§18-10N-4. Procurements by the Purchasing Division.

(a) On or before January 1, 2002, the division shall approve minimum standards and criteria to be used in approving or rejecting procurements by state agencies for adaptive technologies for nonvisual access uses.

(b) Nothing in this article shall require the installation of software or peripheral devices used for nonvisual access when the information technology is being used by individuals who are not blind or visually impaired. Nothing in this article shall be construed to require the purchase of nonvisual adaptive equipment by a state agency.

(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (b) of this section, the applications, programs and underlying operating systems, including the format of the data, used for the manipulation and presentation of information shall permit the installation and effective use of and shall be compatible with nonvisual access software and peripheral devices.

(d) Compliance with the procurement requirements of this section with regard to information technology purchased prior to July 1, 2001, shall be achieved at the time of procurement of an upgrade or replacement of existing information technology equipment or software.