Voluntary Product Accessibility Templates (VPATs)
To ensure that people with disabilities can use websites and applications, developers should ensure that their products meet accessibility standards. While a few standards exist, Yale is most concerned with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.
Vendors typically disclose their products’ accessibility conformance — and any accessibility issues that may exist — through documents called Accessibility Conformance Reports, generated using the Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT®). A VPAT is a document that describes detailed accessibility criteria and whether the product complies fully, partially, or not at all with each criterion. Individual criteria on the VPAT can also be marked as not applicable when their criteria do not apply to the product.
The VPAT, produced by the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI), comes in several different versions depending on the standards relevant to specific markets and contract requirements. Any of the current versions (minimum version 2) will satisfy Yale’s requirements. The VPAT 2.x WCAG is the most recent recommended version.