What is "Buy Accessible"?
Buy Accessible 1 is a way to assist federal procurement staff in locating companies that provide goods or services that comply with Section 508 (§508) of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 requirement to ensure that they are buying the most accessible products and services available.
The Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) 2 hosts a series of "Voluntary Product Accessibility Template" 3 or VPAT for various IT and web related products and services. Companies that complete a VPAT may then register for Buy Accessible and include a link to the VPAT form on the registrant's website.
Under §508 FAR guidance, due diligence is required in the conduct of market research and requirements development relative to Section 508 requirements. Being registered with Buy Accessible is one way to make sure that your business is part of that market research. Procurement staff may then search the database by product and/or service type to obtain a list of all vendors that have provided links to their VPAT. If you have registered Buy Accessible your business will be on that list. Which makes it easier for procurement staff to locate your business and determine whether or not you business complies with with §508.
VPATs include most if not all of the information procurement personnel need to determine if your product or services complies with §508 and is not difficult to use. An example for web services would be the WiserWays Voluntary Product Accessibility Template.
Section508.gov
Information
Technology Industry Council
Voluntary
Product Accessibility Templates