Advancing Security and Accessibility in Procurement with the HECVAT

Learn how campus purchasers and developers can use a free toolkit to streamline information-sharing while building digital inclusion! This session presents the evolution of a multi-year collaboration between higher ed IT accessibility and security professionals. Consensus best practices for evaluating the accessibility of vendor products are now incorporated into the Higher Education Community Vendor Assessment Toolkit (HECVAT), a widely used tool previously focused on assessing risk for security compliance. Combining accessibility and security reviews amplifies the importance of both, and sharing a data collection and reporting toolkit streamlines the process for schools and vendors alike. The HECVAT can help schools advance accessibility in partnership with vendors, moving toward compliance with existing and the new 2024 federal regulations. The session presenters will share the HECVAT collaborative process and the resulting questions, themes, and rationale behind them. Features and updates will be reviewed. This presentation and discussion are of interest to all institutions that procure technology, as well as any businesses that provide technology to purchasers with accessibility requirements. Beyond technical reviews, presenters will discuss organizational effectiveness and ways to use this framework as a catalyst for collaborating across IT domains with accessibility professionals within higher ed institutions. Many opportunities for feedback and discussion will be provided.