HB 485 — An Act amending Title 71 (State Government) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in boards and offices, providing for Office of Information Technology.

PRINTER'S NO.   468

                     THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA



                         HOUSE BILL
                         No. 485
                                                Session of
                                                  2025

     INTRODUCED BY MARKOSEK, VENKAT, GIRAL, SANCHEZ, OTTEN, MALAGARI,
        KENYATTA, HILL-EVANS, HOHENSTEIN, SCHLOSSBERG, DALEY, GREEN,
        MADDEN, CEPEDA-FREYTIZ, BOROWSKI AND MAYES, FEBRUARY 4, 2025

     REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON COMMUNICATIONS AND TECHNOLOGY,
        FEBRUARY 4, 2025


                                     AN ACT
 1   Amending Title 71 (State Government) of the Pennsylvania
 2      Consolidated Statutes, in boards and offices, providing for
 3      Office of Information Technology.
 4      The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
 5   hereby enacts as follows:
 6      Section 1.    Part V of Title 71 of the Pennsylvania
 7   Consolidated Statutes is amended by adding a chapter to read:
 8                                 CHAPTER 43
 9                      OFFICE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
10   Sec.
11   4301.   Definitions.
12   4302.   Accessibility standards.
13   4303.   Procurement.
14   4304.   Effect of chapter.
15   § 4301.   Definitions.
16      The following words and phrases when used in this chapter
17   shall have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
 1   context clearly indicates otherwise:
 2      "Accessibility."     Perceivable, operable and understandable
 3   digital content that enables an individual with a disability to
 4   access the same information, engage in the same interactions and
 5   enjoy the same services offered to individuals without a
 6   disability, with the same privacy, independence and ease of use
 7   aspects that exist for individuals without a disability.
 8      "Disability."     As defined in 42 U.S.C. § 12102(1) (relating
 9   to definition of disability) and its implementing regulations.
10      "Individual with a disability."       As the term "qualified
11   individual with a disability" is defined in 42 U.S.C. § 12131(2)
12   (relating to definitions).
13      "Municipality."     Any of the following:
14          (1)     A county, city, borough, incorporated town, township
15      or home rule municipality.
16          (2)     A department, board, commission or other officer or
17      agency of an entity under paragraph (1).
18      "Office."    The Office of Information Technology of the
19   Commonwealth's Office of Administration.
20      "Public entity."     As follows:
21          (1)     Any of the following:
22                (i)    The Governor or a department, board, commission,
23          authority or other officer or agency of the Commonwealth.
24                (ii)    A municipality.
25          (2)     The term does not include:
26                (i)    A court or an officer or agency of the unified
27          judicial system.
28                (ii)    The General Assembly or an officer or agency of
29          the General Assembly.
30                (iii)    A State-related institution, as defined in

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 1             section 2001-C of the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30,
 2             No.14), known as the Public School Code of 1949.
 3                   (iv)    The State System of Higher Education or any of
 4             its institutions.
 5   § 4302.    Accessibility standards.
 6      (a)    Duties of chief information officer.--The chief
 7   information officer of the office shall:
 8             (1)   Maintain accessibility standards for individuals
 9      with a disability for information technology systems employed
10      by public entities that:
11                   (i)    Provide individuals with a disability with
12             access to information stored electronically by public
13             entities by ensuring compatibility with adaptive
14             technology systems so that individuals with a disability
15             have full and equal access when needed.
16                   (ii)    Are designed to present information, including
17             prompts used for interactive communications, in formats
18             intended for both visual and nonvisual use, such as the
19             use of text-only options.
20             (2)   Consistent with the responsibilities of the office,
21      promote and monitor the accessibility standards for
22      individuals with a disability in the State's information
23      technology infrastructure, including architecture. Each
24      public entity shall comply with the accessibility standards
25      established by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
26      (Public Law 101-336, 104 Stat. 327) in the creation and
27      promulgation of any online content and materials used by the
28      public entity.
29             (3)   Consult with public entities and representatives of
30      individuals with a disability in developing and maintaining

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 1      the accessibility standards for individuals with a
 2      disability.
 3             (4)   Develop accessibility standards for individuals with
 4      a disability using the web content accessibility guidelines
 5      promulgated and published by the World Wide Web Consortium
 6      Web Accessibility Initiative or the international
 7      accessibility guidelines working group, or any successor
 8      group or organization. The office may revise the
 9      accessibility standards based on updates or revisions of the
10      guidelines, in which case the office shall transmit notice of
11      its revisions to the Legislative Reference Bureau for
12      publication in the next available issue of the Pennsylvania
13      Bulletin. The revisions shall become effective upon
14      publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
15      (b)    Duties of public entities.--Each public entity shall
16   develop a written plan, including any proposed budget requests,
17   to implement its accessibility standards for individuals with a
18   disability at facilities accessible by the public as follows:
19             (1)   No later than July 1, 2026, the public entity shall
20      submit the plan to the office, which shall work
21      collaboratively with the public entity to review the plan and
22      establish an implementation methodology.
23             (2)   No later than July 1, 2028, the public entity shall
24      fully implement the plan.
25   § 4303.    Procurement.
26      (a)    Minimum standards and criteria.--The office shall
27   approve minimum standards and criteria to be used in the
28   procurement by public entities of supplies, services or
29   construction, as those terms are defined in 62 Pa.C.S. § 103
30   (relating to definitions), regarding adaptive technologies for

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 1   nonvisual or other disability access uses.
 2      (b)    Compliance.--Compliance with subsection (a) shall be
 3   achieved at the time of procurement of an upgrade or replacement
 4   of existing information equipment or software.
 5   § 4304.   Effect of chapter.
 6      (a)    Use by individuals without disability.--Nothing in this
 7   chapter shall require the installation of software or peripheral
 8   devices used for accessibility for an individual with a
 9   disability when the information technology is being used by
10   individuals without a disability.
11      (b)    Accessibility required.--Notwithstanding any other
12   provision of this chapter, the applications, programs and
13   underlying operating systems, including the format of the data,
14   which are used for the manipulation and presentation of
15   information, must permit the installation and effective use of
16   and be compatible with software and peripheral devices that
17   provide accessibility to individuals with a disability.
18      Section 2.    This act shall take effect in 60 days.




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