VPAT and ACR: How to Document Your Product's Accessibility

What is the difference between a VPAT and an ACR?

The VPAT is the blank template. The ACR is the finished report for one specific product and version. People often say "VPAT" for both, but procurement teams ask for the ACR: a dated document that lists each criterion of a standard, the conformance level for the product, and remarks that explain any gaps.

The US government's Section508.gov recommends that any vendor marketing ICT to federal agencies publish an ACR and make it easy to find, for example by linking to it from the product page.

Which VPAT edition should you use?

Pick the edition that matches the standard your buyers name. If you sell into several markets, use the INT edition, which covers all three standards in one report.

• 508 edition: US federal agencies and US buyers who cite the Revised Section 508 Standards.
• EU edition: European public sector buyers and products that must follow EN 301 549.
• WCAG edition: buyers who ask only for WCAG conformance, now at WCAG 2.2.
• INT edition: one report for Section 508, EN 301 549 and WCAG together.

What goes into a credible ACR?

Buyers increasingly read ACRs critically. A report that says Supports for every line, with no remarks, usually signals that nobody tested. A credible ACR has:

• The exact product name, version and report date
• The evaluation methods used: automated tools, manual keyboard and screen reader testing, and the assistive technologies and browsers involved
• Partially Supports wherever any part of a criterion fails, with remarks describing what fails and where
• Remediation plans or dates for known gaps, where you can commit to them
• A contact for accessibility questions

Where does an automated scan help with a VPAT?

Automated scans are a fast first pass. They find the repeatable failures, such as contrast, missing labels and invalid ARIA, that would otherwise force Partially Supports on several lines, and they give you evidence that those issues were fixed. Run AccessibilityScore.in across the product's key screens before the manual audit so testers spend their time on what a tool cannot judge.

A scan cannot fill in an ACR by itself. Most WCAG criteria need a human to decide whether they are met, and an ACR based only on automated results would overstate conformance.

How often should an ACR be updated?

Update the ACR when a release changes the user interface in ways that affect accessibility, and at least once a year. Buyers look at the report date, and an ACR more than a year or two old for a product that ships monthly is hard to trust.