Web resources, including web applications, web pages, videos, images, documents (including PDFs), and other digital materials must comply with the Web Resources Accessibility Policy. A Temporary Exemption request and Equivalent Access Plan allows the campus partner to plan for how access will be given even if a digital resource is not yet complaint with institutional accessibility guidelines. It can also demonstrate what accessibility issues exist and articulate how those will be addressed.
When compliance (1) is not technically possible or may require extraordinary measures due to the nature or intent of the web resource, or (2) would result in a fundamental alteration of the web resource and not satisfy the original intent, a request for exemption may be made by submitting a Temporary Accessibility Policy Exemption and Equally Effective Alternate Access Plan (EEAAP) to accessibility@ua.edu. If you need to apply for a temporary exemption and submit an equivalent access plan, please be aware that the form used to apply is under revision. The new, simpler version of the form should be available in the coming weeks.
The request for a temporary policy exemption must be based on issues other than cost alone. Temporary exemptions will be evaluated and approved on a case by case basis.
An equivalent access plan explains how a person with a disability receives the opportunity to acquire the same information, engage in the same interactions, and enjoy the same services as a person without a disability in an equally effective and equally integrated manner, with substantially equivalent ease of use. The person with a disability must be able to obtain the information as fully, equally, and independently as a person without a disability in a timely manner through an equally effective accessible format or an equally effective accommodation.
An equally effective accessible format for web resources an alternative format that communicates the same information in as timely a fashion as does the original web resource; (2) for interactive applications, an alternative format that allows the user action (e.g., registration) to be accomplished in a comparable time and with comparable effort by the user.
Temporary Exemption Request Process
- Complete a Temporary Exemption Request and Access Plan. If needed, schedule a consultation with the Technology Accessibility team regarding the plan.
- Submit to accessibility@ua.edu and the campus area accessibility liaison.
- The request will be reviewed by the Technology Accessibility team and any recommendations made to the campus area liaison and submitter.
- The request will be routed to appropriate University offices, including legal and compliance, for final review.
*An approved request is not a permanent exemption. Instead, it is documentation of temporary acceptance of risk until the web resource can be brought into compliance through modification, replacement, or discontinuation of use.
Examples
Web resource (including document) exceptions may be based on consideration of:
- Importance of the web resource
- Size and nature of intended audience
- Expectation that persons with disabilities would need access
- Complexity of the web resource
- Availability of equivalent accessible web resource
- Estimated life span of web resource
Examples of web resources that may be appropriate for an accessibility exception, if equally effective accommodations are provided, include:
- Web resources used by a subset of University staff.
- Password-protected sites with limited user group.
- Third-party licensed resources with no available accessible alternatives available from this or another third party.
- Complex images, tables, technical, or scientific information.
- Complex dynamic visualizations, including scientific and research imaging technologies, 3d-models, CAD, virtual environments.
- Handwritten or poor quality historical materials scanned to a digital archive.
- Archived historical legacy web resources.