Federal Accessibility Requirements
Last year, the Department of Justice issued new guidelines requiring state and local governments ensure their websites and mobile applications are accessible to people with disabilities. Specifically, the new rule adopts the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA as the standard for web accessibility. PIAC has been in continued discussions with Clarivate to determine how this affects Innovative products.
Clarivate has begun an in-house audit of its entire software suite, including Innovative and Ex Libris products. The results of this audit - a “Voluntary Product Accessibility Template” (VPAT) - will help determine which products meet accessibility standards and the level of effort required to bring others into compliance. Once these reports are available, Innovative will communicate how this will impact existing in-market products.
As previously mentioned, Clarivate staff routinely perform VPAT analyses on the Vega suite of products and Leap. The most recent VPATs for Leap and Vega Discover are against WCAG 2.2 AA standards.
For more information on the ADA rule change, please visit Fact Sheet: New Rule on the Accessibility of Web Content and Mobile Apps Provided by State and Local Governments | ADA.gov
Polaris 7.8
Polaris 7.8 remains on track to be released in late June. For this release, the product team is working to migrate as many System Administration options to the web as possible.
This release is also expected to include support for patron imports in Leap – a feature commonly used to bulk add student cards to Polaris. The Leap version of this process is expected to function similarly to the Client, with some small enhancements including the option to suppress the “Offline Registration” block and asynchronous processing to handle updates in the background.
To view a full list of features planned for Polaris 7.8, head over to the Innovative Product Board.
IUG 2025
We can’t wait to see you at the IUG Conference in Denver! Registration and the conference schedule are available on the IUG website. The last day for the standard conference registration rate is February 28.
- First-time attendee? Don’t miss the First-time attendee reception on Wednesday March 12.
- Excited to start planning? Download the conference app.
- Want to learn more about PIAC? Join us for an informal session on March 14.
Due to the IUG conference, PIAC will not be meeting in March. The next newsletter is planned for April.