SaaS accessibility: what enterprise buyers will ask you for
Accessibility questions now appear in procurement questionnaires alongside security and privacy. Here is how B2B SaaS startups can prepare their marketing site, app and documentation.
By the Xuru Technologies team · 24 October 2026
Key takeaways
- For B2B SaaS, accessibility is increasingly a sales requirement: public sector, education and large enterprise buyers often ask for a VPAT or Accessibility Conformance Report.
- WCAG 2.2 Level AA is the practical target; it adds six criteria to WCAG 2.1, several of which affect login, forms and interactive product UI.
- The European Accessibility Act has applied since 28 June 2025 to in-scope services such as e-commerce, including for businesses based outside the EU.
- Fix the common failures first: contrast, alt text, form labels, empty links and buttons, and keyboard access.
- Accessibility is ongoing work. Build it into your design system, QA and release process rather than treating it as a one-off audit.
SaaS accessibility means making your marketing website, web app and documentation usable by people with disabilities, and being able to show buyers evidence of that. For B2B startups, the commercial reason is direct: universities, public bodies and large enterprises increasingly include accessibility questions in procurement, and a missing answer can stall a deal that sales has worked on for months.
This guide explains which standards matter, what buyers usually ask for, and a practical order of work for a small product team. It is general information, not legal advice; for your specific obligations, consult a lawyer or compliance adviser.
Why accessibility has become a SaaS sales issue
Three trends push accessibility into the buying process:
- Public sector rules in the US. The US Department of Justice rule under ADA Title II requires state and local governments to make web content and mobile apps accessible. As Jackson Lewis reports, the DOJ has extended compliance to 26 April 2027 for larger entities and 26 April 2028 for smaller ones. Public bodies preparing for those dates are reviewing the software they buy.
- The European Accessibility Act. According to a Travers Smith briefing, the EAA applies to in-scope products and services from 28 June 2025, including e-commerce and consumer banking services, and covers businesses trading in the EU regardless of where they are based. Our guide to the EAA for non-EU businesses covers scope in more detail.
- Enterprise vendor reviews. Larger customers often send a single questionnaire covering security, privacy and accessibility. Having your answers ready shortens the cycle.
How common are accessibility problems?
Very common. The WebAIM Million 2025 analysis of one million home pages found detected WCAG 2 failures on 94.8% of them, with an average of about 51 errors per page. The most frequent issues were low-contrast text (79.1% of pages), missing image alt text (55.5%), missing form labels (48.2%), empty links (45.4%) and empty buttons (29.6%).
The useful insight for a startup is that most of these are basic, fixable issues. A small team that fixes them systematically can be ahead of much of the web.
WCAG 2.2: what changed and why it matters for SaaS
WCAG 2.2, published by the W3C in 2023, keeps the WCAG 2.1 criteria (with one obsolete parsing criterion removed) and adds six new ones. As summarised in this overview of what is new in WCAG 2.2, they are:
| Criterion | Level | Where SaaS products usually feel it |
|---|---|---|
| 2.4.11 Focus Not Obscured (Minimum) | AA | Sticky headers, cookie banners and chat widgets covering the focused element |
| 2.5.7 Dragging Movements | AA | Kanban boards, sliders, drag-to-reorder lists need a non-drag alternative |
| 2.5.8 Target Size (Minimum) | AA | Small icon buttons in toolbars and tables |
| 3.2.6 Consistent Help | A | Help links and chat in a consistent place across pages |
| 3.3.7 Redundant Entry | A | Multi-step sign-up and checkout asking for the same data twice |
| 3.3.8 Accessible Authentication (Minimum) | AA | Logins that block paste or rely on puzzles without alternatives |
For a full working checklist, see our WCAG 2.2 AA checklist.
VPATs and Accessibility Conformance Reports explained
A VPAT (Voluntary Product Accessibility Template) is a standard template that vendors use to document how their product meets accessibility standards. The University of Washington's guide notes that it was developed by the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) with the US General Services Administration, and that newer versions are based on WCAG. Once completed for a product, the document is commonly called an Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR).
The same guide cautions buyers that VPAT quality varies and that a VPAT is best treated as a starting point for a conversation, not proof of compliance. For you as a vendor, that means honesty wins: marking criteria as "Partially Supports" with clear notes and a roadmap is far more credible than claiming full support you cannot demonstrate.
Tips for your first ACR
- Base it on an actual audit of the product, combining automated scans with manual and screen reader testing.
- Choose the edition that matches your buyers: WCAG, Section 508 (US federal), EU (EN 301 549) or International.
- State the product version and date evaluated, and update it with major releases.
- Write remarks in plain language: what does not work, and the workaround or fix date.
The three surfaces to cover
1. The marketing website
Your marketing site is the first thing an evaluator checks, often with an automated tool. Fix contrast, headings, alt text, form labels and keyboard navigation here first; it is usually the quickest win. Avoid relying on overlay widgets; our article on why overlays do not make a site compliant explains why.
2. The product
Complex UI is where most SaaS accessibility work lives: data tables, modals, date pickers, charts, drag-and-drop and real-time notifications. Fixing these in your component library or design system means every new screen inherits the fix.
3. Documentation and support
Help centres, API docs, onboarding emails, PDFs and videos are part of the product experience. Videos need captions, PDFs need tagged structure or an HTML alternative, and code samples need to be readable by screen readers.
A practical 90-day roadmap for a small team
| Phase | Focus | Output |
|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1–3 | Audit marketing site and top five product flows (sign-up, login, core task, billing, settings) | Prioritised issue list |
| Weeks 4–8 | Fix design tokens (colour, focus styles, target sizes) and shared components | Accessible design system baseline |
| Weeks 9–11 | Fix remaining high-impact flow issues; caption videos; review docs | Re-test results |
| Week 12 | Publish an accessibility statement; prepare an ACR | Sales-ready documentation |
After that, add accessibility checks to pull requests and QA so regressions are caught before release.
SaaS accessibility checklist
- Text contrast meets WCAG AA across marketing site and app
- All images and icons have suitable text alternatives
- Every form field has a visible, programmatic label and clear error messages
- All features work with a keyboard, with a visible focus indicator
- Focused elements are not hidden by sticky headers or banners
- Drag-based actions have a click or keyboard alternative
- Login allows paste and password managers
- Videos are captioned; PDFs are tagged or have HTML alternatives
- Accessibility statement published with a contact route
- Current ACR available for sales and procurement
Frequently asked questions
Do early-stage SaaS startups really need a VPAT?
If you sell to universities, government or large enterprises, you will likely be asked for one. If you sell mainly to small businesses, you may not need it yet, but building accessibly from the start is far cheaper than retrofitting later.
Is WCAG 2.1 or 2.2 the right target?
Some rules still reference WCAG 2.1, but WCAG 2.2 includes all of 2.1 apart from one obsolete criterion. Targeting 2.2 AA generally covers both. Check the specific standard named in your contracts or applicable laws with your adviser.
Can an automated scanner make us compliant?
No. Automated tools catch a portion of issues such as contrast and missing labels, but many problems, such as keyboard traps or confusing screen reader output, need manual testing by people who know assistive technology.
Does the EAA apply to B2B SaaS?
The EAA focuses on specific consumer-facing products and services, such as e-commerce and consumer banking. Whether your product is in scope depends on what it does and who uses it, so take advice from a lawyer or compliance adviser. Even when it is not in scope, EU enterprise buyers often expect similar standards.
An accessible site that passes the buyer's review
We'll design a sample before you commit, built on accessible components, with a fixed written quote.
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