Technology Review for University of Maine System Requisitions
Please contact the Information Technology (IT) Accessibility Coordinator about disability accessibility before approving any IT-related requisition that includes technology or output that has a human interface, except for items in the categories below.
Exceptions:
- HP or Dell computer equipment purchases
- Canon copier-related purchases/services
- Hardware or software that will be used by only a people in an administrative office, for example, a postage purchasing service
- IT infrastructure directly accessed/managed by only a few IT staff, for example, a network switch, storage array, server hardware, racks, or data circuits
- Software developed and sold by Microsoft or Apple
- Software or hardware used by a few faculty for research and not used by students
More information:
When the University procures IT-related hardware, software or services there is a risk that persons with disabilities will be unable to benefit from the programs and services that rely on the items or services being purchased.
When such inaccessible materials/services are integral to courses, programs of study, public events, etc., persons with disabilities find themselves in a situation where they choose to drop out or are bypassed by the opportunity. Both cases can be avoided by planning to accommodate for accessibility.
Current University of Maine System policy and law require that all university programs and services are accessible to persons with disabilities, except in cases where doing so would create undue hardship (Note: undue hardship is almost never allowed for financial reasons). Undue hardship exceptions must be pre-approved by the university’s Equal Opportunity officer.