At Instructure, accessibility isn’t just a feature, it’s a foundation. We are proud to announce that Impact has officially received its fully compliant VPAT, marking a significant milestone in our commitment to making digital learning environments accessible for all.
What Is a VPAT and Why It Matters
A VPAT (Voluntary Product Accessibility Template) is a critical document that outlines how a product conforms to accessibility standards, such as the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 Level AA. Having a third-party audited, fully conformant VPAT means our customers can trust that Impact meets the criteria for accessibility compliance — a vital requirement for institutions navigating increasing mandates and regulations. The process of achieving a third-party audited fully conformant VPAT is no easy feat, it involves designing and building with accessibility in mind, rigorous third-party auditing, fixing any issues raised during that audit, and validation process for those fixes.
What This Means for Our Users
Receiving the fully conformant VPAT is a key step in our broader initiative to ensure accessibility by design across all of our solutions. It reinforces our commitment to:
- Meeting accessibility mandates and regulations with conformance to WCAG 2.2 AA standards.
- Supporting administrators, faculty, and learners with tools that are inclusive and equitable including improvements to the following:
- Keyboard-only Accessibility: Impact is fully operable using only a keyboard, ensuring accessibility for users who do not use a mouse or touchpad.
- Screen Reader Compatibility: Impact integrates seamlessly with leading screen readers such as JAWS, NVDA, and VoiceOver, delivering a consistent and intuitive experience for users.
- Semantic HTML: Impact employs proper HTML elements like headings, lists, and tables to structure content, ensuring meaningful and efficient experiences using assistive technologies
- Color Contrast Improvements: Impact has fine-tuned the color contrast of text and interactive elements to ensure readability for individuals with low vision and/or color blindness.
- Form Accessibility: Clear and concise labeling of form fields and error messages have been added to make the user experience more inclusive.
- Responsive Design: Impact is responsive and adaptable to different screen sizes, screen resolutions, and device orientations, making it usable on all devices, including mobile phones and tablets.
- Proper Focus Management: We’ve improved the focus management within Impact, ensuring that users can navigate through interactive elements in a logical and predictable order. This enhancement fosters a more intuitive and accessible interaction with our product.
- Delivering transparency and assurance to institutions undergoing audits or evaluations for digital accessibility compliance.
Looking Ahead
Achieving a fully conformant VPAT is a pivotal moment for Impact by Instructure, but it’s only the beginning. As a solution purpose-built to empower institutions in driving meaningful edtech engagement and behavioral change, we recognize the importance of accessibility in achieving those goals. As we continue prioritizing accessibility, we’re now beginning efforts to achieve WCAG 2.2 AAA conformance. You can watch for these accessibility updates in our Impact Release notes or in our Impact Guides.
Our VPAT will be available on the Instructure website soon, but if you are in need of it sooner, please reach out to your CSM. If you or your institution has questions, concerns, or issues with accessibility in Impact, please email support-impact@instructure.com or contact the Impact Support team via the Impact Support Center.
