First, What’s a VPAT?

The Information Technology Industry Council (ITIC), a technology industry association, developed the form Voluntary Product Accessibility Template® (VPAT) as a way for corporations to attest how their products supported the federal accessibility rule Section 508.

The State of Minnesota accessibility standard, established in September 2010, incorporated Section 508 and the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0. Vendors who wanted to sell to the state had to submit not only Section 508 VPATs, but also a similar document regarding their support for WCAG 2.0.

What Changed in VPAT 2.0 and 2.x?

In April, you learned about the update to the state accessibility standard. This update reflects the fact that Section 508 incorporated WCAG 2.0. In response to the Section 508 refresh, the ITIC issued a new version of the VPAT, which they called VPAT 2.0. This VPAT was much larger and more detailed than the original VPAT document, as it included:

• Ten pages of introductory/ explanatory text
• WCAG 2.0 criteria
• Section 508 criteria outside of WCAG 2.0
• EN 301 549 (the European accessibility standard) criteria

In addition, within each WCAG conformance criteria, the document listed where it applied within Section 508 and EN 301 549. It also provided opportunity for the vendor to note how they supported that criteria in up to four different deliverables:

• Web
• Electronic Docs
• Software
• Authoring Tool

Since announcing the VPAT 2.0 last fall, the ITIC has published two updates: 2.1 and 2.2. 2.1 addressed minor grammatical and formatting issues. 2.2 split the document into four versions:

• WCAG 2.0 only
• Section 508 only (which contains WCAG 2.0)
• EN 301 549 only (which contains WCAG 2.0)
• International (WCAG 2.0, 508, and EN 301 549)

What does the State of Minnesota Require?

In the past, Minnesota RFPs required vendors to submit separate documents for Section 508 and WCAG 2.0. Since there was no standardized WCAG equivalent to the ITIC’s Section 508 VPAT, Minnesota created its own form for WCAG 2.0 and Section 508. Vendors typically used the Minnesota form for WCAG 2.0. If they had already completed an ITIC Section 508 VPAT they were welcome to submit that instead of the Minnesota 508 form.

The State of Minnesota is currently developing its own version of VPAT 2.0 that most accurately reflects the state accessibility standard. Until then, vendors are requested to complete an ITIC VPAT 2.0 or newer (referred to as “VPAT 2.x”) that includes the following completed sections:

• WCAG 2.0
• Section 508

The state’s version of the VPAT will be published on the accessible procurement page (currently in the “Products” tab) along with guidance for vendors, RFP creators, and VPAT reviewers. Our RFPs refer vendors to the site so they have full opportunity to understand our expectations. They have the option to submit their VPAT information using either the ITIC or Minnesota version. What matters is that the information be complete and accurate.