When a product already under contract turns out to be inaccessible, the four options leaders usually see, accept a workaround, require remediation, select another vendor or delay, are not a menu with one right item. A sound response does four things, in an order that protects people first and the agency second.
Assess impact. Who cannot do what? Which tasks are blocked entirely and which are merely harder? Is the product a person’s only route to something required, such as mandatory training, leave requests or a benefit? The accessibility lead runs the product with a keyboard, a screen reader and magnification, and disabled staff or participants confirm what it is like in practice. Use the contract. Notify the vendor in writing that the product does not conform, cite the clause, and require a remediation plan with dated milestones, interim access at the vendor’s cost and a cure period. If the contract has no such clause, that is a finding for the prevention step, and legal counsel advises on what options remain. Provide interim access. People are owed a working way to do the task now, not when the vendor ships a fix. That means an equivalent accessible path, offered to everyone without requiring anyone to disclose a disability or ask a supervisor, and a pause on any deadline or mandatory status the defect makes unfair. Prevent recurrence. Change the solicitation template, the evaluation weights and the acceptance test so the next product cannot be accepted without hands-on testing of the tasks that failed here.
Choosing another vendor and delaying implementation both belong inside this structure. Delay is often part of interim access; a different vendor is what a termination remedy is for when remediation fails. Neither is a substitute for the four parts.
