General — Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1998 requires the Postal Service to ensure that IT purchased by the Postal Service allows employees with disabilities and individuals with disabilities who are members of the public to have access to and use of information and data that is comparable to the access and use of information and data by employees and members of the public who do not have disabilities, unless doing so would impose an undue burden (see below).
Applicability — Unless an exception applies, purchases of IT must meet the applicable accessibility standards at 36 CFR Part 1194. Exception determinations are required prior to contract award, except for indefinite-delivery contracts and the other circumstances discussed in below.
Indefinite-Delivery Contracts — Exception determinations are not required prior to award of indefinite-delivery contracts, except for requirements that are to be satisfied by initial award. COs who award indefinite-delivery contracts must indicate to requiring and ordering activities which IT the supplier indicates as compliant and where full details of compliance can be found (e.g., the supplier’s or other exact Web site location). Before task or delivery orders are issued, requiring and ordering activities must ensure IT meets the applicable accessibility standards at 39 CFR Part 1194, unless an exception applies. Accordingly, indefinite-delivery contracts may include noncompliant IT items; however, any task or delivery order issued for noncompliant items must meet an applicable exception.
Nonapplication — The accessibility standards at 36 CFR Part 1194 do not apply to:
Exceptions — The requirements of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act as amended do not apply to IT that:
Basis — In determining whether compliance with all or part of the accessibility standards in 36 CFR Part 1194 would be an undue burden, the Postal Service must consider the difficulty or expense of compliance.
