In this digitally inclined world, where mobile and internet users are increasing day by day, it is crucial for all sizes of organizations to attain digital accessibility.
There are certain standards, frameworks and guidelines provided to help businesses attain and demonstrate compliance with digital accessibility laws. One useful method is the VPAT section 508 compliance statement.
VPAT or Voluntary Product Accessibility Template is used to generate an Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR). You might have heard that ACR is mandatory for government acquisitions because the accessibility rights of the disabled population are protected by US Law.
What Is VPAT Compliance?
According to the digital accessibility laws, government procurements for information technology and communication products should adhere to the guidelines discussed in Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. According to the law, federal agencies can only deal with brands or organizations that are developing hardware, software, mobile apps, operating systems, PDF and all sorts of electronic documents by keeping the disabled population in mind. In simple words, an organization needs VPAT security to prove its accessibility compliance and become a preferred vendor for federal agencies. A VPAT form is used to generate the ACR which is a self-disclosure of the accessibility standards. The next segment provides a discussion of the process to comply with the accessibility standards.
What Is VPAT Accessibility?
VPAT compliance can be attained by testing your products and offerings as per the desired accessibility standards. There are four different editions of VPAT that test hardware and software products against various guidelines, for instance, Section 508, ADA, EN 301 549 and the fourth editionincorporate the accessibility standards of all these frameworks.
Based on the products and the client base, you can pick any of the VPAT editions and test your products and offerings to generate the VPAT certification. The VPAT 508 edition is mandatory for organizations that directly or indirectly receivefunding from federal agencies. Moreover, getting VPAT certification is endlessly beneficial even if you are not involved in government procurements.
Although a VPAT is considered voluntary, the self-evaluation process is useful to prove your compliance and to protect you from serious litigation. ADA compliance also helps businesses to attain SEO benefits. When experts test your website to generate the VPAT report, the suggested remediation leads to a better and improved version of your content. As a result, your website ranks on top and offers profitability benefits.
How To Test A Website For VPAT Reports?
A VPAT form must be filled out accurately to prove your compliance. You need thorough audits to test your products and offerings against certain accessibility standards provided in the VPAT. A VPAT report is more than just Yes/No answers. To prove the level of compliance, you need to test your offerings thoroughly and also provide a detailed explanation of the compliance levels in the form of remarks and comments. Therefore, it is important to have in-depth digital accessibility knowledge.
Resist the urge to write VPATs in-house because you might fill a false or incomplete report, which can lead to penalties and fines. It is highly recommended to seek accessibility specialists. Third party audit specialists are experienced to assess the offerings quickly and identify accessibility gaps. Secondly, their vast knowledge offers the most accurate results compared to automated scans and testing tools. The accessibility experts not only test your website but also provide remediation support to make your products and offerings compliant and beneficial for the disabled population. Click on the link given below to get a correct and thorough ACR based on the most recent version of VPAT from audit experts.
Read more interesting articles at waynetworking
