W. Va. Code R. § 148-15-2

Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 50, December 13, 2024

Section 148-15-2 - Applicability

2.1. This legislative rule applies to all state agencies, except those statutorily exempted from its application.

2.2. Products covered by the rule shall comply with all applicable provisions of the rule. When developing, procuring, maintaining, or using electronic and information technology, each state agency shall ensure that the products comply with the applicable provisions of the rule, unless an undue burden would be imposed on the state agency.

(1) When compliance with the provisions of the rule imposes an undue burden, state agencies shall provide blind or visually impaired individuals with the information and data involved by an alternative means of access that allows the individual to use the information and data.

(2) When procuring a product, if a state agency determines that compliance with any provision of the rule imposes an undue burden, the documentation by the state agency supporting the procurement shall explain why, and to what extent, compliance with each provision creates an undue burden.

2.3. When procuring a product, each state agency shall procure products which comply with the provisions in the rule when the products are available in the commercial marketplace or when the products are developed in response to a State solicitation. State agencies cannot claim a product as a whole is not commercially available because no product in the marketplace meets all the standards. If products are commercially available that meet some but not all of the standards, the state agency shall procure the product that best meets the standards.

2.4. The rule applies to electronic and information technology developed, procured, maintained, or used by state agencies directly or used by a contractor under a contract with an agency which requires the use of the product, or requires the use, to a significant extent, of the product in the performance of a service or the furnishing of a product.

2.5. General exceptions.

(a) Except as required to comply with the provisions in the rule, the rule does not require the state agency to install specific accessibility-related software or the attachment of an assistive technology device at a workstation of a State employee who is not an individual with a disability.

(b) When state agencies provide access to the public to information or data through information technology, they are not required to make products owned by them available for access and use by individuals with disabilities at a location other than that where the information technology is provided to the public, or to purchase products for access and use by individuals with disabilities at a location other than that where the information technology is provided to the public.

(c) The rule shall not be construed to require a fundamental alteration in the nature of a product or its components.

(d) Products located in spaces frequented only by service personnel for maintenance, repair, or occasional monitoring of equipment are not required to comply with the rule.

W. Va. Code R. § 148-15-2