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Re: VPAT version for AODA

for

From: L Snider
Date: Mar 29, 2020 7:24AM

VPATS in my experience are used in education, governments, large
corporations, libraries, etc. In my experience, almost every VPAT has
been problematic. I make my own VPATS for clients that are very
different.

Cheers

Lisa

On Wed, Mar 25, 2020 at 5:04 PM < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
>
> I've questioned the validity and usefulness of VPATs.
>
> After all, the V stands for "voluntary." And when using GSA's template, the author can write just about any gibberish or BS they want.
>
> There's no mandated testing or evaluation done by the government; they take the word of the vendor as stated in the VPAT.
>
> And surely no one is surprised that the PDF is not tagged. So many PDFs from "authorities" are not accessible, such as the WCAG and PDF/UA standards from the ISO.
>
> Gah!
>
> — — —
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> — — —
> PubCom: Technologists for Accessible Design + Publishing
> consulting ' training ' development ' design ' sec. 508 services
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>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: WebAIM-Forum < <EMAIL REMOVED> > On Behalf Of Philip Kiff
> Sent: Wednesday, March 25, 2020 3:17 PM
> To: <EMAIL REMOVED>
> Subject: Re: [WebAIM] VPAT version for AODA
>
> Errrg. Just a quick follow-up, I noticed that on the page with the link I sent, there is a note about how these might not be "perfectly accessible," and that you provide a link to a document to help users sort through such issues, entitled "Reporting Conformance to ICT Accessibility Standards":
> https://www.itic.org/resources/vpat/ReportingConformancetoICTAccessibilityStandards-July2019.pdf
>
> Unfortunately, when I downloaded that PDF file, I discovered that it is not a tagged PDF. I would recommend that your team also take the time to make that PDF accessible in order to help improve the usefulness of your VPAT offerings.
>
> Still sincerely,
>
> Philip Kiff.
>
> On 2020-03-25 15:10, Philip Kiff wrote:
> > I'm curious about this as well. In fact, I didn't even realize that
> > there was a VPAT that might theoretically be used to make a claim
> > about compliance with the AODA or WCAG. I had always thought of the
> > VPAT as something related to requirements of the US government and
> > Section 508.
> >
> > Here in Ontario in Canada where the AODA applies, I can't say that
> > I've EVER seen anyone make reference to a VPAT other than in the
> > context of compliance with U.S. regulations. But maybe I've just been
> > out of the loop on these things?
> >
> > Lastly, Mitchell, I noticed a couple problems and limitations with the
> > sample VPAT documents currently available from the ITI site here:
> > https://www.itic.org/policy/accessibility/vpat
> >
> > First, these are not formatted using the current MS Word docx file
> > format? I would recommend updating all files to using current docx
> > format. A user of such a form can't even run the rudimentary, but
> > still useful, built-in MS Word accessibility checker without upgrading
> > the file format to docx.
> >
> > Second, they contain font sizes that I consider too small to be
> > considered accessible in a default context (11 point Calibri). I would
> > recommend reformatting the documents to use a minimum 12-point font
> > size. Possibly use Legal-size paper (landscape orientation) instead of
> > Letter-size paper if you want to preserve more space for user input?
> >
> > Lastly, I'm not sure that Microsoft Word is even the best format for
> > this kind of file. Is this what everyone in the US is filling in when
> > they talk about VPATs? It seems to me that this is actually a fillable
> > form, and as such, especially given the number of tables and use of
> > subheadings within individual tables, I wonder if these VPAT files
> > might not be better formatted as accessible PDF forms? Or maybe that
> > is what you intend consumers of these files to do with them?
> > Regardless, on first impression, I have to say that they don't
> > immediately inspire me to start jumping in to use them for AODA
> > compliance.
> >
> > I would welcome any corrections or clarifications on all this,
> > however, as I really don't know hardly anything about VPATs, and
> > that's why I'm wondering.
> >
> > With sincere curiosity,
> >
> > Philip Kiff
> > D4K Communications
> >
> > On 2020-03-25 01:33, Mitchell Evan wrote:
> >> Hi Logan,
> >>
> >>> I'd like to chime in and state that if this is related to AODA,
> >>> the City
> >> of Ottawa will not accept a VPAT as it still isn't relevant to us. We
> >> have vendors submit assessments utilizing the WCAG-EM Tool.
> >>
> >> I agree the WCAG-EM Report Tool
> >> <https://www.w3.org/WAI/eval/report-tool/#!/ > can produce excellent
> >> WCAG reports, but I'm curious — what aspects of VPAT 2.x
> >> <https://www.itic.org/policy/accessibility/vpat> have been
> >> problematic? If the WCAG section in VPAT hasn't worked well for
> >> Ottawa's needs, then I'd like to understand what's lacking and see if
> >> we can get it fixed, either in the VPAT template itself or in its
> >> instructions for vendors.
> >>
> >> The WCAG edition of VPAT and the International edition of VPAT might
> >> be new to some folks here. They are meant to help buyers and
> >> regulators compare accessibility reports from different vendors
> >> easily, while vendors shouldn't have to rewrite the same
> >> accessibility findings in multiple report formats.
> >>
> >> (Multiple languages, that's another matter.)
> >>
> >> Cheers,
> >> Mitchell
> >>
> >> Mitchell Evan
> >> +1 (510) 375-6104
> >> <EMAIL REMOVED>
> >> Twitter @mitchellrevan
> >> https://www.linkedin.com/in/mitchellrevan/
> >>
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >>> From: WebAIM-Forum < <EMAIL REMOVED> > On Behalf
> >>> Of Logan Trafford
> >>> Sent: Tuesday, March 24, 2020 2:28 PM
> >>> To: <EMAIL REMOVED>
> >>> Subject: Re: [WebAIM] WebAIM-Forum Digest, Vol 180, Issue 25
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> I'd like to chime in and state that if this is related to AODA, the
> >>> City of Ottawa will not accept a VPAT as it still isn't relevant to
> >>> us.
> >>> We have
> >>> vendors submit assessments utilizing the WCAG-EM Tool.
> >>> In terms of PDF, while the legislation only states they need to be
> >>> WCAG
> >>> 2.0 AA conformant, assuming you consider a PDF as part of the "web
> >>> content"
> >>> definition, the better standard you should use is PDF U/A, Those
> >>> documents can be validated by using either the free PAC (PDF
> >>> Accessibility Checking
> >>> Tool) or the free CommonLook Validator tool.
> >>>
> >>> Logan Trafford
> >>> Web Accessibility Coordinator
> >>> City of Ottawa
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> On Tue, Mar 24, 2020 at 2:03 PM
> >>> < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
> >>> wrote:
> >>>
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> >>>> When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
> >>>> than "Re: Contents of WebAIM-Forum digest..."
> >>>> Today's Topics:
> >>>>
> >>>> 1. Re: VPAT version for AODA (Lisa Snider)
> >>>> 2. Re: VPAT version for AODA (Sudheer Babu)
> >>>> 3. Re: VPAT version for AODA (Karlen Communications)
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> >>>> From: Lisa Snider < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
> >>>> To: WebAIM Discussion List < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
> >>>> Cc:
> >>>> Bcc:
> >>>> Date: Tue, 24 Mar 2020 07:47:47 -0300
> >>>> Subject: Re: [WebAIM] VPAT version for AODA Hi Sudheer,
> >>>>
> >>>> Currently, the AODA Information and Communications Standard is
> >>>> based on WCAG. So the regular VPAT will do for it. However, look
> >>>> for the ICS Review that hasnt been put into the final revised
> >>>> version (phase 2 particularly)... the government may or may not accept that Review.
> >>>>
> >>>> Cheers
> >>>>
> >>>> Lisa
> >>>>
> >>> [snip]
> >>>
> >>>
> >> > >> > >> archives at http://webaim.org/discussion/archives
> >> > > > > > > archives at http://webaim.org/discussion/archives
> > > > > >
> > > >