Voluntary Product Accessibility Templates: Who Watches the Watchmen?

Abstract

Academic libraries rely heavily on third-party electronic resource vendors to deliver databases, discovery platforms, and research tools essential to teaching and scholarship. Accessibility standards in academia continue to rise through legislation, institutional policy, and a growing commitment to inclusive design. Libraries increasingly use Voluntary Product Accessibility Templates (VPATs) to evaluate whether vendor products conform to established accessibility standards. Although VPATs are intended to provide transparency, the authors argue that their current unregulated implementation pose substantial human-factors challenges for librarians responsible for content development and purchasing. Because VPATs often rely on self-reported information, the accuracy of the template depends entirely on the vendor’s commitment to accessibility. The authors explore these issues through a human-centered lens, drawing on interviews with academic librarians, accessibility specialists, and procurement officers. Findings highlight a perception that VPATs, although useful, function more as marketing tools than rigorous accessibility documentation. The authors also identify best-practice strategies and propose human-factors informed recommendations to improve VPAT usefulness in librarians' database selection decisions, such as, clearer structure and standardized language, integrating third-party validation, encouraging vendors to adopt transparent testing methodologies, and developing library focused training materials.

Keywords: Content Standards, Accessibility Reporting, Oversight

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1007294