Sell Your Products to The Federal Government

Your company has developed a great product which you plan to position for selling to the U.S. Federal Government. Your product is on the GSA schedule, and now you are ready to bid for government contracts, or expecting the purchase orders.

But have you thought about accessibility to people with disabilities? Do you know if your product is Section 508 compliant?

Section 508 compliance, in simple terms means that you comply with all Section 508 standards, which mandate to make your software or hardware products accessible to people with disabilities.

When you submit an RFP, most likely you will have to state that any information technology related products and services will consider Section 508. This is not just a checkbox. You can certainly simply state that you are in compliance with the Section 508 requirements, but it will help you if you have a plan, and explain how you ensure Section 508 compliance.

Also, if you have a product you are planning to sell to the government, it is highly recommended to ensure that it is fully Section 508 compliant. When it comes to procurement, the government procurement officials are obliged to examine if your products meet these standards.

One way to help procurement officials is to fill in a Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT), in which you detail your product's compliance.

• Learn more about the VPAT
• Learn how to fill in a VPAT

To see how other companies are doing it, look at our VPAT directory, where your product can also be listed for free.

Unfortunately, many products positioned to be sold to the Federal Government are not Section 508 compliant. You can easily gain advantage over your competitors if yours is. Not only that, but you are also opening up a great new market to your company, all people with disabilities.