Digital Accessibility Incident Response

Have you received a complaint regarding the inaccessibility of a digital resource you manage?

Illustration by Storyset

The following steps and resources are meant to support product owners and systems administrators in responding to any digital accessibility incidents associated with resources they manage. Departments should reach out to the Office of Information Technology via help-accessibility@pdx.edu with any questions regarding this recommended digital accessibility incident response workflow.

Step 1: Replicate and Document
Step 2: Remediate and Respond
Step 3: Follow up and Engage

Step 1: Replicate and Document

Attempt to validate the reported issue, determine the extent and severity of the associated accessibility barrier(s), and assign remediation and response to the appropriate responsible party.

Accessibility Incident Validation Template

Step 2: Remediate and Respond

In-House Remediation

If the responsible party is the system administrator or an internal content contributor, the issue should be resolved in house. Please refer to the follow resources for guidance and consultation as necessary:

Vendor Remediation

Issues that cannot be remediated in house must be escalated to the vendor for resolution. Even if the system administrator or an internal content contributor is able to craft a workaround for a reported accessibility issues, it is important to inform the vendor, such that the underlying bug is addressed as soon as possible.

Prepare a vendor specific report using the Accessibility Incident Validation Template.
Prepare an Equally Effective Alternative Access Plan to mitigate the impact of validated accessibility barriers until they are remediated
Send a customized version of the following email template to the vendor:

[VENDOR CONTACT],

My name is [YOUR NAME], and I am the system administrator for [SYSTEM NAME] at Portland State University (PSU). I am writing to inform you about [AN/SOME] accessibility [ISSUE/ISSUES] we’ve encountered. These validated bugs render [SYSTEM NAME] out of compliance with the World Wide Web Consortium’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and may pose substantial accessibility barriers for users with disabilities at PSU.

The accessibility of our systems to people with disabilities is required under PSU’s Digital Accessibility Policy. Please reference this [LINK TO ACCESSIBILITY INCIDENT VALIDATION SPREADSHEET] for a list of identified accessibility bugs and their corresponding WCAG Success Criteria.

At your earliest convenience, please provide a Digital Accessibility Roadmap, including remediation timelines and workarounds that will allow equitable access until each bug is resolved.

Thanks,

[YOUR NAME]

Step 3: Follow up and Engage

Respond to the customer via the associated ticket or email exchange, providing a synopsis of your accessibility incident response, including any relevant information regarding:

In-House Remediation and Response
Vendor Remediation and Response

[CUSTOMER NAME],

Thank you for reporting [THIS/THESE] accessibility [ISSUE/ISSUES]. We’ve conducted an internal assessment and consulted with the vendor, and determined that [THIS/THESE] accessibility [ISSUE/ISSUES] [MAY BE REMEDIATED IN HOUSE/MUST BE ADDRESSED BOTH INTERNALLY AND BY THE VENDOR/MUST BE ADDRESSED BY THE VENDOR].

The following [ISSUE/ISSUES] should be remediated in-house by [DATE]:

[Issue - Remediated/Remediation In Progress]

The following [ISSUE/ISSUES] were reported to the vendor and are expected to be remediated by [DATE]:

[Issue - Remediated/Remediation In Progress]

In the meantime, please reference this [LINK TO EQUALLY EFFECTIVE ALTERNATE ACCESS PLAN (EEAAP)] for workarounds. This EEAAP has been developed and shared with the Office of Human Resources and the Disability Resource Center, in consultation with the Office of Information Technology’s Digital Accessibility and Content team.

Best,

[YOUR NAME]

If faculty or staff have any additional questions regarding digital accessibility for public-facing digital resources at PSU, please email help-accessibility@pdx.edu or submit a Digital Accessibility Support ticket.

Digital Accessibility and Content Team