Setting Up Reporting

The next thing to consider once your accessibility compliance project plan is fleshed out and kicked off is how you will continuously test for accessibility and report issues to relevant teams moving forward. Setting up effective regular testing and logical reporting will ensure that your initial efforts are not made in vain, and that maintenance costs and efforts are kept low.

Periodic Reassessment

One thing that many organizations will do is contract with an expert accessibility company for periodic audits to reassess digital accessibility. This adds a layer of security that your teams are maintaining their initial work, and keeping your assets accessible. Failure to effectively monitor your accessibility affects your city and your residents, so depending on the internal use of free tools could backfire and cost you in the long run.

Conformance Statements and VPATS

Another way to ensure proper monitoring of your accessibility maintenance is to perform regular internal assessments, through conformance statements and Voluntary Product Accessibility Templates (VPATs). Conformance statements publicly share that your digital assets are currently accessible to a specific standard, whereas VPATs look at multiple criteria of accessibility and allow you to share specific details for each (so your sites and apps may be accessible in some ways but not others). It is recommended to perform a VPAT on each major digital asset at least once a year.