On Monday, we completed delivery on a 57-page web app audit in one week. The audit included desktop and mobile environments so this definitely was a jumbo sized project, but we were able to push this as a rush order and deliver in a super quick turnaround time for the client.
Needless to say, the client was very happy to receive the primary project deliverable so fast.
Next: VPAT Service
We’re still not done with the project, though. The reason this client was in such a hurry is because they need to produce a VPAT (ACR) for their existing client.
We see this all the time – the private marketplace has picked up on digital accessibility and compliance requirements and now everyone is requiring everyone else to have a VPAT for their product or service.
One note here: VPAT (Voluntary Product Accessibility Template) is technically only the blank template that we fill in using the audit results. It’s an ACR or Accessibility Conformance Report that clients are after; this is what they’ll provide to procurement agents.
Remediation Process
What will happen now is the client will start going through our audit and making fixes to their web app. Along the way, we’ll provide the technical support they need to answer questions and validate fixes.
(P.S. This isn’t free, they purchased technical support hours.)
The more fixes they make, the closer they get to having a clean ACR, and dare we say it, ACR that states their web asset is fully conformant with the WCAG 2.1 AA standard (their chosen standard, it could have been 2.2 AA).
This is an incremental process where we just go back and forth until we reach the end point of client satisfaction and/or full conformance. Sometimes full conformance isn’t possible due to third-party integrations or technical limitations, but we can usually get very close.
Winning Contracts
And when it comes to VPAT requests, this puts our clients way ahead of the game.
Remember, full conformance is amazing, but even just improving accessibility to only having a few accessibility issues can still be really good and end with your organization winning the contract.
If you need help with an audit and/or VPAT/ACR, let us know and we’ll be right back with you.
