VPAT / ACR

VPAT ACR services for accessibility procurement

When a buyer asks for your VPAT, the deal is waiting on your answer. We test your product against the right accessibility standard, complete the VPAT in the edition your market requires, and deliver an Accessibility Conformance Report that procurement teams accept — because it is backed by independent, manual testing rather than self-assessment.

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Our VPAT ACR services

VPAT testing

Independent evaluation of your product against the applicable success criteria, producing the evidence your ACR is built on — real testing methods, repeatable results, and clear criteria mapping.

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Vendor guidance

Help responding to the recurring accessibility questions in RFPs and vendor assessments — answering consistently, avoiding overclaims, and aligning scope, evidence, and timelines with what buyers expect.

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What a VPAT is, and what it is not

A VPAT (Voluntary Product Accessibility Template) is the standardized reporting template — published by the Information Technology Industry Council — used to document how a product supports accessibility standards such as Section 508, WCAG, and EN 301 549. The completed document is an Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR): the VPAT is the blank form, the ACR is the finished report your buyer reviews.

One thing a VPAT is not: a certification. No authority issues an accessibility certificate, and there is no official pass or fail badge. An ACR is a point-in-time account of how your product measures against a standard, and its credibility comes entirely from the testing behind it.

That is why we build every ACR on real evaluation — criterion by criterion, with evidence — instead of a checkbox exercise. Buyers read these documents to assess risk, and what they read decides whether your product is approved, shortlisted, or set aside.

Self-reported VPATs are routinely rejected

Procurement reviewers can tell the difference between a self-assessment and findings from an independent evaluation. Without third-party testing, documentation lacks the credibility buyers require — and self-reporting is one of the most common reasons a VPAT is bounced or flagged for a second look.

Strong VPAT

Specific, evidence-based, completed by a third-party evaluator. Accurate conformance levels, remarks that explain each answer, and test evidence behind every row.

Weak VPAT

Vague, boilerplate, or self-reported, with every row optimistically reading Supports. Invites follow-up questions, delay, or rejection.

Who needs a VPAT or ACR

Software and SaaS vendors selling into government, higher education, healthcare, or enterprise, where an ACR is a standard condition of purchase.
Vendors responding to an RFP or vendor review that requests accessibility documentation on a deadline.
Teams whose existing accessibility documentation was questioned or returned for more detail during review.
Product and compliance leads who need the report to reflect the product accurately, because an ACR that overstates conformance becomes a liability the moment a buyer verifies it.

Documentation aligned to your market requirements

The standard and edition on your VPAT/ACR have to match where and how you sell. Whether your buyers require the Revised Section 508 standards, WCAG, or EN 301 549, the report has to line up with that procurement environment — a mismatched format or a gap in standard coverage slows evaluation and invites extra scrutiny.

Submitting the wrong edition tells a reviewer the requirement was not read closely. We confirm the edition your buyer actually expects before testing begins, and we produce the combined INT report when you sell into more than one market, so one engagement covers all of them.

VPAT 2.5 editions: Section 508, WCAG, EU and INT

VPAT 2.5 (508) — for U.S. federal procurement under Section 508, measured against WCAG 2.0 Level A and AA.
VPAT 2.5 (WCAG) — for buyers who reference WCAG directly, at 2.1 or 2.2 AA.
VPAT 2.5 (EU) — for European public-sector procurement, mapped to EN 301 549.
VPAT 2.5 (INT) — the international edition combining 508, WCAG, and EN 301 549 for products sold across markets.

When VPAT / ACR documentation becomes a sales requirement

If you sell software into government, education, or enterprise, accessibility questions arrive on their schedule, not yours: in an RFP with a two-week deadline, in vendor onboarding, or in a renewal where the buyer compliance bar moved. Procurement teams use ACRs to compare vendors side by side, assessing risk exposure, compliance maturity, and transparency.

Documentation that is outdated, vague, or unsupported by real testing delays approvals and weakens your competitive position. An accurate report in the right edition does the opposite: it answers the question the reviewer was going to ask next, and the deal keeps moving.

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Our audit-to-ACR process

A defined path from scope to a report you can hand a buyer, and keep current as your product ships.

Scope

We confirm the product, the platforms, and the VPAT edition your buyer requires — before any testing starts.

Test

Manual and assistive-technology evaluation against the applicable success criteria: the same testing that feeds a real audit, not a self-assessment checklist.

Map conformance

Each criterion is marked accurately — Supports, Partially Supports, or Does Not Support — with specific remarks that explain the answer.

Report

We complete the ACR to the evidence, in the correct edition, with nothing inflated and nothing left vague for a reviewer to question.

Support the review

When buyers come back with follow-up questions or vendor-assessment forms, we help you answer them consistently.

Keep it current

After remediation or a release, we retest and refresh the report so it stays true to the product you are actually selling.

What you receive in a VPAT engagement

A completed VPAT/ACR in the correct edition (508, WCAG, EU, or INT), with each criterion marked accurately and supported by specific remarks.
The manual and assistive-technology test results behind every conformance claim — screen readers and keyboard-only testing.
A prioritized list of the conformance gaps that most affect your report, so you know what to fix before or right after you submit.
Remediation guidance your engineers can act on, and a retest to upgrade the ACR once fixes land.
Support answering buyer follow-ups and vendor-assessment questions after the report is delivered.
An update path that keeps the ACR aligned with your release cycle.

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Common questions about VPAT and ACR

What is a VPAT or ACR?

A VPAT (Voluntary Product Accessibility Template) is a standardized reporting template used to document how a product supports accessibility standards such as Section 508 or WCAG. An ACR (Accessibility Conformance Report) is the completed report created from the VPAT. Put simply: the VPAT is the template, the ACR is the finished document procurement teams review.

Does a VPAT make us compliant?

No. A VPAT documents your level of conformance at a point in time. Compliance depends on the actual accessibility of the product and the remediation completed — the report describes the state, it does not change it.

Can we write our own VPAT?

A team can complete its own VPAT, but self-reported VPATs are routinely rejected because there is no independent testing behind the claims. A VPAT is only as reliable as the evaluation it is based on.

Which VPAT edition do I need?

It depends on your buyer market. U.S. federal procurement expects the Section 508 edition; buyers who reference WCAG directly want the WCAG edition; European public-sector buyers require the EU edition (EN 301 549). Selling across markets, the INT edition covers all three. We confirm the right edition during scoping.

What is ACR compliance?

There is no such thing as ACR compliance. An ACR does not make a product compliant — it documents how a product conforms to specific accessibility standards. Compliance comes down to how well the product actually meets the criteria.

What is a VPAT used for?

A VPAT is used during procurement and vendor review to help buyers evaluate accessibility risk. Government agencies, universities, and enterprise buyers request one to understand whether a digital product meets accessibility requirements before purchase or contract approval.

What is an ACR request?

An ACR request is when a buyer asks a vendor to provide accessibility documentation for their product. It usually arrives during RFP responses, vendor onboarding, or compliance reviews, and it exists to verify accessibility support before a purchasing decision is made.

Is a VPAT a certification?

No. A VPAT is not a certification, and there is no official VPAT certification issued by any authority. It is a reporting document that must be backed by real testing — its credibility depends entirely on the quality of the evaluation behind it.

What is the difference between a WCAG audit and a VPAT?

A WCAG audit is the technical testing that identifies what fails and where. The VPAT/ACR is the procurement document that reports those results in the format buyers review. The audit provides the evidence; the ACR presents it.

How often should we update our VPAT?

Whenever the product changes materially, and at least annually. An ACR that describes a version no longer in use reads as inaccurate as soon as a buyer verifies it, which undoes the credibility the document was supposed to buy.

Get procurement-ready accessibility documentation

Tell us who is requesting the documentation and which standard they expect, and we will scope the testing and the ACR with you on one call.

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