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From: Shuttlesworth, Rachel
Date: Fri, Nov 04 2011 2:12PM
Subject: VPAT repository?
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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

From: Karla Kmetz
Date: Fri, Nov 04 2011 2:36PM
Subject: Re: VPAT repository?
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Hi Rachel,

I am very interested in this topic as well. I don't know the answers to
your questions, because I have the same ones myself.

I am starting to collect VPATs for the LMS systems we are considering and I
think I may host them in our University's Digital Archives, but you bring
up a good point. That archive is available to the public and that may be an
issue.

Karla

On Fri, Nov 4, 2011 at 4:14 PM, Shuttlesworth, Rachel < = EMAIL ADDRESS 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
>
>

From: Andrew Kirkpatrick
Date: Fri, Nov 04 2011 3:21PM
Subject: Re: VPAT repository?
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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?

FWIW, all Adobe VPATs are available at http://adobe.com/accessibility/products/compliance

- 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?

That's up to you. In official government procurement rules the procurement agent is required to collect information about the compliance of a product. Most do so via a request for the VPAT, but they could theoretically just do the research independently. Your policy in the school may vary.

AWK

From: Morin, Gary (NIH/OD) [E]
Date: Mon, Nov 07 2011 7:27AM
Subject: Re: VPAT repository?
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You may be interested in the following link, http://buyaccessible.net/VARC/, which an alphabetic list of company websites with links to their product or service accessibility information. The Buy Accessible Wizard is a good source for initial research. The BAW doesn't house the VPATs but ultimately leads the user to the vendor's website with the VPAT itself. Whether you refer to the vendor's site or you collect and hold the VPAT/documentation, a key point to remember is to always make sure that the VPAT/documentation reflects the latest release or version if that's what you're looking to buy. Ensure that the vendor is providing you with current information which reflects the actual product and release/version and is not outdated.

Gary M. Morin, Program Analyst
NIH Office of the Chief Information Officer
10401 Fernwood Rd, Room 3G-17
Bethesda, MD 20892, Mail Stop: 4833

(301) 402-3924 Voice, 451-9326 TTY/NTS
(240) 380-3063 Videophone; (301) 402-4464 Fax

From: Ryan E. Benson
Date: Mon, Nov 14 2011 4:48PM
Subject: Re: VPAT repository?
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Rachel,

Sorry I started to reply, but didn't to finish. I do this for the
government, so maybe you can get an idea:

> - Is there a central area on campus that should collect VPATs from vendors?
I keep the VPATs for my agency. One of the mailboxes I monitor at work
is the main source of Section 508 for my agency.

> - 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?
Like Gary mentioned, the BuyAccessible site is the main source of
VPATs that I know of. But I have found checking the vendor's sites or
contacting the vendors is sometimes better. Are you asking reasons for
a company not to post their VPATs or not to share your collection?

> - 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?
You can ask for one, but they can refuse. Sometimes you can make it a
prerequisite, and add in refusal to provide a VPAT means you won't
consider a bid. If you're offering to give the company a good hunk of
change and maybe future business/recommendations, that may change
their mind.

> - VPATs don't ensure accessibility by a long shot. How does the vendor VPAT content affect the
> decision to go with the product?
When getting a request for a product, I do a risk assessment. I look
at what the the product is, what it does, how many people could use it
(in the agency), and how many are wanting it right now. Then assign a
level, high, medium or low. While I don't have a set value, low is
roughly between 1 user and 2-3 dozen users. Medium 100 or less. High
is over 100 users. With low, I do a quick look for compliance info via
net or call. Medium little more checking and ask for a VPAT. If one is
provided, and isn't the best, I give them the following link:
www.hhs.gov/od/vendors/. For high, I require a VPAT is filled out that
meets our standards.

If one doesn't tell me anything, I ask them to do one that adheres to
the instructions in the link. If they don't, I go back to the
requester to see if there is anymore products available that may be
more compliant. If not, I usually ask the requester to fill out an
exception. Then depending on my risk level I give my nod to the
security people, but issue various restrictions on it.

> - 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?
I do my risk analysis.

> - How do we coordinate requesting updated VPATs when a product is updated?
I am supposed be notified of updates. Usually the bigger companies
like Adobe, automatically put up new a VPAT on their site. So I just
grab it, or contact the company.

--
Ryan E. Benson



On Fri, Nov 4, 2011 at 4:14 PM, Shuttlesworth, Rachel < = EMAIL ADDRESS 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
>
>

From: Sailesh Panchang
Date: Tue, Nov 15 2011 1:03PM
Subject: Re: VPAT repository?
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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 ADDRESS 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
>
>