WebAIM - Web Accessibility In Mind

E-mail List Archives

Re: VPATs for Word, PPT, Excel, etc.

for

From: Ryan E. Benson
Date: Jun 1, 2018 8:49PM

> VPAT has the word "Voluntary" in it, which to me means "whatever you
want."

This is incorrect. Yes the V is for voluntary, meaning "here's the
documentation without asking for it." If the government asks, you either
provide the PAT or risk losing the contract. The company is still able to
deny the request, but it's not in your best interest. In terms of Emily's
question, contract language [often] says provide a VPAT for all
deliverables. The checklists I mentioned are an alternative to a VPAT for
docs. These are often written in non-legalese to make things easier.

> The government would be better served if they required certification of
documents files for Sec. 508 compliant (WCAG 2.0, PDF/UA-1).

A VPAT is literally just that. It is a document that says "We, [company],
certify our deliverable meets these standards." As an example, HHS' has

d) Respondents to this solicitation must identify any exception to Section
508 requirements. If a offeror claims its supplies or services meet
applicable Section 508 accessibility standards, and it is later determined
by the Government, i.e., after award of a contract or order, that supplies
or services delivered do not conform to the described accessibility
standards, remediation of the supplies or services to the level of
conformance specified in the contract will be the responsibility of the
Contractor at its expense.

Source:
https://www.hhs.gov/grants/contracts/contract-policies-regulations/hhsar/part-352-solicitation-provisions-contract-clauses/index.html#352.239-73

In English, vendors must document their deliverables meet HHS' standards,
the government reserves the right to double check, and if the government
finds issues prior to acceptance, the vendor must fix it. GSA has some
high-level guidance to develop language like I quoted above at:
https://section508.gov/buy/define-accessibility-criteria.

--
Ryan E. Benson

On Fri, Jun 1, 2018 at 4:47 PM, < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:

> No.
> VPAT has the word "Voluntary" in it, which to me means "whatever you want."
>
> The government would be better served if they required certification of
> documents files for Sec. 508 compliant (WCAG 2.0, PDF/UA-1). Use any of our
> free or not-so-free tools such as:
>
> Acrobat Pro DC:2018
> Word and PowerPoint built-in checker
> Axes 4
> PAC-3
> NetCentric's Validator
>
> Generally, we find that if the file passes any combo of two of these, then
> it's usually ok, but of course, the best testing is done my knowledgeable
> humans!
>
> --Bevi Chagnon
>
> — — —
> Bevi Chagnon, founder/CEO | <EMAIL REMOVED>
> — — —
> PubCom: Technologists for Accessible Design + Publishing
> consulting ' training ' development ' design ' sec. 508 services
> Upcoming classes at www.PubCom.com/classes
> — — —
>
>
>