A VPAT is the blank template ITI publishes. An ACR (Accessibility Conformance Report) is the finished report for one product, usually written on that template. Buyers use the words interchangeably, so a request for your VPAT is answered by an ACR built on the VPAT. Checked on .
Key Takeaway
Federal buyers need the report, not the template. Section508.gov says use of the VPAT itself isn’t required, but completing an ACR isn’t voluntary if you want the government to consider buying your product. Send the finished report on the edition the buyer names, never the blank form.
Why There Are Two Names
The Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) publishes the Voluntary Product Accessibility Template, or VPAT, as a free Word file. Its page puts the relationship plainly: once completed, the VPAT with documented testing results is referred to as an Accessibility Conformance Report. The template is the form. The ACR is what you have after you test one product and write the results into it.
The word “voluntary” describes the template, not the obligation. Section508.gov’s ACR and VPAT FAQ says the VPAT is the most common way to complete an ACR, that using the VPAT itself isn’t required, and that completing an ACR isn’t voluntary if you want the government to consider buying your product. The same page says that without the ACR, an agency may not go ahead with the purchase unless there’s a special exception that the government, never a vendor, can claim.
VPAT is the more familiar name. GSA’s own OpenACR project starts from the VPAT because, in its words, VPATs are well recognized. So you’ll hear “VPAT” in sales calls and questionnaires, and “ACR” throughout section508.gov’s guidance. When a buyer asks for either, they want the same finished document.
What Buyers Mean When They Ask for Each
| What the Buyer Writes | What They Mean | What to Send |
|---|---|---|
| “Send us your VPAT” | The completed report for the product they’re evaluating. | Your ACR, on the edition their questionnaire or market calls for. |
| “Send us your ACR” | The same document. Section508.gov’s guidance uses this name throughout. | The same ACR. Section508.gov’s model contract language asks for a written ACR for each item, based on the product’s VPAT. |
| “VPAT or ACR” / “VPAT/ACR” | A buyer covering both names so nobody sends the wrong thing. | Your ACR. |
| “A Section 508 VPAT” | An ACR that reports against the Revised Section 508 Standards. | An ACR on the 508 or INT edition. The WCAG and EU editions don’t include the 508 tables. |
What a buyer never wants is the blank template, or a one-page accessibility statement in place of the report. The statement has its own job, as the public summary for the people who use your product, and how to write an accessibility statement covers it. If you don’t have an ACR yet, a prospect asked for a VPAT covers what to say while you get one.
You don’t need to rename anything to satisfy a buyer who used the other word. A report built on ITI’s template keeps ITI’s name for the form, with the ® mark, because ITI says the VPAT name and report form are its registered service marks and shouldn’t be altered without its written permission.
The Editions
ITI’s current template is VPAT 2.5Rev, dated April 2025, in four editions:
- 508. The Revised Section 508 Standards, for US federal buyers.
- EU. EN 301 549, the European public procurement standard.
- WCAG. The WCAG 2.2 guidelines on their own.
- INT. All three in one document.
The edition is part of what makes an ACR fit a request. Section508.gov says that if you’re selling to the federal government, you must use the Revised Section 508 or INT edition, and that any VPAT 2.x is acceptable. A WCAG edition report can be accurate and still miss what a federal reviewer is checking for. How to choose is in which VPAT edition do you need.
Other ACR Formats
The VPAT is the most common way to write an ACR, not the only one. ITI says its Word file can be used as is or reproduced in other formats, so an HTML page or a PDF built from the template is still a VPAT-based ACR. Section508.gov’s checklist asks that the final report itself be accessible, whatever the format.
The other format you’ll run into is OpenACR, a machine-readable ACR maintained by the US General Services Administration (GSA). Its goal is to let buyers compare products’ accessibility claims directly. It starts from the VPAT’s structure and stores the report as a YAML file, which can also be saved as an HTML page to read. Section508.gov’s ACR Editor builds reports in this format. Here’s where it stood when we checked on :
- It’s live. The editor at acreditor.section508.gov is up and labels itself version 1.0, published April 2024. GSA’s project page still calls it a work in progress.
- It tracks the VPAT. Its report catalogs include VPAT 2.5 editions with WCAG 2.2 and EN 301 549, alongside older 2.4 ones.
- Your work stays in your browser. GSA says changes are stored only in the browser, so you have to save the YAML file to keep it.
An OpenACR report answers the same questions as a VPAT-based one, row for row. If a solicitation asks for a specific format, use that one. If it just asks for a VPAT, a report on ITI’s template is what the reviewer expects to open.
Federal buyers may also ask for a companion document next to the ACR. GSA’s Issue Detail Supplement adds detail on how severe each issue is and who it affects, and section508.gov tells buyers to add it anywhere an ACR is recommended or required. It goes with the ACR. It doesn’t replace it.
What a Buyer’s Procurement Team Checks
The name on the document matters far less than what’s in it. Section508.gov’s guidance for agencies on requesting accessibility information and reading vendor claims gives a good picture of what a reviewer looks at:
- It’s complete. The model language says that to be considered for award, the ACR must be complete and submitted according to the instructions. The template’s instruction pages come out before you send it.
- It covers the right standard. A federal reviewer wants the Revised Section 508 tables, which means the 508 or INT edition.
- It names the product, version and date. The report has to describe the version the buyer is buying, as of a date they can see.
- It says how the product was tested. Agencies are told to require a description of the evaluation methods used to produce the ACR, to show due diligence behind the claims.
- The answers hold up. Reviewers are told to read every Partially Supports row for what fails, to check why anything is marked Not Applicable, and to treat Not Evaluated as no assurance at all.
- It survives testing. Agencies can reserve the right to test the product before award, on the final commercially available release, and section508.gov encourages buyers to verify vendor claims independently where they can.
Whether you write the report yourself or bring in an outside evaluator, those checks are the same. What buyers and ITI say about who should write it is in does a VPAT have to come from a third party, and filling in each field, with example rows, is in how to fill out a VPAT.
| Source | What It Says | What It Means for You |
|---|---|---|
| ITI, VPAT pageitic.org/policy/accessibility/vpat | Once completed with documented testing results, the VPAT is referred to as an ACR. Current version 2.5Rev (April 2025), four editions. The Word file can be used as is or reproduced in other formats. | VPAT names the form. ACR names your finished report. |
| Section508.gov, ACR/VPAT FAQsection508.gov/sell/acr-vpat-faq | The VPAT is the most common method for completing an ACR. Use of the VPAT itself is not required, but completing an ACR is not voluntary if you want the government to consider buying your product. | For a federal sale, the report is the requirement, not the template. |
| Section508.gov, Create an ACR with a VPATsection508.gov/sell/how-to-create-acr-with-vpat | Federal sales must use the Revised Section 508 or INT edition. Any VPAT 2.x is acceptable. Remove the instruction pages and make sure the final report is accessible. | Pick the edition before you start, and check the finished file. |
| Section508.gov, Request Accessibility Informationsection508.gov/buy/request-accessibility-information | Agencies should require a written ACR for each item, based on the product’s VPAT, plus a description of the evaluation methods behind it. Agencies may test the final commercially available release before award. | A reviewer reads how you tested, not just the answers. |
| GSA, OpenACR and ACR Editorgithub.com/GSA/openacr | A machine-readable ACR format that starts from the VPAT. The editor saves YAML and HTML, keeps changes only in the browser, and is described as a work in progress. | A real option, and still the less common one. |
Each row was read from the page it links to on , along with section508.gov’s ACR, Issue Detail Supplement and vendor claims pages and the ACR Editor itself. Section508.gov dates its own reviews at the foot of each page.
How Harbor Does It
Harbor is led by Andrew Szigety, DHS Trusted Tester TT‑2606‑09221. Every unique template is tested by hand against all 55 WCAG 2.2 Level A and AA criteria, and the ACR is tested and signed by a DHS Trusted Tester who is named in it, along with the methods used, the product version and the report date. Every report comes in the INT edition, so one document answers a request for a VPAT, an ACR, a Section 508 report or an EN 301 549 report.
Visual fix guides and follow-up reviews are part of every engagement, and the ACR is re-issued after each review. Harbor doesn’t publish a fee. It follows your unique template count, is set on a free 15-minute call and is fixed in writing before you commit. You can read a full sample VPAT/ACR first, and the VPAT/ACR service page covers what an engagement includes.
Harbor provides technical audits and conformance documentation, not legal advice. What a particular buyer accepts is set by that buyer and its solicitation. VPAT® is a registered service mark of the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI).
- Read the Sample VPAT/ACR
- How to Fill Out a VPAT
- Which VPAT Edition You Need
- A Prospect Asked for a VPAT
- Book the 15-Minute Call
Common Questions
- Is a VPAT the same as an ACR?
- Not quite, though buyers use the words as if they were. The VPAT (Voluntary Product Accessibility Template) is the blank form ITI publishes. ITI says that once it’s completed with documented testing results, it’s called an Accessibility Conformance Report, or ACR. So a request for your VPAT is answered by an ACR built on the VPAT. Checked on October 14, 2026.
- What is an ACR in accessibility?
- An Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR) is a document that explains how a product such as software, a website, electronic content or support documentation meets an accessibility standard. Section508.gov describes it as the way vendors show federal buyers how a product conforms to the Revised 508 Standards. Each row covers one requirement, marked Supports, Partially Supports, Does Not Support or Not Applicable, with remarks.
- Is a VPAT required to sell to the federal government?
- The template isn’t, but the report is. Section508.gov says that while use of the VPAT itself is not required, it is not voluntary to complete an ACR if you want the government to consider buying your product. The VPAT is the most common way to write one. If you use it for a federal sale, section508.gov says to use the Revised Section 508 or INT edition.
- A buyer asked for a VPAT. Can I send an ACR?
- Yes, that’s what they want. A blank VPAT tells a buyer nothing about your product. Send the completed report on the edition their questionnaire names, with the product version, the report date and how the product was tested filled in.
- What is OpenACR?
- OpenACR is a machine-readable ACR format maintained by the US General Services Administration (GSA). It starts from the VPAT’s structure and stores the report as a YAML file that can also be saved as HTML. Section508.gov’s ACR Editor builds reports in it, and GSA’s own project page still calls the editor a work in progress.
- Does an ACR have to use the VPAT template?
- No. Section508.gov says there are several methods for completing an ACR and that the VPAT is the most common. ITI’s Word file can also be reproduced in other formats, such as HTML or PDF. If a solicitation names a template or format, use that one.