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3+ VPAT (Voluntary Product Accessibility Template) Compliance Report Templates for 2024

Basically, the VPAT ACR is a self-disclosure report on how your website supports people with disabilities. Your VPAT should provide specifics on how your website satisfies each technical requirement of accessibility standards. 

Steve Krug, author of the highly-recommended book on web usability Don’t Make Me Think, once made a powerful observation. He said,

‘The one argument for accessibility that doesn’t get made nearly often enough is how extraordinarily better it makes some people’s lives. How many opportunities do we have to dramatically improve people’s lives just by doing our job a little better?’

Steve’s statement merely points to the fact that making the web accessible is a global responsibility. Truth is, not only does this help people with disabilities, it greatly improves the functionality of the web for everyone. 

And that’s enough reason to make sure that your website complies with accessibility standards. As Steve says, it’s simply a matter of “doing your job a little better”. 

Now, you know you need to make your web products more accessible. Great! Your next step is completing your Voluntary Product Assessment Template (VPAT) and getting your Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR).

THE 4 VPAT TEMPLATES (Yeah, we actually meant 4)

The latest version of the VPAT template (VPAT 2.4) has four variants, each focusing on specific markets and contract requirements. They are all freely available for download.

  1. VPAT 2.4 Rev 508

This is the Revised Section 508 edition of the VPAT. 

2. VPAT 2.4 Rev EU

This is the EN 301 549 edition of the VPAT. (EN 301 549 is the European Union’s Accessibility requirements suitable for public procurement of ICT products and services in Europe). 

3. VPAT 2.4 Rev WCAG

This is the WCAG edition of the VPAT. WCAG 2.1 or ISO/IEC 40500 (equivalent to WCAG 2.0) is the most recent version of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.

4. VPAT 2.4 INT

This is the International edition of the VPAT. It incorporates all three of the above standards. 

Like the original VPAT, Version 2.4 includes a column for noting compliance to each provision of a standard or guideline applicable to a product or service.

Manufacturers or suppliers provide one of four degrees of conformance: 

  • Supports
  • Partially supports
  • Does not support
  • Not applicable.

Version 2.4 also includes a column to provide a more comprehensive explanation for each reported conformance level in the report. 

 Note that: All four editions of the VPAT include WCAG 2.1 requirements. 

They also contain: 

  • Instructions for using the VPAT service mark and best practices that allow manufacturers to report in a consistent, standardized, and comprehensive manner.
  • A Product Description field that gives a brief description of the web product.
  • An Evaluation Methods Used field that describes the methods used to test the product’s accessibility.
  • A Notes field for the report and each table to offer more information about the products examined and the evaluation methods used. 
  • This document is provided as a Microsoft Word document that you can convert to other formats.

Who should take care of your VPAT?

A VPAT is a technical document, and correctly filling it requires a significant level of expertise with web accessibility standards. Mistakes can cost you and your business big time! You want to avoid that. 

Your best option is to get help from web accessibility experts like Equally AI. You’ll be connected with your own team of specialists to guide you through each step of filling your VPAT. Ready to get started? Awesome! 

Let’s begin! First, run a test to know if your website is accessible to people with disabilities. 

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