This bill clarifies and expands the requirements for contracts with public schools to ensure technology is accessible to individuals with disabilities. Here's what it means in simpler terms:
Automatic Inclusion of Key Provisions: Under current law, if certain provisions are missing from a public school contract, they're automatically added. The bill confirms that one of these required provisions is that any contractor must comply with accessibility standards for people with disabilities—as defined by the Office of Information Technology.
New Indemnification Requirement: The bill adds a new rule that requires contractors to:
Indemnify, hold harmless, and assume liability for the public school contracting entity, the public school itself, and its employees or agents.
This means that if the contractor fails to meet the technology accessibility standards, they must cover any costs, damages, or legal remedies that result from that failure.
In summary: Contractors working with public schools must follow established accessibility standards for technology, and if they don’t, they’re financially responsible for any resulting issues—protecting the school and its staff from those costs or liabilities.
Summary
Under current law, certain provisions are required in a public
school contract (contract), and if the provisions are omitted from a contract, the law deems that the provisions are automatically included in the contract. The bill clarifies that the list includes that a contractor is required to comply with accessibility standards for an individual with a disability adopted by the office of information technology. The bill adds a provision to the list to require a contractor to indemnify, hold harmless, and assume liability on behalf of a public school contracting entity, the public school, and the public school's employees and agents, for all remedies for noncompliance with standards that ensure technology accessibility to persons with disabilities.
