EdTech Accessibility: WCAG 2.0 AA & VPAT for the Largest US EdTech Corporation
A 5-person team audited and rebuilt 2,000+ unique content pages across 30+ publisher journals to WCAG 2.0 AA and 2.1 AA standard for the largest EdTech corporation in the US, securing VPAT certification required for institutional sales.
Client context
The corporation runs an education portal serving public schools and universities across the United States. Its content spans 30+ publisher journals with 2,000+ unique page types — complex layouts with rich media, navigation, and interactive components. Institutional buyers increasingly require VPAT certification before procurement, and ADA lawsuits had reached 4,630 filings in 2023 alone, with e-commerce and education sites among the top targets.
Challenge
Two simultaneous pressures: obtain VPAT certification to unlock institutional sales channels, and remediate legal exposure from ADA non-compliance across a massive, heterogeneous content library. The audit scope was 2,000+ unique content page types drawn from 30+ different publisher journals — each with its own structure and component set.
What we did
- Conducted accessibility audit of sample pages with Aptara, prioritising pages with maximum component density and complexity.
- Redesigned more than 1,000 unique content pages — covering site appearance, navigation structure, and accessibility tooling.
- Updated existing components (headings, lists, text elements, multimedia) to meet WCAG criteria.
- Built new components engineered to accessibility requirements from the ground up.
- Developed an editorial framework enabling content editors to produce compliant pages without developer involvement.
- Ran continuous automated checks with axe DevTools and manual screen reader testing (NVDA on Windows, VoiceOver on macOS).
- Used UsableNet AQA Tools for ongoing post-launch audits.
Process
- Scoped audit with Aptara; selected representative sample pages covering all component types.
- Automated scan with axe DevTools to categorise violations by severity and component.
- Manual verification pass and screen reader testing for criteria axe cannot auto-detect.
- Redesign and rebuild of non-compliant components and page templates.
- Editor framework and documentation to maintain compliance on new content.
- VPAT compilation and certification submission.
- Ongoing audits via UsableNet AQA post-launch.
Result and impact
Five-person team achieved WCAG 2.0 AA and WCAG 2.1 AA compliance across the entire content library, with VPAT certifications issued. The corporation unlocked institutional procurement channels and reduced its ADA lawsuit exposure. The editorial framework means new content stays compliant without re-engaging developers.
This is an NDA-protected engagement. Client name and identifying details are withheld; industry, region, challenge, solution and outcome are shared in an approved form.
