American law ensures that people with disabilities have the same rights and opportunities as everyone else. In order to mandate this law, every commercial website must confirm to the standards defined in the ADA compliance guidelines. When a website fails to meet the standards for accessible design, it results in a two-way loss for a business:
Those who think that their website is not ADA compliant can start by assessing it with help of a website accessibility checklist. Use free tools in conjunction with certified manual audits for ADA compliance. If you are interested in requesting a manual audit, consider visiting the link given below.
To steer clear of expensive lawsuits, business organizations are looking for all kinds of accessibility solutions – VPAT accessibility is one such measure that helps businesses showcase their credibility. VPAT standards for Voluntary Product Accessibility Template. The documentation acts as proof that your website meets certain laws and standards of accessibility which include ADA compliance, Section 508 standards and WCAG 2.1 guidelines. Presenting the VPAT certification acts like a self-disclosure to showcase the standards of accessibility maintained by your products and offerings.
What comes under VPAT Accessibility?
VPAT reporting outlines the standards defined in Section 508 and WCAG guidelines. The documentation is helpful in defining the accessibility standards of varied Information and Communication Technology (ICT) products. In the definition of Section 508, it is mentioned that all kinds of operating systems, applications, e-learning platforms, webinars, remote access websites and even PDF documents come under the example of ICT. Besides, ICT categories are not just limited to software and applications, but there is a long list of physical devices such as tablets, desktop computers, laptops, mobile phones, printers and fax machines which are included. If an organization is implementing any of these to render their products and offerings then they must submit the VPAT certification.
What are the benefits of VPAT Certification?
The US Government has passed several laws and acts to ensure that people with disabilities have equal access to goods and services. Section 508 is specifically dedicated to ICT categories. Since technology has become an integral part of our lives, it is almost impossible to run a business without implementing any form of ICT. So it is beneficial for all sorts of organizations to attain VPAT accessibility, whether they are from the private sector or non-profits, or service the US government. It is helpful in multiple ways such as:
How to get a VPAT certification?
To publish the credibility standards on your business website, you need to first download the template from the ITIC website. Filling up the entries might seem quite overwhelming because the refreshed Section 508 has made reporting quite stringent. You need to fill up the form accurately, for which you have to obtain adequate data after conducting a thorough audit of your ICT offerings.
Why hire experts for VPAT?
Delegating the task to the inhouse team might not be a good idea. The underlying reason is the ambiguity of the law. There might be certain areas of concern which are not identified and due to lack of data you may end up filling false information or inadequate information in the form. To avoid such issues, it is important to hire third party experts who are trained to conduct a thorough audit of your website. After stringent auditing, you may find out certain areas to fix the accessibility issues. So it’s a win-win situation when you seek professional expertise to obtain the VPAT document.
Bottom line
VPAT certification is a useful resource that helps organizations to get one step closer to attaining accessibility compliance. If interested in accurate VPAT documentation, you can check out the link given below.