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Re: Training Materials

for

From: DE BAETS Carine
Date: Oct 26, 2020 4:07AM


Indeed, it depends which country you're in. I would very much doubt that their approach is legitimate. Protecting their materials with watermarks and statements is allowed; not making it accessible for persons with a disability is illegal.

-----Original Message-----
From: Amber Holladay < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Sent: Friday, October 23, 2020 7:58 PM
To: WebAIM Discussion List < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Training Materials

Kudos to you for being an advocate.

In the United States, it is ultimately the employer who is required to ensure accessible materials for employees who request accommodations. I am not well-versed in other countries, but as you said, the language requiring an outside company to provide those materials MUST be in the contract. Most (if not all) of the litigation you are going to find is employee vs employer unless there was a contract agreement.

I came up with a couple links that may help you get started.

ADA Requirements:
https://www.eeoc.gov/publications/ada-your-responsibilities-employer

Vendor Contracts: https://www.lflegal.com/2018/04/vendor-contracts/

Sample contract language:
https://ocul.on.ca/accessibility/procurement/model-license-and-contract-language

On Fri, Oct 23, 2020 at 11:01 AM Joseph Krack < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
wrote:

> A question for the group. My Department is working with a company to
> provide software training. Because this company wants to protect
> their content, it is available in class in a format that is not
> accessible to assistive technology. Basically it is locked, and non-downloadable.
> When a student who uses assistive technology asked for the information
> in an accessible file format it was difficult to get one from them.
> She was not able to get an accessible version in class. After the
> training she kept asking for material she should use and they tried
> several times to send file formats that were locked, or basically in a
> plain text (without structure). On the third attempt she received an
> accessible PDF file, with strict instructions to not share it with anyone else.
>
> While I understand the importance of this vendor trying to protect
> their content, I also understand that accessible content needs to be
> readily available to students. In the same way that ramps to the
> entrance should not be available only upon request, accessible content
> should be expected without special request.
>
> Does anyone in this forum have experience with this issue? Has any
> litigation determined the proper way of addressing this issue? We
> have a new contract for training coming up soon, and I want to address
> issues such as this in the requirements of the new contract.
>
> Thanks in advance, Joe
>
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