Build trust through transparency

For agencies and organizations that do business with the federal government and are required to fill out VPATs, having a long-term strategy for comprehensive and ongoing accessibility monitoring and remediation is the key to success.

The Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) is a global advocate for technology whose aim is to promote public policies and industry standards that advance competition and innovation worldwide.

The ITI has created four different editions of the VPAT, enabling agencies, manufacturers, and vendors to focus on the standards relevant to their specific markets and contract requirements:

• Revised Section 508 standards: the U.S. Federal accessibility standard.
• EN 301 549: the European Union’s “Accessibility requirements suitable for public procurement of ICT products and services in Europe.”
• WCAG: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.
• INT: Incorporates all three of the above standards.

The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 was the first federal law to prohibit discrimination against people with disabilities. It applies to federal agencies, contractors, and any program that receives federal funding from the U.S. government.

In 1998, the Rehabilitation Act was amended to include Section 508, which requires agencies to “give disabled employees and members of the public access to information comparable to the access available to others.”

Website accessibility ensures that all users — regardless of their ability — can access and use websites, mobile applications, documents, and other online tools. In addition to providing a good experience for users, website accessibility ensures organizations are compliant with accessibility standards such as WCAG, ADA, ARIA, and others.

Section 508 was explicitly intended to address digital accessibility, and applies to all electronic communications, including but not limited to:

• Public-facing websites and mobile apps.
• Internal and external emails.
• PDFs and other digital documents.
• Digital training resources.

Unlike the ADA, Section 508 contains clear accessibility standards developed by the U.S. Access Board.

In 2017, the board incorporated WCAG 2.0 into its Section 508 Standards. The current standards explicitly require agencies to meet WCAG’s Level A and Level AA guidelines.

Yes, all companies within the United States are required to comply with WCAG standards to be considered accessible.