Accessibility Policies at the International and National Level

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal civil rights law prohibiting discrimination against people with disabilities in everyday activities. The ADA prohibits discrimination based on disability, just as other civil rights laws prohibit discrimination based on race, color, sex, national origin, age, and religion. The ADA guarantees that people with disabilities have the same opportunities as everyone else to enjoy employment opportunities, purchase goods and services, and participate in state and local government programs.

Accessibility is a significant subset of the extension of the ADA principles to assistive technology (AT). So the ADA is the umbrella that includes the ideas of accommodation and accessibility but is not the same as these concepts.

Section 508 was signed into law in 1998 and then was updated or revised in 2017. Under Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, agencies must give disabled employees and members of the public access to information that is comparable to the access available to others.

The 2017 revision is significant because it addresses technologies like newer technologies like mobile applications that did not exist when Section 508 was first implemented. With regards to paperwork like Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) accessibility reports, this 2017 update changed the paperwork that is acceptable for UNLV procurements.

WCAG conformance means that a web presence (website, web page, portal) adheres to the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) standards. When the Section 508 standards were revised in 2017, the Level AA Success Criteria of the WCAG 2.0 were incorporated.

Related to these regulations is the CVAA or the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act. The CVAA was enacted on October 8, 2010, to ensure that persons with disabilities have access to the innovative communications technologies of the 21st Century. The CVAA mandates the accessibility of public-facing communications regulated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

Accessibility Policies for the State of Nevada

In September 2017, the Nevada System of Higher Education, which oversees various institutions of higher education in Nevada, including UNLV, presented its initial Policy for Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Accessibility (Section 16, page 47).

At press time, the Accessibility at NSHE page stated this Commitment to Accessibility:

The Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE) is committed to ensuring that its programs, services, and activities are accessible to all individuals, including individuals with disabilities. Consistent with its commitment, NSHE continuously strives to maintain a website that conforms to accessibility standards of the World Wide Web Consortium’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 Level AA and the Web Accessibility Initiative Accessible Rich Internet Applications Suite (WAI-ARIA) 1.0 for web-based content, thereby satisfying the requirements of the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights to make its website compliant with Title II of the Americans With Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

NSHE updated the ICT (information and communication technology) policy in June 2020.

Accessibility Policies at UNLV

In January 2020, UNLV activated its own digital accessibility policy. 

The ICT Accessibility Policy applies to all technology and any equipment or interconnected system or subsystem of equipment used in the creation, conversion, or duplication of data or information employed to support university business.

ICT includes but is not limited to:

  • The internet and intranet websites
  • Content delivered in digital form
  • Electronic books and electronic book reading systems
  • Search engines and databases
  • Learning management systems
  • Classroom technology
  • Instructional materials
  • Student response systems ("clickers")
  • Equipment such as classroom podiums, copiers, and fax machines.
  • Telecommunications products (such as phones)
  • Information kiosks
  • Automated Teller Machines (ATMs)
  • Transaction machines (such as payment terminals)
  • Computers
  • Ancillary equipment
  • Software
  • Services (including support services)
  • Equipment maintained and services operated by third-party vendors and related resources.

Related to the UNLV ICT policy is its associated standards and procedures document. The standards and procedures address processes such as purchasing exceptions and when video captions are required.