Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT)

This repository contains Voluntary Product Accessibility Template® (VPAT®) documents for Springer Nature products.

The VPAT is a template used to document a product's conformance with accessibility standards and guidelines. The purpose of the VPAT is to assist customers and buyers in making preliminary assessments regarding the availability of commercial "Electronic and Information Technology", also referred to as "Information and Communication Technology" (ICT) products and services with features that support accessibility.

Creating a new VPAT

To create a new VPAT for a product, use a copy of the base template as a starting point. Ensure that you update the following placeholders within your copied template:

• !INSERT PRODUCT!
• !INSERT PRODUCT NAME!
• !INSERT PRODUCT DESCRIPTION!
• !INSERT DATE LAST EDITED!

then add your product to the list below.

Product VPATs

• BioMed Central
• SpringerOpen
• Springer Nature Link
• Nature

VPAT version history

Documents in this repository conform to VPAT® Version 1.0, or the newer Version 2.5 Rev

**New documents in this repository must conform to the latest version (2.5 Rev) using the template provided. **

VPAT® Version 2.5 Rev (June 2025)

VPAT version 2.5 Rev has been updated to clarify instructions and correct references to clauses in the European standard EN 301 549.

It includes the following standards/guidelines:

• Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0
• Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1
• Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.2
• Revised Section 508 standards published January 18, 2017 and corrected January 22, 2018
• EN 301 549 Accessibility requirements for ICT products and services - V3.1.1 (2019-11)
• EN 301 549 Accessibility requirements for ICT products and services - V3.2.1 (2021-03)

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<p align="center"><strong>DO NOT USE ANY OF THE VERSIONS BELOW FOR NEW DOCUMENTS.</strong></p>

VPAT® Version 1.0

Voluntary Product Accessibility Template® (VPAT®) documents for Springer Nature products, outlining Section 508 accessibility information for Springer Nature products.

The first table of the Template provides a summary view of the Section 508 Standards. The subsequent tables provide more detailed views of each subsection.

There are three columns in each table. The first column of the Summary Table describes the subsections of subparts B and C of the Standards. The second describes the supporting features of the product or refers you to the corresponding detailed table, e.g. “equivalent facilitation”. The third contains any additional remarks and explanations regarding the product.

In the subsequent tables, the first column contains the lettered paragraphs of the subsections. The second column describes the supporting features of the product with regard to that paragraph. The third column contains any additional remarks and explanations regarding the product.