WCAG reporting for non-web software

Are companies using WCAG for non-web software?

Short answer: Yes!

This is important for standards education.

The question came up because I recommended that the WCAG-EM Report Tool not hard-code the words "websites" and "web pages" into its reports. I said the tool should also include suitable language for non-web software, such as mobile apps.

Personally I've written a lot of WCAG reports in VPAT format for non-web software, but I wondered... Is this my weird specialty, or is it common?

So I asked the Internet.

I looked at the ten biggest digital companies because I had a hunch they might publish their VPAT reports online for all to see. I was right — after a few simple web searches, I found six out of ten of these large companies publishing their VPAT reports online.

A few clicks later, I had the data I was looking for. Five out of six large technology companies have published at least one VPAT report for non-web software.

I was disappointed to notice that too many of those VPAT reports were over three years old, before the Section 508 refresh, so WCAG was not yet part of the report. However, my conclusion is still valid. The moment these companies update their software conformance reports they'll have to include WCAG.

What the Internet told me

Apple - yes native apps
https://support.apple.com/accessibility/vpat

Microsoft - yes native apps
https://cloudblogs.microsoft.com/industry-blog/government/2018/09/11/accessibility-conformance-reports/

Samsung - cannot determine (reports are behind login)
https://www.samsung.com/us/business/solutions/industries/government/compliance-certification/

Google - no native app reports found online, web only
https://www.google.com/accessibility/customers-partners/

AT&T - yes native apps by reference to partners
https://www.business.att.com/industries/family/public-sector/vpats.html
Referenced partners include:
https://www.poly.com/us/en/legal/compliance/vpat
https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/about/accessibility/voluntary-product-accessibility-templates.html

Amazon - yes native apps (reports are behind login but the AWS VPAT page mentions one)
https://aws.amazon.com/compliance/vpat/
Mentions:
https://aws.amazon.com/tools/aws-elasticwolf-client-console/

Verizon - yes native apps (Network Manager apps)
https://enterprise.verizon.com/solutions/public-sector/federal/contracts/eis/contract-info/vpat/

China Mobile - n/a - no reports found online

Disney - n/a - no reports found online

Facebook - n/a - no reports found online
https://www.facebook.com/help/273947702950567
Also searched for Oculus, Instagram

More questions, more answers

Do you have a larger sample? A different approach to these questions? Let's discuss.

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