Voluntary Product Accessibility Templates explained — who needs them, what they document, and how they relate to ADA compliance.
A VPAT (Voluntary Product Accessibility Template) is a document that describes how a technology product or service conforms to the Section 508 accessibility standards and WCAG guidelines. It's called "voluntary" because there's no legal requirement to create one — but in practice, federal agencies and large enterprises often require VPATs from technology vendors before purchasing their products. A VPAT demonstrates that a vendor has evaluated their product's accessibility and documented the results.
Software companies, SaaS vendors, and technology product companies that sell to federal government agencies or large enterprises typically need VPATs. If you're responding to a federal RFP (Request for Proposal) for technology products, a VPAT is almost certainly required. Large enterprise clients in regulated industries (healthcare, finance, education) increasingly require VPATs from technology vendors as part of their procurement process.
A VPAT is a detailed technical document for procurement purposes. A website accessibility statement is a consumer-facing page for your website visitors. Most small businesses need an accessibility statement, not a VPAT. Software and SaaS companies selling to enterprises or government agencies typically need both. ADAWebPro scanning provides the factual basis for both documents.
The current VPAT format is version 2.4, which includes templates for WCAG 2.0, WCAG 2.1, Section 508, and EN 301 549 (European standard). Most government and enterprise procurement processes accept WCAG 2.1 Level AA as the applicable standard. ADAWebPro's scanning against WCAG 2.1 AA provides the technical data needed to complete the WCAG sections of a VPAT.
Download the VPAT 2.4 template from the IT Industry Council (ITI) website. Complete each success criterion section based on your product's actual accessibility testing results — not aspirational claims. The status options are: Supports (fully meets), Partially Supports (meets with some exceptions), Does Not Support (does not meet), and Not Applicable. Automated scanning like ADAWebPro provides data for technically verifiable criteria. Manual testing is required for judgment-based criteria.
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