What is VPAT certification?

VPAT certification is the process of measuring the extent of an electronic and information technology (EIT) product’s or service’s compliance with the established accessibility standards that are regarded as best practices in delivering accessibility to people with disabilities: the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), the Revised Section 508 compliance checker, and the European Union (EU) EN 301 549 accessibility standards.

The Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) has developed four editions of the voluntary product accessibility template (VPAT) to cater to the accessibility criteria and technical specifications required of ICT products and services in various markets. This ensures that ICT manufacturers and vendors tailor their VPATs to their target markets.

In actuality, the completed VPAT template is not a VPAT certificate, even if the process of creating the VPAT document is sometimes referred to as "VPAT certification." Furthermore, it is not intended to specify a pass or fail result.Instead, it provides information on how well the product or service being evaluated complies with the relevant accessibility criteria.