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Procurement

In an effort to ensure that accessible electronic products are used by the University of West Florida, a procurement process is in place that evaluates the accessibility of products prior to their purchase. During this process, products are reviewed to determine any potential barriers and contingency plans are made to address barriers for a student as long as it does not create a fundamental alteration to the course or program requirements.

The review process for ITS compatibility and accessibility typically takes 3-14 workdays. Some requests may require demos of products, meetings with external participants (vendor) and other tasks.

An exception committee will review requests that demonstrate potential barriers. The committee is headed by the University's Chief Compliance Officer.

Steps for the Procurement of Accessible EIT

  1. Submit a Contract Request (KREQ) via the JIRA ticketing system
    • a) Remember to include as much information as possible, including a vendor produced VPAT and/ or any other accessibility documents
  2. Respond promptly to any service desk questions/ posts
  3. Once the review is completed, an accessibility determination will be posted on JIRA
  4. If the EIT in question does not meet accessibility standards, you will be required to:
    • a) Find an alternative product/ service
    • b) Submit a request for an exception to universal design standards*
Estimated wait times for EIT Accessibility reviews
Date (workdays only)Description of the Procedure

Day 1

The client enters information into KREQ to create a JIRA ticket; JIRA auto-populates a KREQ number.

OGC Contract Manager reviews KREQ

Day 2

If special situations (e.g. IT, Controller, etc.) OGC Contract Manager sends to the various departments. [Note: this may occur on Day 1 instead.]

Day 4

Email sent to the client, documented in JIRA, providing KREQ status update.

Day 10

A phone call and email to the client, documented in JIRA, providing KREQ status update.

Day 14**

A phone call and email to the client, documented in JIRA, providing KREQ status update.

Day 20

Triggers email to Director, Procurement and Vice President, Finance & Administration KREQ still not completed. Director or VP will ascertain the delay and then talk with the client.

More than 25 Days

Director or VP will continue to communicate with the client to achieve resolution as quickly as possible.

**Days 3 - 14

The window for ITS and Accessibility Committee to conduct their review and reply on JIRA. Anything outside of this window would indicate extenuating circumstances and will be documented in JIRA so all participants are aware of a potential delay.

For additional information regarding procurement of EIT and the exception process, please visit the Procurement of EIT and Applying for Exceptions Confluence page.