Looking At Examples of VPATs (ACRs)

Sometimes prospective clients want to know what VPATs actually look like when they’re filled in and completed. Let’s go through some examples of ACRs in this post and explain the differences.

Before we start, it’s important to note that a VPAT or Voluntary Product Accessibility Template is just that, it’s a standardized template for accessibility that we fill in. When we fill in and complete that template, it becomes an ACR or Accessibility Conformance Report.

The two terms are used interchangeably in the marketplace, but an ACR is technically what buyers are asking for.

One treasure trove of ACRs can be found on the Google Accessibility Conformance Reports page. There you’ll find ACRs for a wide array of Google products and services including:

• Google Drive
• Google Calendar
• Chrome browser
• Gmail

And the list goes on.

Here’s a screenshot for the top section of the first page of the Google Calendar ACR, International edition:

When you compare this to the downloadable blank template from the ITIC.org website, you’ll notice there’s a different format and visual appearance. This ACR has a shaded in left column and is in portrait landscape vs. the plain text with headings in landscape mode with the VPAT.

But the style and format change is okay so long as it remains accessible. The key is we get the pertinent information.

If you’ll remember, we noted that this was for the International edition of the VPAT. There are multiple editions of the VPAT:

• WCAG
• Section 508
• EN 301 549
• International

These editions mostly look the same, but the accessibility tables have different and/or additional criteria based on the standard each edition is tied to.

Let’s look at another ACR that’s been publicly posted, the NIH Workplace Equity and Diversity Survey ACR, using the Section 508 edition.

When we look at the ACR, we’re met with all of the instruction pages that are attached to the VPAT. You’re supposed to remove these when the document is ready to be issued as an ACR.

With that said, let’s look at the actual ACR.

For this ACR, they filled in the details with varying font and text sizes. There’s no harm here, but it’s always nice if the text syncs up cleaner.

Scrolling a few pages down, we come across Table 1: Success Criteria Level A with an accounting for the conformance level for the survey.

Here we can see that the product supports the first four criteria and then partially supports success criterion 1.3.1. One positive about this accessibility table is there are comments for all remarks and explanations rows.

Summary

We just went over examples for the two sections of an ACR once a VPAT is filled in and completed.

To accurately and fully complete the accessibility table, you’ll need an audit and then you’ll need to distill those audit results into the VPAT tables along with filling in the supporting details.

If you need help, we provide services for both conducting an audit and filling in your VPAT. And what’s nice is your ACR will be issued by a reputable, independent digital accessibility company – products and services with third-party issued ACRs are much more likely to win contracts in the marketplace.

We’re happy to help – contact us and we’ll reply back ASAP. We can usually have your ACR to you within 1-2 weeks of receiving your message.

Related Posts

• VPAT Bonanza: How Sellers Can Win Contracts with Accessibility In 2025
• When to Update Your ACR: The Best Time to Start Filling In a New VPAT
• VPAT and Certification: What An ACR Actually Means
• Can You Fill In Your Own VPAT?