We are committed to Accessibility

Policy
Dimensions Variable (DV) is committed to ensuring that everyone—regardless of their level of ability—has equal access to our public-facing digital communications. We have policies and procedures in place to help ensure that we comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, Pub. L. No. 101-336, 104 Stat. 328 (1990), as amended, and other related state and federal laws, as applicable. This Policy establishes minimum accessibility requirements for public-facing digital communications deployed on the web, mobile applications, or other digital communication platforms.

Definitions
For purposes of this policy, the following terms shall have the indicated meanings:

• “Accessibility” means “the degree to which an environment, service, or product allows access by as many people as possible, in particular, people with disabilities.”
• “Accessibility Standards” means conventions, norms or requirements intended to provide access to an environment, product, or service, particularly by people with disabilities. The principle of accessibility may be mandated in law, and then specified in detail per regulations, standards, or codes.
• “Alternative Formats” means information presented in Braille, in large print, via audio recording, or in an electronic format that can be accessed by people with disabilities. The Alternative Format must make the same content available and provide an equivalent level of access to the content by people with disabilities that is available to others who access the original document.
• “Public-Facing Digital Communications” includes, but is not limited to, electronic or digital content, communications or applications that are:
• In HTML, non-HTML or mobile platform digital formats;
• Public facing and broadly disseminated, including academic information and student life information both online and on-campus;
• Student support mechanisms (e.g. chat, email, etc.);
• Digital and social media content;
• For the purposes of this Policy – “public-facing digital communications” shall not include: Archival copies stored or retained solely for archival purposes to preserve an exact image of a hard copy; or draft versions of documents that are not public facing, or which are intended for limited distribution.
• “Readily Achievable” is defined as easily accomplishable and able to be carried out without much difficulty or expense. Failure to remove accessibility barriers where “readily achievable” constitutes discrimination.
• Determining what is “readily achievable” often involves analyzing the nature and cost of removing barriers and the overall financial resources of the business organization, among other factors. The analysis seeks to balance the benefit of the barrier’s removal and the harm (e.g. cost) to the business.
• “Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0”, or “WCAG 2.0”, refers to the globally recognized, de facto standard for web accessibility developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI).
• “Level A” refers to the minimum level of conformance that a website must satisfy in terms of the WCAG guidelines, or a Level A conforming alternate version is provided.
• “Level AA” refers to the intermediate level of conformance that a website must satisfy having met all of the Level A and Level AA success criteria in terms of the WCAG guidelines, or a Level AA conforming alternate version is provided.

Scope
This Policy applies to all Dimensions Variable public-facing digital communications. This includes any accompanying support documentation and services associated with the public-facing digital communications. Team members, third-party vendors, or individuals working either directly or indirectly on behalf of Dimensions Variable shall comply with this Policy.

Priority
The highest priority will be given to public-facing digital communications that are required to access Dimensions Variable. All Alternative Format requests shall be completed in a commercially reasonable time-frame. Equal access to the requested information may be provided in lieu of making the original material accessible.

Technical Standards
Dimensions Variable has identified WCAG 2.0 Levels A and AA as our target accessibility standard for public-facing digital communications accessed via computers, laptops, tablets and smart phones. Unless qualifying for an Exception as defined below, as of the Effective Date of this Policy, all new and revised public-facing digital communications published, purchased or controlled by Dimensions Variable must conform to the WCAG Level 2.0 Levels A and AA accessibility standard.

Primary Contact
Our Operations Manager is the primary contact point for public-facing digital communications accessibility for Dimensions Variable. All Dimensions Variable personnel responsible for public-facing digital communications should first contact this department to answer any questions about accessibility, address the accessibility of covered communications, and handle alternative format requests. Questions should be sent to [email protected].

External Communication
To view Dimensions Variable’s Digital Accessibility Statement, please visit the following url: https://dimensionsvariable.net/accessibility/

Compliance
Dimensions Variable shall obligate its third-party vendors to conduct periodic audits of public-facing digital communications and provide reports upon request.

Exceptions
Where compliance with this Policy is not possible, exceptions to this Policy may be granted by Dimensions Variable.

Exceptions may be granted in the following scenarios:

• “Not Readily Achievable” – Compliance with this Policy may be waived if the nature and cost of removing digital accessibility barriers exceeds the financial resources of Dimensions Variable. This does not include not budgeting for addressing digital accessibility barriers, and should only be used in extreme circumstances where addressing digital accessibility barriers would financially harm Dimensions Variable.
• “Fundamental alteration” – Compliance with this Policy may be waived if addressing digital accessibility barriers would result in a fundamental alteration in the nature of Dimensions Variable service, program, or activity or result in undue financial and administrative burdens.
• “User generated content” – Content that is created by users of Dimensions Variable systems, which is not readily accessible to the public may be exempted from compliance with this Policy. This exception only applies to the content itself, not the controls provided in association with the content, such as “Like” or “Follow” buttons, next page links, logins which may be required to view content, etc.
• “Linked sites and resources” – Sites, resources, or systems that are linked to or from any Dimensions Variable published or controlled website or application, but which are provided by a third party outside of Dimensions Variable’s operations may be exempted from compliance with this Policy, unless there is a contract in place with a vendor who is being paid to provide access to the third-party component, website, resource or system.
• “External Digital Content” – Digital Content about or relating to Dimensions Variable that is hosted by third parties may be exempted from compliance with this Policy, unless there is a contract in place with a vendor who is being paid to provide such Digital Content.
• “Short Term Digital Content” – Digital Content that is hosted for less than three weeks may be exempted from compliance with this Policy.
• “Orphaned Digital Content” – Digital Content that is orphaned or available but not linked directly from any web site published or controlled by Dimensions Variable may be exempted from compliance with this Policy.
• “Back Office” – Dimensions Variable digital assets used for administration or monitoring of public-facing digital communications, but which are not available for use by the public or customers are exempted from Compliance with this Policy.

Effective Date
The effective date (“Effective Date”) of this policy is June 1, 2019.