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Re: Who does your VPAT?

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From: Morin, Gary (NIH/OD) [E]
Date: May 21, 2012 9:18AM

Not sure if it was on this list or not, but I recently found and read, Rangin, Bargi. How to talk and discuss about accessibility with vendors? August 24, 2010. http://blog.bargirangin.com/2010/08/how-to-talk-and-discuss-about.html. Worth a read.
I think you can take the VPAT question even one step further and better if you think about it in the following set of progressive questions:
1. If you ask any vendor "Do you comply with Section 508?" they might say yes, even if they don't know what Section 508 is at all.
2. If you ask "How do you comply with Section 508?," you'll get a better answer - including letting you know if they've already done the work in determining what applies to their EIT product.
a. This might get you a VPAT and, hopefully, one that is accurate regarding the six sets of technology standards (§ 1194.21 through § 1194.26).
3. If you ask "How do you know if someone with a disability can use your product?," you are getting to the questions asked in the FPC, and will probably get a real conversation about a vendor's accessibility and Section 508 compliance
a. This will get you, hopefully, a VPAT with a meaningful completion also of the Functional Performance Criteria.
The point being that, one needs to ask a vendor not just whether or not the product conforms to the appropriate one or more areas of technology (e.g., hardware, software, telecommunications, multimedia, etc.), but how does it perform in the real world.

Some have said that EIT can conform to the standards (see below, § 1194.21 through § 1194.26) and still not be accessible. Another way to look at it might be that without addressing the Functional Performance Criteria, the EIT product is not even conformant - i.e., FPC is one of the standards. I think it's fair to say that, from what I've seen, we sometimes (often?) overlook the Functional Performance Criteria and the Information Documentation and support.

* § 1194.21 Software applications and operating systems
* § 1194.22 Web-based information and applications
* § 1194.23 Telecommunications
* § 1194.24 Video and multimedia
* § 1194.25 Self contained, closed products
* § 1194.26 Desktop and portable computers


Gary M.

-----Original Message-----
From: McKeithan, Thomas [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ]
Sent: Saturday, May 19, 2012 9:05 AM
To: WebAIM Discussion List
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Who does your VPAT?

I concur. Manual testing is critical. Vendors think that they have achieved accessibility in some instances, but there are still issues. Validation of accessibility to achieve 508 conformance is essential.

NIB can help with this task. Contact me if interested.

Respectfully,
Thomas Lee McKeithan II
Accessibility Program Manager
National Industries for the Blind
1310 Braddock Place
Alexandria, VA 22314
(703)310-0586 Direct
(202)276-6437 Cell
<EMAIL REMOVED> <mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> >


"Believing is achieving, for if I believe, I can and I will achieve."


-----Original Message-----
From: <EMAIL REMOVED> <mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> > [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of Michael R. Burks
Sent: Saturday, May 19, 2012 9:00 AM
To: 'WebAIM Discussion List'
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Who does your VPAT?

In my experience it depends on the company.

I would still check everything in the VPAT no matter what.

Sincerely,

Mike Burks
919-882-1884 - Fax
919-349-6661 - Office

-----Original Message-----
From: <EMAIL REMOVED> <mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> >
[mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of Susan Grossman
Sent: Saturday, May 19, 2012 8:33 AM
To: WebAIM Discussion List
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Who does your VPAT?

On Wed, May 16, 2012 at 10:45 AM, Shuttlesworth, Rachel
< <EMAIL REMOVED> <mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> >>wrote:

> I would love to know this as well. We are in the process of creating
> an institutional repository of all the VPATs for all of the technology
> tools we use on campus. I am trying to figure out how much
> verifying/checking of the VPAT contents we need to do and where that
> duty should reside. I also need guidance on how to make sure the VPAT
> stays current with all the updates that happen.
>
> Thanks for any guidance,
> Rachel
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Dr. Rachel Shuttlesworth Thompson
> Director, Emerging Technologies and Research, Center for Instructional
> Technology University of Alabama Box 870248 * Tuscaloosa, AL
> 35487-0248
> O: 205.348.0216
> F: 205.348.3035
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: <EMAIL REMOVED> <mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> > [mailto:
> <EMAIL REMOVED> <mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> >] On Behalf Of Jesse Hausler
> Sent: Wednesday, May 16, 2012 12:40 PM
> To: WebAIM Discussion List
> Subject: [WebAIM] Who does your VPAT?
>
> I'm curious how companies with several products produce accurate VPATs.
> Are they outsourced? Build in house?
> Does anyone have knowledge as to who outsources their VPATs, who
> builds them on their own..?
> Besides "accuracy", what is the community's preference?
>
> If this is the wrong forum for this type of question, feel free to
> redirect me.
>
> Thanks,
> Jess
> > > list messages to <EMAIL REMOVED> <mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> >
> > > list messages to <EMAIL REMOVED> <mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> >
>


I'm an independent contractor and corporations pay me to review their applications (web and desktop), work with their developers to fix the issues they find, and then I write their VPAT. I supply a more detailed version than the simple form, and it covers WCAG 2.0, not just 508, though it's still mapped to 508 for now,.

There are quite a few independents and companies out there who do this for
corporations that don't have their own in house team. We review all the
major releases/updates.

HTH - Susan


--
*Susan R. Grossman*
<EMAIL REMOVED> <mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> >