WCAG 2.1 AA and VPAT Documentation Won 3 Fortune 500 Enterprise Contracts
An HR SaaS platform was being blocked at the procurement stage because enterprise buyers required WCAG 2.1 AA conformance and a completed VPAT. BuildWithAccess delivered both in 8 weeks — three Fortune 500 deals closed within 60 days.
3
Fortune 500 contracts won
VPAT 2.4 INT
Filed for US + EU markets
8 weeks
Audit to VPAT certification
$0
Compliance-related legal exposure
The Challenge
What An Enterprise HR SaaS Platform Was Facing
A Series B HR software company was losing enterprise deals at the procurement stage. Three Fortune 500 prospects — including a financial services firm and a healthcare network — sent procurement questionnaires requiring WCAG 2.1 AA conformance documentation and a completed VPAT 2.4 Accessibility Conformance Report. The company had neither. Two deals were paused; one was formally declined.
Leadership estimated $2.8M in ARR was stalled pending accessibility documentation. An internal engineering review confirmed the platform had been built without accessibility requirements — core workflows including job requisition creation, applicant review, and offer letter generation had significant WCAG failures that would produce 'Does Not Support' entries in any honest VPAT.
Our Approach
How We Solved It
Audited all primary platform workflows — job requisition, applicant tracking board, interview scheduling, offer management, and analytics dashboard — against WCAG 2.1 AA.
Ran automated scanning with axe-core and IBM Equal Access Checker in parallel, using two independent rule engines to maximize detection coverage across the React SPA.
Tested all workflows with JAWS + Chrome on Windows and VoiceOver + Safari on macOS to validate screen reader compatibility for enterprise AT environments.
Triaged all findings to identify any that would result in 'Does Not Support' VPAT entries — these were treated as P0 and resolved before VPAT authoring began.
Embedded two front-end engineers for a 6-week remediation sprint addressing high-risk failures including: the drag-and-drop applicant Kanban board (WCAG 2.5.7), complex data tables in the analytics dashboard (WCAG 1.3.1), and the rich text offer letter editor (keyboard accessibility and ARIA).
Authored a VPAT 2.4 INT (combined US 508 + EU EN 301 549 edition) with complete Remarks and Explanations — every 'Partially Supports' entry included a specific resolution timeline.
Delivered a half-day accessibility training workshop for the product and engineering teams, plus axe-core regression testing integrated into Jest and Cypress test suites as a deployment gate.
The Outcome
What We Achieved Together
The VPAT was delivered 8 weeks after engagement start. Within 30 days of VPAT submission, two of the three paused deals closed. The third — a federal agency — required an additional manual verification call attended by our lead auditor. That deal closed 45 days later.
The company now publishes its VPAT on the company website and references WCAG 2.1 AA conformance in all enterprise RFP responses. In the 12 months since the engagement, accessibility compliance has been cited in two additional Fortune 500 wins, representing over $4M in total ARR attributed to the accessibility program.
“We were losing deals we should have won because we could not answer a standard procurement question. Eight weeks later we had a real VPAT and real conformance to back it up. Three Fortune 500 deals closed within 60 days — accessibility compliance became a sales asset.”
Services Used
- WCAG Audit
- Remediation
- VPAT Documentation
- Training
Standards Achieved
- WCAG 2.1 AA
- Section 508
- EN 301 549
- VPAT 2.4 INT
Ready for Similar Results?
Start with a free consultation. We will assess your situation and map the fastest, most cost-effective path to compliance.