What Is A VPAT?
A VPAT is a prototype document that provides an overview of the accessibility of an electronic information technology product or service. It is usually owned and assessed by the product or service’s vendor and is required by Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act.
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) VPAT, VPAT 508, VPAT EU (EN 301-549), and VPAT International are the four different versions of the VPAT.
The standards and technological requirements required for web content accessibility are present in the WCAG VPAT version, while the VPAT 508 version has criteria and technical specifications for conformity to Section 508 of the U.S. Rehabilitation Act.
The VPAT EU and VPAT International have the criteria and specifications required for products and services for the European and international markets, respectively.
Accuracy is crucial while completing VPAT accessibility conformance reports (ACRs) for products and services. An accurate VPAT uses standard language, such as “Supports,” “Partially Supports,” “Does Not Support,” and “Not Applicable,” and provides explanations for each criterion.
Other characteristics of an accurate VPAT ACR include meeting the VPAT passing score of “standing up to questioning,” being written by a person other than the vendor of the associated product or service, having a clear description of the product or services and their associated features, and making reference to the accessibility tools currently in use during the VPAT testing.
Assessing The Accuracy Of A VPAT ACR
You can evaluate the accuracy of a VPAT using the following methods in light of the qualities of a good VPAT listed above:
- Read through the VPAT ACR
You can get a sense of the VPAT ACR’s accuracy by carefully reading through one. Your VPAT scoring should be based on the VPAT ACR’s references to recognized accessibility problems with the product or service, its accurate description, its inclusion of reasonable evaluation techniques, its use of appropriate terminology, and its accuracy in the tables.
- Perform a VPAT ACR test
A test of the VPAT ACR involves easy and quick checking of the features of the product or service as captured in the VPAT ACR. These include the keyboard; pause, stop, and hide functionalities; bypass blocks; and error detection, among others.
When testing the keyboard, check to see if all of the product’s items can be accessed via the keyboard and if all of the active items have a clearly visible keyboard focus indicator. Additionally, see if you can access all menus and popups as well as submit forms, among other things.
Establish whether there is activity on the site and whether it supports mouse, keyboard, and touch pause features in order to test the stop, pause, and hide functionalities. Also, find out how long the pause feature becomes inactive.
Check to see if every page on bypass blocks has a skip and if it is the first link that can be focused. Regarding error identification, try submitting a form that is incomplete or contains errors to see if the faults are correctly identified and solutions are offered.
If your testing fails in relation to any of these questions, look in the appropriate cell in the VPAT table to see if the problem you discovered is addressed there. Otherwise, the VPAT ACR is inaccurate. It is impossible to determine whether the related product or service is available due to an erroneous VPAT ACR.
- Studying the VPAT Section 508 compliance statement
By comparing a VPAT ACR with the VPAT Section 508 compliance statement for the product or service, you can determine how accurate the VPAT ACR is. This statement, which must be signed by a qualified person, attests that the specified product or service complied with Section 508 accessibility criteria at the time the VPAT assessment was conducted.
Need Help With Assessing The Accuracy Of Yourvpat ACR?
By contrasting the way it is filled out with a VPAT report example created by accessibility professionals, you may determine the accuracy of your VPAT ACR. You can also enlist the assistance of a third-party VPAT accessibility specialist to assess the precision of your VPAT ACR.
If you need an accessibility expert to help you assess the accuracy of your VPAT ACR before you make it public, call (626) 486-2201 today.
