1. (a) The department shall establish and maintain a list of EIR that the department has determined are exempt from the standards and specifications of all or part of Chapter 206 and/or Chapter 213 of this title.

   1. (1) The department will post the list of exempt EIR under the Accessibility section of its website.

   2. (2) The department will provide the below information for each exemption listed:

      1. (A) a date of expiration or duration of the exemption;
      2. (B) a plan for alternate means of access for persons with disabilities;
      3. (C) justification for the exemption including technical barriers, cost of remediation, fiscal impact for bringing the EIR into compliance, and other identified risks; and
      4. (D) written approval of the department's executive director.
   3. (3) The department shall establish and publish a policy under the Accessibility section of its website that defines the procedures and standards used to determine which EIR are exempt from the standards and specifications described in Chapter 206 and/or Chapter 213 of this title.

2. (b) In establishing information technology commodity procurement contracts pursuant to its authority under Texas Government Code § 2157.068, the department shall obtain and make available to state agencies accessibility information for products or services, where applicable, through one of the following methods:

   1. (1) inclusion of or URLs to manufacturer's completed VPATs or ACRs for applicable Commercial Off the Shelf products or services submitted in vendor solicitation responses; or
   2. (2) other documents/forms requested by the department in its information technology commodity procurement solicitations that provide credible evidence of the vendor's capability or ability to produce accessible EIR products and services. Such evidence may include, but is not limited to, a vendor's experiences and practices related to developing accessible EIR, contractual warranties for accessibility, accessibility testing documents, and examples of prior work results.

3. (c) The department shall provide training resources, and assistance regarding compliance with Chapter 206 and Chapter 213 of this title, pursuant to Texas Government Code § 2054.452.

   1. (1) The department shall schedule on-going training events or seminars, focused on accessibility development, testing, procurement and/or awareness training.
   2. (2) The department shall publish information regarding publicly available accessibility training opportunities and technical assistance.
4. (d) The department shall conduct an EIR accessibility survey regarding progress on and compliance with Chapters 206 and 213 of this title, pursuant to Texas Government Code §§ 2054.464 and 2054.651.
5. (e) The department shall designate and maintain a person responsible for statewide digital accessibility initiatives, including sharing information with other state agencies regarding EIR accessibility requirements under Chapters 206 and 213 of this title and other regulatory standards.

Source Note:The provisions of this §213.4 adopted to be effective June 16, 2026, 51 TexReg 3877.