Accessibility risk is a way to measure the expected impact of an accessibility barrier in a given digital application, product, or resource.
- Higher risk means that a barrier would be expected to more negatively impact more people
- Lower risk means that a barrier would be expected to less negatively impact fewer people
Estimating accessibility risk helps us figure out how to make the greatest impact in digital accessibility. Use this resource to estimate risk when you:
- Purchase, contract, or adopt digital products
- Request an expert accessibility review
- Prioritize a list or inventory of IT products or services in your unit in order to plan next steps
Follow the Accessible Procurement Process steps according to risk level.
Calculate Risk
Consider the risk factors below and add up the points value to calculate risk score.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of Users | 1-50 | 51-500 | 500+ or public |
| Essential IT | No | No, but Recommended | Yes, essential |
| Lifecycle of IT | <1 year | 1-3 years | 3+ years |
Determine accessibility risk level based on the total score:
- Lower risk = 3-6 points
- Higher risk = 7-9 points
Note: Products that have received an accessibility complaint are considered higher risk, regardless of score.
More About Risk Factors
Learn more about each risk factor:
- Number of users: How many people interact with the product and its outputs?
- Designed to estimate the total number of people who interact with the product
- Includes product outputs (for example, email marketing software and the emails it produces)
- Important because a product used by more people has a greater total impact
- Use your best guess based on known users, unit size, audience
- Essential IT: Are people required to use the product in order to work, study, communicate, participate, or manage safety or security?
- Designed to determine if people are required to use the product
- Important because an essential or required product has a greater impact on people who use it
- Use your best guess based on the expected use of the product
- Lifecycle of IT: How long will this product be used at U-M?
- Designed to estimate how long U-M will use the product
- Important because a product with a longer lifecycle has a greater total impact on users over time
- Use your best guess based on expectations and similar products