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Re: VPAT repository?

for

From: Sailesh Panchang
Date: Nov 15, 2011 1:03PM

Dr. Shuttlesworth, ,

Well RFPs issued by gov / edu bodies often include a VPAT as one of
the requirements ... applies where the body has adopted S508
standards as their accessibility policy generally.
We have seen vendors scramble to get their product evaluated and build
a VPAT when they are attempting to sell to the gov or respond to such
RFPs.
Whether public should have access to VPAT depends upon the org.'s
commitment to accessibility, attitude towards transparency, etc.
The org. that wants to look at a VPAT has to exercise due diligence
while reviewing what the vendor has submitted: level of details, basis
for the statements about accessibility support , etc.
Orgs that have the ability to perform user acceptance tests for
accessibility may scrutinize the product or demo product for
compliance with the VPAT or request help of external orgs. that do
such testing.
Sailesh Panchang
Deque Systems
www.deque.com


On 11/4/11, Shuttlesworth, Rachel < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
> Hi, all.
>
> We are considering how we should collect and make available to those who
> need them VPATs for the technology tools used for our campus. The vendors
> who have been asked so far have just been given the link:
> http://www.itic.org/index.php?src=gendocs&;ref=vpat&category=resources and
> told that they should email the VPAT or its URL to me. As we expand our
> efforts, several questions have come up. If you have experience with this or
> ideas about it, could you share?
>
> - Is there a central area on campus that should collect VPATs from vendors?
> - Is there a commonly/publically available area online that is hosted by the
> campus where the VPATs can be accessed? Is there any reason NOT to make
> these public?
> - Is a vendor REQUIRED to produce a VPAT (even though the name says
> 'voluntary' :-)) before its bid is considered? i.e. is submitting a VPAT a
> prerequisite for us doing business with your firm?
> - VPATs don't ensure accessibility by a long shot. How does the vendor VPAT
> content affect the decision to go with the product?
> - How do you deal with one-off tech purchases? Say, if one faculty member in
> one department chooses a certain free online product for use with his or her
> class, who collects the VPAT?
> - How do we coordinate requesting updated VPATs when a product is updated?
>
> Thanks for any ideas or advice you may have.
>
> Rachel
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Dr. Rachel Shuttlesworth Thompson
> Director, Emerging Technologies and Research, Center for Instructional
> Technology
> University of Alabama
> Box 870346 * Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0346
> 205.348.0216
>
>