Reading an Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR) (VPAT)

Reading an Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR) (VPAT)

More Information

• Some ACRs (usually a completed VPAT) are written by the product's manufacturer and some by consultants hired by manufacturers.
• The quality and accuracy of ACRs varies greatly.
• It is the University's responsibility to verify the accuracy of ACRs.
• In general, any criteria rated "Does Not Support" or "Supports with Exceptions" needs to be investigated as it may well indicate an accessibility barrier.
• Short of performing our own audit, the University can review the following aspects of an ACR to gauge its reliability.
  • Does the ACR use a current version of the VPAT?
  • How long ago was the ACR completed?  If it's more than two years old it is likely not accurate.
  • Is the ACR header information included, Product Name, Version, VPAT version, Date, Contact Name and phone or address,  and details about the auditing methodology.
  • Is non-standard language used?  For example, each criteria should be rated "Supports", "Supports with Exceptions", "Does Not Support", or "Not Applicable".  Use of other terms is indicative of an untrained auditor.
  • Does the ACR report perfect accessibility, that is, there are no criteria rated "Supports with Exceptions" or "Does Not Support".  While not unheard of, it is rare to find a product that has zero accessibility issues.
  • Exceptions are explained adequately.  When a criteria is not rated "Supports" or "Not Applicable", is there a detailed explanation of what the issue is?  If not it will be difficult to gauge the impact and plan for it.
  • Does the ACR make any claim that the product is exempt or represents a "Fundamental Alteration"?
    • No technology products are automatically exempt.
    • A "fundamental alteration" exception can only be applied to a "use-case", not a product.  That is, it is the ACTIVITY that the product is used for, not the product itself, that could qualify for an exception.
    • While it may be that the technology cannot be made accessible for persons with a particular disability, e.g., blindness, that doesn't exempt the product from accessibility conformance for other disabilities, e.g, hearing, mobility, cognitive, etc.
      • ​​​​​​​Example: Software designed to work with a laboratory microscope may present a fundamental alteration exception for blindness because there is no direct way to automatically encode what the microscope presents visually into a text-based description, the software still needs to conform with color-related requirements, keyboard accessibility, etc.

For more information visit AccessibilityOz's How to Read a VPAT.

Environment

• Digital Technology
• Accessibility