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RE: VPAT E-learning

for

From: Robinson, Norman B - Washington, DC
Date: Feb 22, 2006 6:20AM

Priti,

I'd actually like to draw your attention to something that should
_NOT_ be in a VPAT - "stating the company's stand on accessibility".

I can't tell you how many VPAT's I've reviewed where companies have
done just that, wasting their and my time on nonsense. The VPAT is only
a very basic tool to outline what Section 508 technical standards apply
to a specific implementation (e.g., a new version might need a new VPAT,
a version on OS X or Linux would require their own VPAT separate from
Windows).

To answer your question, it depends. Most web content is covered
under the technical provisions for web content. However proprietary Java
players or courseware could have the technical provisions for software
and operating systems apply. If the course relies on plug-ins, the that
is covered by the web provisions, with references to specific software
provisions. If there is multimedia, those provisions apply as well.

Microsoft has done a good job of providing VPATs for most of their
products:
http://www.microsoft.com/Industry/government/section508.mspx#ECAA
<http://www.microsoft.com/Industry/government/section508.mspx#ECAA>; .

The ITIC came up with the VPAT concept. You might wish to view their
template:
http://www.itic.org/archives/articles/20040506/voluntary_product_accessi
bility_template.php
<http://www.itic.org/archives/articles/20040506/voluntary_product_access
ibility_template.php> .

Finally, please note that the VPAT is what government procurement is
trained to ask for and thus it is wise to have one for a product. There
should be additional information for the technical team to evaluate that
the VPAT doesn't address, such as how you tested (with what assistive
technology if any), what version was tested (some VPATs are generic and
_dated_), who tested (vendor or 3rd party expert), and other details
such as if not in compliance, known work arounds to provide
accessibility (e.g., there may not be alt text as required by law but
the application could be self-voicing and thus meet the functional
requirements).

Hope that helps,


Norman B. Robinson