#43092
Speaker(s)
- David Middleton, VP Operations (Infrastructure, Identity & Risk), Accessibility Shield
Session Details
- Length of Session: 1-hr
- Format: Lecture
- Expertise Level: All Levels
- Type of session: General Conference
Summary
As Title II and higher?education procurement expectations evolve, vendors are evaluated on more than VPAT completion. This session explores how vendors and developers can treat accessibility disclosures as information and roadmaps as commitments within a sustainable product accessibility lifecycle. Attendees will gain a high?level framework for managing VPATs and roadmaps that supports RFP efficiency, institutional trust, and long?term accessibility maturity.
Abstract
As higher education institutions strengthen Title II compliance and accessibility accountability, vendors and developers are increasingly expected to provide more than a completed VPAT. Procurement and RFP processes now examine how accessibility gaps are disclosed, how remediation commitments are communicated, and how reliably progress can be demonstrated over time. For many vendors, this shift has made the VPAT process feel repetitive, inefficient, and disconnected from product realities.
This session will provide a vendor-focused, vendor-neutral framework for understanding accessibility as an ongoing operational responsibility rather than a point-in-time task. It reframes Accessibility Conformance Reports (ACRs/VPATs) as structured information institutions must evaluate, validate, and act upon, rather than definitive statements of compliance.
The session will explore why institutions request accessibility roadmaps alongside VPATs, what those roadmaps are meant to represent, and how they function as forward-looking commitments within procurement, HECVAT, and RFP contexts. Attendees will examine how misalignment between disclosures and roadmaps creates uncertainty, and how unclear priorities or unrealistic timelines undermine trust and follow-up.
Participants will also learn how mature vendors align disclosure, validation, remediation planning, and follow-up to reduce clarification cycles, improve procurement efficiency, and support long-term accessibility credibility. Rather than prescribing tools, this session focuses on the concepts and expectations vendors need to manage VPATs and roadmaps as durable components of product maturity.
Keypoints
- Understand how institutions evaluate VPATs as information and roadmaps as accessibility commitments.
- Identify what vendors must manage beyond VPAT submission to meet RFP, HECVAT, and Title II expectations.
- Recognize how aligning disclosures, roadmaps, and follow up improves trust and procurement efficiency.
Disability Areas
All Areas
Topic Areas
Accessibility and Accommodation in the Current Political/Legal Environment, Campus & System-wide initiatives, Procurement, Uncategorized, Web/Media/App Access
Speaker Bio(s)
David Middleton
David Middleton is a principal accessibility subject matter expert and operational leader whose work focuses on helping organizations move from accessibility activity to accessibility maturity. His experience spans accessibility, compliance, enterprise infrastructure, and operational risk, with an emphasis on how accessibility commitments persist—or fail—over time.
David is frequently engaged when organizations have completed audits, implemented monitoring, and established training programs, yet struggle to connect those efforts into a cohesive, defensible accessibility posture. Drawing on standards guidance such as W3C, regulatory expectations, and real?world implementation experience, he helps institutions and vendors develop a forward?looking understanding of what sustainable accessibility looks like in practice.
Known for leading by example, David’s approach bridges hands?on accessibility expertise with systems design, governance, and change management. His work centers on creating clarity where responsibility is diffuse, ensuring that accessibility disclosures, remediation commitments, and follow?up remain aligned long after initial assessments are complete.