Advancement · Data & Impact

Check the claim
before you sign.

Almost every education vendor says its product is accessible. The proof is a current conformance report with honest remarks and a product that works for the tasks students actually do. Add each product under consideration with its report and your own test. The checklist ranks products, flags old or missing reports and the student tools nobody has tried without a mouse.

Add a productWhat you get
$5one-time · every device you sign in on
Buy · $5

Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the Grant writer’s desk, $49 for 55 items.

Products

The worked example is made up, with made-up vendors: a math practice app with a current report but no keyboard test, a family messaging tool with a 2019 report and a library catalog with no report and a decision in two weeks. Saved on this device only.

Loading the product form. If nothing appears, turn on JavaScript.

What you get

Advancement · Data & Impact$5 · included with Classroom and Whole-school licenses

What you finish with
A record per product: vendor, product, who uses it, decision date, whether a conformance report came, its date and standard, and eight checks of the report and your own tests. Works out the report’s age and days to decision; ranks products by checks passed and counts those ready; flags missing, old or WCAG 2.0 reports, untested student and family tools and gaps with no fix plan near a decision.
Who it is for
Technology directors, purchasing staff, accessibility coordinators and curriculum leads who choose digital products for schools.
Format
Browser checklist with a saved record per product. Prints one product, every product in a table or a blank evaluation sheet; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); exports and imports a file.
Access
$5 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Also in the Grant writer’s desk ($49) and the Advancement Suite pass ($99), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Data & Impact space in Caveat Advancement.
Support
Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Ask every vendor for a current conformance report.
  2. Read the remarks on anything partial.
  3. List the three to five key tasks for each product.
  4. Try them with a keyboard, then a screen reader.
  5. Carry gaps and dates into the contract.

Add a product

Before you buy

Evaluating a product before you buy1Ask for the reportA current AccessibilityConformance Report.2Read the remarksPartial results matter morethan the summary.3Pick the key tasksWhat students or families mustbe able to do.4Try them yourselfKeyboard only, then a screenreader.5Get fix datesFor every gap, in writing.6Write it inThe standard and the dates goin the contract.Evaluating a product before you buy1Ask for the reportA current Accessibility ConformanceReport.2Read the remarksPartial results matter more than thesummary.3Pick the key tasksWhat students or families must be ableto do.4Try them yourselfKeyboard only, then a screen reader.5Get fix datesFor every gap, in writing.6Write it inThe standard and the dates go in thecontract.
A vendor’s report is a claim. Fifteen minutes with a keyboard on the tasks that matter is the quickest way to test it.

What the report is

An Accessibility Conformance Report is the vendor’s own account of how its product meets each WCAG success criterion, usually written on the VPAT template. Look for the version and date of the product it describes, who tested it and remarks that explain every partial result.

The standard to ask for

The U.S. Department of Justice’s 2024 rule under ADA Title II holds public schools’ web content and mobile apps, including those provided through contractors, to WCAG 2.1 Level AA. Ask vendors for reports against 2.1 AA or 2.2 AA, which includes it.

Sources

  1. U.S. Department of Justice (2024). Final rule on the accessibility of web information and services of state and local government entities, 28 CFR part 35, subpart H (ada.gov).
  2. Information Technology Industry Council. VPAT and Accessibility Conformance Reports (itic.org).
  3. U.S. General Services Administration. Section508.gov: reviewing an Accessibility Conformance Report.
  4. W3C. Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 and 2.2 (w3.org/WAI).

The worked example is made up and the vendor names are invented. This checklist is not a legal opinion on compliance. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.