When purchasing digital resources & software, accessibility documentation needs to be requested from the vendor and reviewed for compliance. For items that are not compliant, an alternate access plan needs to be developed to ensure that all Vol State students and employees can use the resource.
Before you ask a vendor for accessibility documentation, you can check TBR's AIMT Database (Accessible Instructional Materials and Technology) to see if another TBR school has uploaded accessibility documentation to the database.
To access the database, go to the My Vol State portal, then click on the AIMT Database icon. 
Search the database for the digital resources/software. If the documentation is a few years old, or if the documentation is missing, then you will need to contact the vendor to request documentation.
Requesting Accessibility Documentation
You will need to reach out out to your vendor contact and request several accessibility documents. Here is sample language that you can use to request accessibility documentation.
Sample Request
Subject: Accessibility Documentation Request
Body:
Dear [Vendor Name],
Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR), per legislation submitted to the State of Tennessee by the Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC), is committed to providing online resources that meet high standards for web accessibility (see: Accessibility Initiative). Volunteer State Community College must comply with these state and federal accessibility standards. In conjunction with TBR accessibility initiatives and documentation requirements, Volunteer State Community College is working with vendors to collect documentation related to vendors’ efforts towards achieving it.
At Volunteer State Community College, we would like to purchase [resource/software name(s)] and require accessibility documentation for this product.
- A company or product Accessibility Statement
- Voluntary Product Accessibility Template® (VPAT®) that addresses WCAG 2.1 or higher.
- Conformance and Remediation Form -- Use this form to report progress and timeline for addressing specific accessibility issues noted on your WCAG 2.1 Checklist and/or VPAT. Please note the Conformance and Remediation (CR) form will need a completed timeline for accessibility issues/gaps found during review and indicate an estimated conformance date. TBR requires the Accessibility Statement and Conformance and Remediation Form regardless of the existence of a VPAT.
- an ePub 3 Accessibility Checklist (only if interactive materials/media are present).
By providing this information, you help ensure that Volunteer State Community College can purchase or renew access to your product. We will also share the information you provide with other TBR institutions so they will be able to purchase your products or extend their existing contracts more easily.
Please complete and return the following forms to my attention, [enter your name and email address here].
Please let me know what questions you have about these requirements.
Amie Nephew is TBR’s Director of Accessibility and is also available to answer questions about completing the forms: Amie.Nephew@TBR.edu.
Thank you for your assistance.
Sincerely,
[Your Name/Title]
[Your Organization]
Reviewing Accessibility Documentation
Once you have the VPAT and Accessibility Conformance Report, you will want to know how to understand the documents.
This hour-long webinar recording from TBR outlines what to look for when reviewing VPATs and Conformance and Remediation Forms.
Additionally, you may want to watch part of the AI and Accessibility training to learn how AI may assist you in reviewing documentation and completing alternate access plans.
This link will start you at the "procurement" part of the AI and Digital Accessibility Working Together training. This link will download the Word document of accessibility prompts mentioned in the training. AI Accessibility Prompts download
Creating an Alternate Access Plan
If your VPAT includes any "Partially Supports or "Not Supported" standards, an alternate access plan needs to be developed. It needs to provide a equivalent work around to ensure all students and employees can get the benefit of the resource/software.
Click this link to download TBR's Alternate Access Form
This hour-long webinar recording from TBR outlines how to develop an alternate access plan.