Proposed Questions for Vendors

Can you give us a completed Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT)?

Is the product compliant with US legal accessibility guidelines for people with disabilities (Section 508)? If not, which guidelines does it follow or not follow?

If the product does not comply with Section 508, does it comply with other accessibility guidelines such as WC3's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (which level(s)?) or the UK's SENDA?

If the database includes full text, are the documents in pdf, html, or other formats? Especially if some of the full text is only in pdf, is it tagged to be accessible for text to speech synthesis software? (such as screen readers like Jaws and Window Eyes for vision impaired users and Kurzweil 3000 for people with learning disabilities)  [Note: The answer to this would have to be yes to comply with Section 508; but this question is listed separately because it's especially crucial for blind users to be able to access the full text content.]

If you do usability testing with users who have disabilities, could you tell us about it (which assistive technology or disabilities were included)?

Do the products have any other features that you think could be especially useful for people with disabilities?  [An example would be spell checking features.]

ALA-ASCLA's "Think Accessible Before You Buy"- "Internet and Web Based Content Accessibility Evaluation"
As explained by the checklist's creators, the checklists were based on Section 508 and W3C's technical standards. The checklist attempts to make accessibility more understandable to non-experts.

For further explanation of the questions, see Internet and Web based Content Accessibility Checklist.

ALA-ASCLA's "Think Accessible Before You Buy" includes other useful information.