What is the difference between a VPAT and an ACR?

What every ACR must contain

ITI’s “Essential Requirements for Authors” set the minimum for any report that uses the VPAT® name:

• A title in the form “[Company Name] Accessibility Conformance Report,” and the template version.
• The product name and version, and a report date — at least the month and year.
• A product description and a contact for follow-up questions.
• An “Evaluation Methods Used” section describing how the product was tested.
• The standards covered, the definitions of the conformance terms, and a table for each standard with a conformance level and remarks for every criterion.

Who answers for it

ITI states that it is the vendor’s responsibility “to maintain the integrity of the data in the report,” and that the final report must itself be accessible. There is no submission process and no VPAT® certification: you post the ACR on your site or send it on request, and ITI does not review or approve it.

The template is not the only possible format. For federal sales, GSA says “the use of the VPAT® itself is not required” and calls it the most common method. VPAT® is a registered service mark of ITI, and a report that departs from ITI’s essential requirements may not use the name.