includes telephones and other
telecommunications products, information kiosks, transaction
machines, Internet websites, multimedia resources, and office
equipment, including copy machines and fax machines.
(2) "State agency" means a department, commission,
board, office, council, authority, or other agency in the
executive, legislative, or judicial branch of state government that
is created by the constitution or a statute of this state, including
a university system or institution of higher education as defined
by Section 61.003, Education Code.
Sec. 2054.452. TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE. (a) The
department shall provide training for and technical assistance to
state agencies regarding compliance with this subchapter.
(b) The department shall adopt rules to implement this
section.
Sec. 2054.453. RULES; COMPLIANCE WITH FEDERAL STANDARDS.
(a) The department shall adopt rules and evaluation criteria to
implement this subchapter, including rules regarding:
(1) the development, procurement, maintenance, and
use of electronic and information resources by state agencies to
provide access to individuals with disabilities; and
(2) a procurement accessibility policy.
(b) In adopting rules under this section, the department
shall consider the provisions contained in 36 C.F.R. Part 1194.
Sec. 2054.454. STATE AGENCY COMPLIANCE. (a) Each state
agency shall develop, procure, maintain, and use accessible
electronic and information resources that conform to the rules
adopted under this subchapter.
(b) The department shall ensure that rules adopted under
this subchapter are reviewed as a component of any report developed
under Section 2054.102(c) on compliance with department standards.
Sec. 2054.455. PUBLIC INFORMATION. The department shall
develop a process by which the public may provide information
regarding compliance with this subchapter.
Sec. 2054.456. ACCESS TO ELECTRONIC AND INFORMATION
RESOURCES BY STATE EMPLOYEES WITH DISABILITIES. (a) Each state
agency shall, in developing, procuring, maintaining, or using
electronic and information resources, ensure that state employees
with disabilities have access to and the use of those resources
comparable to the access and use available to state employees
without disabilities, unless compliance with this section imposes a
significant difficulty or expense on the agency under Section
2054.460.
(b) This section does not require a state agency to install
specific accessibility-related software or attach an assistive
technology device at a workstation of a state employee who is not an
individual with a disability, except as necessary to permit the
employee to interact directly with a member of the public who has a
disability.
Sec. 2054.457. ACCESS TO ELECTRONIC AND INFORMATION
RESOURCES BY OTHER INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES. (a) Each state
agency shall provide members of the public with disabilities who
are seeking information or other services from the agency access to
and the use of electronic and information resources comparable to
the access and use provided to members of the public without
disabilities, unless compliance with this section imposes a
significant difficulty or expense on the agency under Section
2054.460.
(b) This section does not require a state agency to:
(1) make a product owned by the agency available for
access and use by individuals with disabilities at a location other
than the location where the electronic and information resources
are provided to the public; or
(2) purchase a product for access and use by
individuals with disabilities at a location other than the location
where the electronic and information resources are provided to the
public.
Sec. 2054.458. INTERNET WEBSITES. The department shall
adopt rules regarding the development and monitoring of state
agency Internet websites to provide access to individuals with
disabilities.
Sec. 2054.459. EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES; PRODUCTS. The
department shall adopt rules regarding:
(1) emerging technologies related to the purpose of
this subchapter; and
(2) the commercial availability of products,
including computer software, to implement this subchapter.
Sec. 2054.460. EXCEPTION FOR SIGNIFICANT DIFFICULTY OR
EXPENSE; ALTERNATE METHODS. (a) If compliance with a provision of
this subchapter imposes a significant difficulty or expense on a
state agency, the agency is not required to comply with that
provision, but the agency shall:
(1) comply with all applicable state and federal civil
rights statutes, including:
(A) the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
(42 U.S.C. Section 12101 et seq.); and
(B) Section 504, Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29
U.S.C. Section 794); and
(2) provide individuals with disabilities an
alternate method of access under Subsection (b).
(b) If under Subsection (a) a state agency is not complying
with a provision of this subchapter, the agency shall use alternate
methods to provide timely access by individuals with disabilities
to state agency electronic and information resources, including
access to product documentation. Alternate methods include voice,
fax, teletypewriter, Internet posting, captioning, text-to-speech
synthesis, and audio description.
(c) In determining whether compliance imposes a significant
difficulty or expense on the state agency, the agency shall
consider all agency resources available to the program or program
component for which the product is being developed, procured,
maintained, or used.
(d) The department shall adopt rules to implement this
section, including rules defining:
(1) a process for a state agency to determine when this
section applies; and
(2) a method for the department, in response to a
complaint, to determine whether this section applies to a state
agency.
Sec. 2054.461. EXEMPTIONS. The department shall adopt
rules regarding exempting a state agency from the duty to comply
with this subchapter or a provision of this subchapter. In adopting
rules under this section, the department shall focus on
circumstances in which the benefit of compliance for individuals
with disabilities is relatively minor and the cost of compliance is
relatively great.
Sec. 2054.462. EXCEPTION FOR EMBEDDED INFORMATION
RESOURCES. This subchapter does not apply to electronic and
information resources equipment that contains embedded information
resources that are used as an integral part of the product, but the
principal function of which is not the acquisition, storage,
manipulation, management, movement, control, display, switching,
interchange, transmission, or reception of information, including
thermostats or temperature control devices or other heating,
ventilation, and air conditioning equipment.
Sec. 2054.463. EXCEPTION FOR MEDICAL EQUIPMENT. This
subchapter does not apply to an item of medical equipment in which
electronic and information resources are integral to its operation.
Sec. 2054.464. SURVEY; REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. The
department shall adopt rules regarding:
(1) an annual electronic and information resources
state agency survey; and
(2) state agency reporting requirements for
implementation of this subchapter.
SECTION 2. (a) Effective September 1, 2006, Sections
2001.007(c) and 2157.005, Government Code, are repealed.
(b) The repeal of Section 2157.005, Government Code, by this
section applies only to a contract entered into on or after the
effective date of this Act. A contract entered into before the
effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect when the
contract was entered into, and the former law is continued in effect
for that purpose.
SECTION 3. (a) Not later than March 1, 2006, the Department
of Information Resources shall adopt the rules required by
Subchapter M, Chapter 2054, Government Code, as added by this Act.
(b) Before September 1, 2006, a state agency may, but is not
required to, comply with Subchapter M, Chapter 2054, Government
Code, as added by this Act, or rules adopted under that subchapter.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.