Self-issuing Accessibility Conformance Reports is now significantly easier with VPAT platforms that support AI generation. Organizations can upload audit reports, track remediation progress, and generate populated VPATs in seconds rather than spending hours manually filling in templates. This workflow scales whether you’re managing one product or dozens of products and services.
Why Organizations Self-Issue ACRs
Organizations self-issue ACRs for procurement opportunities, compliance documentation, and customer transparency. When potential buyers request accessibility documentation, you need an ACR showing your product’s conformance status against WCAG standards.
Previously, creating each ACR meant manually reviewing audit findings, evaluating every WCAG success criterion, determining conformance levels, writing explanatory remarks, and formatting the document properly. For organizations with multiple products, this process multiplied across the portfolio.
A VPAT platform with AI generation changes this. The platform handles the mechanical work of mapping audit data to WCAG criteria and populating the VPAT template. Your accessibility expert reviews for accuracy, and you have an ACR ready for buyers.
Who Benefits From VPAT Platforms
Single Product Organizations
If you offer one software product, you still need ACRs for different buyer requirements. Some buyers need WCAG 2.1 AA documentation. Others require Section 508 compliance. Some want regular updates showing remediation progress.
A VPAT platform lets you generate ACRs on demand as your product evolves. After completing a remediation sprint, generate an updated ACR reflecting current conformance status. When a new buyer requests documentation, generate a fresh ACR rather than sending outdated materials.
Multi-Product Organizations
Organizations managing dozens of products and services gain substantial efficiency. Technology companies like Google, Microsoft, Oracle, and Intuit maintain accessibility teams managing ACRs across extensive product portfolios.
Without a VPAT platform, each product requires separate manual VPAT creation. With a platform supporting AI generation, you upload audit reports for all products, track remediation across your portfolio, and generate ACRs on demand. What previously took days of expert time now takes hours of review.
The Complete ACR Process
Step 1: Conduct Accessibility Audits
Everything starts with comprehensive accessibility audits. You need audit reports documenting all WCAG issues for each product. You have two options for obtaining these audits.
Conduct audits internally if you have accessibility experts on staff. Your team evaluates products using screen readers, keyboard testing, and code inspection against all WCAG success criteria. They document findings in structured Excel spreadsheet format with columns for success criteria, issue descriptions, locations, severity, and remediation status.
Source audits from reputable companies like Accessible.org if you lack internal expertise. Professional accessibility auditors conduct comprehensive evaluations and deliver detailed audit reports in the format VPAT platforms require. This ensures your audit foundation is solid before you begin tracking and documentation.
Step 2: Upload Audit Reports to the Platform
Upload your audit reports to Accessibility Tracker. The platform extracts the structured data—WCAG success criteria, issue descriptions, locations, current status—and organizes everything into project management dashboards.
For organizations with multiple products, upload all audit reports. The platform creates separate projects for each product, giving you centralized visibility across your entire accessibility portfolio.
Step 3: Track Remediation Progress
Assign issues to developers, designers, and content editors. Team members update issue status as they work—marking items as in progress, completed, or validated. The platform tracks this workflow in real time.
This tracking serves dual purposes. First, it manages your remediation project efficiently. Second, it maintains current data for VPAT generation. When you generate an ACR, the platform knows exactly which issues are resolved and which remain open.
Step 4: Generate VPATs with AI
When you need an ACR, trigger AI VPAT generation in Accessibility Tracker. Enter product details—name, version, contact information, evaluation methods used, and scope. The AI processes your current audit data and populates a VPAT document in seconds.
The AI maps each WCAG success criterion to your audit findings. Success criteria with all issues validated get marked “Supports.” Criteria with open issues get marked “Does Not Support” or “Partially Supports” based on issue severity. The platform generates explanatory remarks describing conformance status.
This happens instantly. What previously required hours of manual work—reviewing audit data, evaluating each criterion, writing remarks, formatting the document—now completes in seconds.
Step 5: Expert Review and Finalization
Your accessibility expert reviews the AI-generated VPAT for accuracy and completeness. AI makes mistakes, so this manual review layer ensures the ACR correctly represents your product’s accessibility status.
The expert verifies conformance levels match actual product status, confirms remarks accurately describe issues, ensures scope statements are precise, and validates all product information is current. After review and any necessary corrections, you have a completed ACR ready for buyers.
How AI Helps Throughout the Process
AI assistance appears at multiple points in the workflow. When reviewing individual audit issues, Tracker AI provides detailed technical answers, alternative approaches to fixes, and WCAG standard explanations. This helps your team remediate issues correctly the first time.
During project management, AI generates progress reports on demand. Leadership can request current status updates without manually compiling data. AI analyzes your audit data and creates comprehensive reports showing completion rates, high-priority issues, and remediation timelines.
For portfolio management, AI provides insights across all products. Ask which WCAG success criteria cause the most issues across your portfolio. Get recommendations on where to focus developer training. Identify patterns that could inform your accessibility strategy.
The VPAT generation represents the final AI application. After your team completes the remediation work, AI handles the mechanical documentation task instantly.
Hybrid Automation Advantage
This workflow exemplifies hybrid automation—AI handles what it does well, human experts handle what requires judgment. AI extracts audit data, tracks remediation status, maps findings to WCAG criteria, and populates VPAT templates. Human experts conduct initial audits, make remediation decisions, and review final ACRs for accuracy.
This combination provides both speed and reliability. You gain the efficiency of automation without sacrificing the accuracy that procurement requires. Buyers trust ACRs because expert review ensures they accurately represent product accessibility.
Current Availability and Editions
Accessibility Tracker currently supports WCAG edition VPAT generation. Section 508, EU, and INT editions are in development. The WCAG edition covers the success criteria most commonly required for procurement and compliance, allowing organizations to meet buyer requirements immediately.
For organizations managing products across different markets and compliance requirements, multiple edition support will enable comprehensive documentation from a single platform.
Getting Started with VPAT Platforms
If you self-issue ACRs or plan to start, evaluate VPAT platforms supporting AI generation. Accessibility Tracker offers this capability with paid plans starting at $19/month.
The workflow supports both initial ACR creation and ongoing updates. As your products evolve and accessibility improves, generate fresh ACRs reflecting current conformance status. Respond to procurement requests faster. Maintain documentation that accurately represents your commitment to accessibility.
Whether you manage one product or dozens, the platform scales to your needs. Upload audit reports, track remediation workflow, and generate VPATs on demand. The combination of audit-based tracking, AI automation, and expert review makes self-issuing ACRs practical and efficient.
Sign up at AccessibilityTracker.com to get started.
