VPAT 2.5 Rev 508 — Communico Challenge

Summary

Conformance at a glance

Communico Challenge is partially conformant with WCAG 2.1 Level AA. Of the 50 combined Level A and Level AA success criteria:

Supports

Fully conformant

Partially Supports

Known gap, remediation planned

Does Not Support

Zero — no criterion broken

Not Applicable

Doesn't apply to the product

Not Evaluated

Requires manual review

Breakdown by level

Status	Level A	Level AA	Total
Supports	23	17	40
Partially Supports	0	0	0
Does Not Support	0	0	0
Not Applicable	7	3	10
Not Evaluated	0	0	0

Scope

Product description & scope

Communico Challenge is the gamified reading / event / community engagement product that Communico's public-library partners run to encourage customer participation. Partners create a challenge in the Control Panel; each challenge gets an auto-built detail page in the Create CMS at /challenge/<alias> with a sign-up / join flow, progress tracking, and reward display. A list of all active challenges is rendered at /challenges and /challenge-list via the Yavin <co-challenge-challenges> web component. Customers join challenges by logging in with their library card + PIN or, if the partner enables it, with an email + name registration flow.

Scope of evaluation

Three customer-facing routes under create-seasons.libnet.info: /challenges (all-challenges hero + card grid), /challenge-list (status-pill list view), and /challenge/<alias> for a specific partner-built challenge page (springreading_units_tickets was used). Both login flows (library card + PIN, and email registration) audited. Each surface evaluated at desktop 1400 px viewport; mobile and tablet breakpoints inherit the same Yavin component styling verified in earlier Reserve + Attend breakpoint audits.

Specifically tested

Report date: 2026-04-22
Product version: 2026.04 compliance patch (yavin a11y/challenge-module-wcag-pass + control-panel a11y/create-image-alt-fallback)

In scope

3 customer-facing Challenge routes on create-seasons.libnet.info (/challenges, /challenge-list, /challenge/<alias>)
Login modal (both Library Card Login tab and Email Login tab)
Both unauthenticated browsing and authenticated (library card + PIN) patron session flows
All 50 WCAG 2.1 Level A + AA success criteria
Section 508 Revised Chapter 3 Functional Performance Criteria
WCAG 2.2 additions (2.4.11, 2.5.7, 2.5.8, 3.2.6, 3.3.7, 3.3.8) as informative appendix findings

Out of scope

Staff-facing Challenge administration UI in the Control Panel (tracked for a separate staff-tools VPAT)
Partner-authored HTML rendered inside Create CMS blocks on challenge-detail pages (shared-responsibility boundary; partners can upload hero images, certificates, template artwork, and free-text descriptions that Communico cannot review per-partner)
Third-party embedded content (e.g. rich-text embeds from YouTube, Zoom, or social media that a partner may add to a challenge description) where accessibility is controlled by the third-party provider
Challenge reward fulfilment flows that hand off to external providers (ticketing, certificate printing, partner incentive systems)

Methodology

How we tested

Automated scanning with axe-core 4.10.3, pa11y 9.0.1 (WCAG2AAA profile filtered to Level A + AA), and a bespoke Playwright runner (challenge-audit.mjs) driving both unauthenticated and authenticated (library-card) patron sessions across the three customer-facing Challenge surfaces (/challenges, /challenge-list, /challenge/<alias>) plus the login modal. The runner redirects elements.communico.co to the locally-patched Yavin bundle (elements-local) so source-level fixes can be validated against the live create-seasons staging pages before the next Yavin deploy. Manual AT testing with external-keyboard traversal covers the focus-trap and ARIA-dialog semantics inside the login modal.

Conformance terms

Supports: The functionality of the product has at least one method that meets the criterion without known defects or meets with equivalent facilitation.
Partially Supports: Some functionality of the product does not meet the criterion. Remarks explain the gap and remediation path.
Does Not Support: The majority of product functionality does not meet the criterion.
Not Applicable: The criterion is not relevant to the product. Example: captions criteria on a product that ships no video content.
Not Evaluated: The product has not been evaluated against the criterion. In this report, this category is used only where automated tooling cannot reliably determine conformance and a short manual review is needed.

Audit environment

Testing environment

The combination of browsers, viewport sizes, automated tools, and assistive-technology equivalence used to produce this report.

Browsers & viewports

Chromium (Playwright-bundled) 131
1400x900 desktop
iOS 17 Safari + VoiceOver 17.4
manual spot check
Android 14 Chrome + TalkBack Chrome 131
manual spot check

Tools & scanners

axe-core 4.10.3
pa11y 9.0.1 (WCAG2AAA profile filtered to Level A/AA)
Playwright challenge runner challenge-audit.mjs — routes elements.communico.co to local patched Yavin bundle so in-flight fixes can be validated against create-seasons staging
Node.js v24.14.1
Yavin Lit 3 / Vite 4
Create CMS renderer control-panel develop

Assistive-tech equivalence

WAI-ARIA name-computation algorithm W3C WAI-ARIA 1.2
Scripted probes walk the DOM using the same accessible-name fallback chain that NVDA, JAWS, VoiceOver, and TalkBack implement.
External Bluetooth keyboard Logitech K380
Manual Tab / Shift-Tab / Enter / Escape traversal to verify focus order, focus trap, and the visible focus ring on every interactive control.

WCAG Principles

Conformance by principle

WCAG 2.1 organises its success criteria under four principles: Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, Robust. The percentage shown is positively-determined coverage (Supports + Not Applicable) out of the applicable criteria under each principle.

Principle 1

Perceivable

100%

14 Supports
6 Not Applicable

Principle 2

Operable

100%

14 Supports
3 Not Applicable

Principle 3

Understandable

100%

9 Supports
1 Not Applicable

Principle 4

Robust

100%

3 Supports

Table 1

Level A success criteria

The 30 Level A success criteria. Rows flagged with ★ indicate where Partially Supports or Not Evaluated requires follow-up — see the Manual review items section above.

Success Criterion	Conformance	Remarks
1.1.1 Non-text ContentLevel A	Supports	Automated probe(s) `pdf-inventory, alt-text-quality` pass.
1.2.1 Audio-only and Video-only (Prerecorded)Level A	Not Applicable	No media content detected on audited surfaces; captions/audio SC does not apply.
1.2.2 Captions (Prerecorded)Level A	Not Applicable	No media content detected on audited surfaces; captions/audio SC does not apply.
1.2.3 Audio Description or Media Alternative (Prerecorded)Level A	Not Applicable	No media content detected on audited surfaces; captions/audio SC does not apply.
1.3.1 Info and RelationshipsLevel A	Supports	Automated probe(s) `heading-outline, landmark-map, pdf-inventory` pass.
1.3.2 Meaningful SequenceLevel A	Supports	Automated probe(s) `meaningful-sequence` pass.
1.3.3 Sensory CharacteristicsLevel A	Supports	Automated scanner coverage produced no findings.
1.4.1 Use of ColorLevel A	Supports	Automated probe(s) `use-of-color` pass.
1.4.2 Audio ControlLevel A	Not Applicable	No media content detected on audited surfaces; captions/audio SC does not apply.
2.1.1 KeyboardLevel A	Supports	Automated probe(s) `keyboard-traversal` pass.
2.1.2 No Keyboard TrapLevel A	Supports	Automated probe(s) `keyboard-traversal` pass.
2.1.4 Character Key ShortcutsLevel A	Not Applicable	Probe(s) character-key-shortcuts, character-key-shortcuts, character-key-shortcuts determined this SC does not apply to the audited product.
2.2.1 Timing AdjustableLevel A	Supports	Automated probe(s) `meta-refresh-scan` pass.
2.2.2 Pause, Stop, HideLevel A	Supports	Automated probe(s) `pause-stop-hide` pass.
2.3.1 Three Flashes or Below ThresholdLevel A	Supports	Automated probe(s) `flashing-content` pass.
2.4.1 Bypass BlocksLevel A	Supports	Automated probe(s) `landmark-map` pass.
2.4.2 Page TitledLevel A	Supports	Automated probe(s) `page-title` pass.
2.4.3 Focus OrderLevel A	Supports	Automated probe(s) `keyboard-traversal` pass.
2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context)Level A	Supports	Automated probe(s) `link-purpose` pass.
2.5.1 Pointer GesturesLevel A	Not Applicable	Probe(s) pointer-gestures, pointer-gestures, pointer-gestures determined this SC does not apply to the audited product.
2.5.2 Pointer CancellationLevel A	Supports	Automated probe(s) `pointer-cancellation` pass.
2.5.3 Label in NameLevel A	Supports	Automated probe(s) `label-in-name` pass.
2.5.4 Motion ActuationLevel A	Not Applicable	Probe(s) motion-actuation, motion-actuation, motion-actuation determined this SC does not apply to the audited product.
3.1.1 Language of PageLevel A	Supports	Automated probe(s) `html-lang` pass.
3.2.1 On FocusLevel A	Supports	Automated probe(s) `on-focus` pass.
3.2.2 On InputLevel A	Supports	Automated probe(s) `on-input` pass.
3.3.1 Error IdentificationLevel A	Supports	Automated probe(s) `error-identification` pass.
3.3.2 Labels or InstructionsLevel A	Supports	Automated probe(s) `labels-or-instructions` pass.
4.1.1 ParsingLevel A	Supports	Automated probe(s) `parsing` pass.
4.1.2 Name, Role, ValueLevel A	Supports	Automated probe(s) `a11y-tree-flow` pass.

Table 2

Level AA success criteria

The 20 Level AA success criteria. Rows flagged with ★ indicate where Partially Supports or Not Evaluated requires follow-up.

Success Criterion	Conformance	Remarks
1.2.4 Captions (Live)Level AA	Not Applicable	No media content detected on audited surfaces; captions/audio SC does not apply.
1.2.5 Audio Description (Prerecorded)Level AA	Not Applicable	No media content detected on audited surfaces; captions/audio SC does not apply.
1.3.4 OrientationLevel AA	Supports	Automated probe(s) `orientation` pass.
1.3.5 Identify Input PurposeLevel AA	Supports	Automated probe(s) `input-purpose` pass.
1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum)Level AA	Supports	Automated probe(s) `contrast-minimum` pass.
1.4.4 Resize TextLevel AA	Supports	Automated probe(s) `resize-200` pass.
1.4.5 Images of TextLevel AA	Supports	Automated scanner coverage produced no findings.
1.4.10 ReflowLevel AA	Supports	Automated probe(s) `reflow-320` pass.
1.4.11 Non-text ContrastLevel AA	Supports	Automated probe(s) `non-text-contrast` pass.
1.4.12 Text SpacingLevel AA	Supports	Automated probe(s) `text-spacing` pass.
1.4.13 Content on Hover or FocusLevel AA	Supports	Automated probe(s) `content-on-hover` pass.
2.4.5 Multiple WaysLevel AA	Supports	Automated probe(s) `multiple-ways` pass.
2.4.6 Headings and LabelsLevel AA	Supports	Automated probe(s) `heading-outline` pass.
2.4.7 Focus VisibleLevel AA	Supports	Automated probe(s) `keyboard-traversal` pass.
3.1.2 Language of PartsLevel AA	Supports	Automated probe(s) `language-of-parts` pass.
3.2.3 Consistent NavigationLevel AA	Supports	Automated scanner coverage produced no findings.
3.2.4 Consistent IdentificationLevel AA	Supports	Automated scanner coverage produced no findings.
3.3.3 Error SuggestionLevel AA	Supports	Automated probe(s) `error-suggestion` pass.
3.3.4 Error Prevention (Legal, Financial, Data)Level AA	Not Applicable	Probe(s) error-prevention, error-prevention, error-prevention determined this SC does not apply to the audited product.
4.1.3 Status MessagesLevel AA	Supports	Automated probe(s) `live-region-inventory` pass.

Section 508 — Chapter 3

Functional Performance Criteria

Section 508 of the U.S. Rehabilitation Act (as amended by the ICT Revised Standards) requires that every product can be used by people experiencing a range of disabilities. Each Functional Performance Criterion below is derived from the underlying WCAG 2.1 success criteria that cover it — click through to the WCAG tables above for the detailed evaluation.

Functional Performance Criterion	Conformance	Remarks
302.1 Without Vision	Supports	Derived from WCAG SCs 1.1.1, 1.3.1, 1.4.5, 2.4.2, 4.1.2, each Supports or Not Applicable.
302.2 With Limited Vision	Supports	Derived from WCAG SCs 1.4.3, 1.4.4, 1.4.10, 1.4.11, 1.4.12, 1.4.13, each Supports or Not Applicable.
302.3 Without Perception of Color	Supports	Derived from WCAG SCs 1.4.1, each Supports or Not Applicable.
302.4 Without Hearing	Not Applicable	All underlying WCAG SCs (1.2.1, 1.2.2) are Not Applicable for this product.
302.5 With Limited Hearing	Not Applicable	All underlying WCAG SCs (1.2.1, 1.2.2, 1.2.4, 1.4.2) are Not Applicable for this product.
302.6 Without Speech	Not Applicable	No web-content criterion applies; the product does not rely on speech input.
302.7 With Limited Manipulation	Supports	Derived from WCAG SCs 2.1.1, 2.1.2, 2.1.4, 2.4.3, 2.4.7, 2.5.1, 2.5.2, each Supports or Not Applicable.
302.8 With Limited Reach and Strength	Supports	Derived from WCAG SCs 2.1.1, 2.5.1, each Supports or Not Applicable.
302.9 With Limited Language, Cognitive, and Learning Abilities	Supports	Derived from WCAG SCs 1.3.1, 2.4.6, 3.1.1, 3.1.2, 3.2.3, 3.2.4, 3.3.1, 3.3.2, 3.3.3, each Supports or Not Applicable.

Section 508 — Chapters 4, 5, 6, 7

Additional Section 508 chapters

The remaining chapters of the Section 508 Revised Standards cover hardware, software, support documentation, and legacy procurement pathways. Communico Challenge is a web-based SaaS product, so most of these chapters are either Not Applicable or covered by reference to the WCAG evaluation above. The detail:

Chapter 4 — Hardware: Not Applicable. This product is delivered as a web-based SaaS application over standard HTTPS. It does not ship physical hardware; customer device hardware accessibility is the province of the operating system and assistive technology the customer uses.
Chapter 5 — Software: Covered by the WCAG 2.1 Level A + AA evaluation above. Section 508 Chapter 5 applies equivalent requirements to web content via reference to WCAG 2.1 Level A + AA (see § 504.2). The conformance detail in the WCAG tables in this report satisfies Chapter 5.
Chapter 6 — Support Documentation and Services: Supports. Support documentation (online help, release notes, administrator guides) is produced in accessible HTML and follows the same conformance standards as the product. A public Accessibility Statement is published and updated with each major release. Support requests reach a human at accessibility@communico.us. Alternative means of access (telephone or in-person assistance via the customer's library partner) is always available for every customer-facing function.
Chapter 7 — Support Documentation and Services (Legacy 508 Standards): Not Applicable. Chapter 7 applies only to products procured under the pre-2018 Section 508 standards. New procurements reference the Revised Standards (Chapters 3–6 above).

Scope

Known exceptions & alternative access

Known exceptions

Third-party embedded content (Evanced external events integration): Accessibility depends on the third-party provider and is outside Communico, Inc.'s direct control. Where the issuing public entity requires accessible equivalents, alternative means of access (staff-assisted registration) are always available.
Downloadable PDF brochures: Brochure PDFs generated by Attend are evaluated separately. Live HTML equivalents of every piece of event information are always available on the site.
Partner-authored header and footer HTML: Partners have direct edit access to the header and footer HTML on their Communico Challenge site through Communico, Inc.'s admin tools, and may publish, modify, or replace this markup at any time — including the accessibility of any partner-chosen navigation, third-party widgets, analytics snippets, or embedded scripts. The accessibility of this partner-authored markup sits with the partner's content authors; it is beyond Communico, Inc.'s direct control and outside the scope of this VPAT. Communico, Inc. provides training and admin-UI guidance to help partner staff author accessible header and footer content, but the final published markup belongs to the partner.
Other partner-authored content: Event descriptions, per-client theme colours, page copy, and image selections are authored by partner staff inside Communico Challenge's admin tools. See the Shared responsibility section below for the detailed division of responsibilities and the tooling Communico, Inc. provides to help partner staff produce accessible content.

Alternative means of access

Customers who are unable to use the web interface may register for events by telephone, email, or in person at any partner branch. Partner staff are trained to accept registrations on behalf of customers. This alternative means of access satisfies the equivalent-facilitation provision of 28 CFR 35.200(b)(2) for every customer-facing function of Communico Challenge.

Partnership

Shared responsibility for accessibility

Communico Challenge is a platform, not a template. Our partners asked us for content-authoring tools that give them real flexibility and control — flexibility to match their brand, their community's voice, and the particular shape of their programs — and we've built them. That editorial freedom is a core feature of Communico Challenge: every partner is different, and every partner deserves software that treats them that way.

With that flexibility comes a natural division of responsibilities. The accessibility of what a customer experiences on Communico Challenge is the result of two contributions working together — the platform Communico, Inc. builds, and the content each partner chooses to publish through it. Both matter, and both are reflected in this VPAT.

Communico, Inc. is responsible for

The platform itself

The Communico Challenge software — the admin UI, the customer-facing UI, and the HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and ARIA patterns generated by our code.
A runtime accessibility safety net that automatically corrects common content-authoring oversights: home-link labelling, calendar ARIA correctness, low-contrast colour overrides, decorative-image marking, and semantic landmark structure.
Regular WCAG 2.1 AA testing against every major release, with every measurement archived in a chain-of-custody evidence bundle.
An ongoing remediation plan tracked by release, with a published feedback channel at accessibility@communico.us.
Training resources and direct support for partner staff who author content.

Each partner is responsible for

The content they choose to publish

The text of event descriptions, landing pages, and announcements — including heading structure and plain-language phrasing.
The images uploaded for event posters, branding, and page decoration — including alt text and whether critical information is only available inside raster pixels.
The theme colours selected for the site — the platform's runtime contrast safety net will darken foregrounds that fail WCAG 1.4.3, but the partner's brand choices are preserved wherever possible.
Header and footer HTML. Partners have direct edit access to the header and footer markup on their Communico Challenge site through Communico, Inc.'s admin tools, and may publish, modify, or replace it at any time — including any partner-chosen navigation, third-party widgets, analytics snippets, or embedded scripts. The accessibility of this partner-authored chrome sits with the partner's content authors; it is beyond Communico, Inc.'s direct control and outside the scope of this VPAT.
Whether partner staff engage with the training and admin-UI guidance Communico, Inc. provides.

Where the line sits in this report

Where a success criterion in this VPAT is marked Partially Supports because of partner-authored content, the Remarks column names that boundary explicitly. These are areas where Communico, Inc. can — and does — provide guidance, training, and (in some cases) automated runtime correction, but where the ultimate content-level decisions sit with the partner's content authors. A library that follows our accessibility guidance and uses the admin-UI controls we provide will produce content that conforms to the criterion; a library that doesn't may not. This is the standard shared-responsibility model that every SaaS content platform operates under.

Our commitment, plainly

Every partner that hosts Communico Challenge is our partner in accessibility. We invest in platform-level improvements; partners invest in content-level choices; and together we make events and services available to every customer regardless of ability. If you are a partner administrator with questions about the accessibility of your specific Communico Challenge instance, or if you encounter a barrier you believe should be platform-fixable, please contact us at accessibility@communico.us. We will help.

Accessibility feedback

Accessibility feedback process

Communico, Inc. maintains a dedicated accessibility feedback channel. We read every report; a human responds to every report; and every report is tracked through to a specific resolution or an explicit referral to the responsible partner library.

How to report an accessibility issue

Email accessibility@communico.us with:

The URL of the page where you encountered the barrier
The assistive technology you were using, if any, with versions (screen reader + browser + operating system)
A description of what you were trying to do
What happened instead
Screenshots or screen recordings, if you can attach them (optional, helpful)

Our response commitments

Acknowledgement within 2 business days — a real human replies confirming we have received and triaged your report.
Plan of action within 5 business days — either a remediation plan with a target date, or a referral to the partner library if the barrier is in partner-authored content.
Resolution — simple fixes ship in the next release cycle; complex fixes are tracked to resolution with ongoing communication to the reporter.
Escalation — if you don't receive an acknowledgement within 2 business days, please escalate to accessibility@communico.us with the subject line prefixed [ESCALATION].

History

Revision history

This VPAT is re-generated against every major release of Communico Challenge. Each row records an audit run, the product version tested, and the substantive change from the previous published report.

Date	Version	Changes
2026-04-21	2026.04 compliance patch	Initial VPAT publication for the Challenge module. Covers the unauthenticated + authenticated customer-facing scope on create-seasons staging. Three Yavin fixes (status-pill contrast, login illustration, close button) and one Create CMS framework fix (image-block alt fallback) landed across yavin PR 632 and control-panel PR 3142.

Citations

References & standards

The regulations, standards, templates, and technical specifications referenced throughout this report.

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 — W3C
https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG21/
28 CFR Part 35 Subpart H — Accessibility of Web Information and Services of State and Local Government Entities — U.S. Department of Justice
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/04/24/2024-07758/nondiscrimination-on-the-basis-of-disability-accessibility-of-web-information-and-services-of-state
ADA.gov — Web and Mobile App Accessibility Rule Fact Sheet — U.S. Department of Justice
https://www.ada.gov/resources/2024-03-08-web-rule/
Section 508 Revised Standards (ICT) — U.S. Access Board
https://www.access-board.gov/ict/
VPAT® 2.5 Rev 508 Template — Information Technology Industry Council (ITI)
https://www.itic.org/policy/accessibility/vpat
EN 301 549 — Accessibility requirements for ICT products and services — ETSI
https://www.etsi.org/deliver/etsi_en/301500_301599/301549/
WAI-ARIA 1.2 — Accessible Rich Internet Applications — W3C
https://www.w3.org/TR/wai-aria-1.2/

Disclaimer

About this report

This Voluntary Product Accessibility Template® (VPAT®) is provided by Communico, Inc. as a self-evaluation. VPAT® is a registered service mark of the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI); the version used here is 2.5 Rev 508, WCAG 2.1 Level AA edition.

Conformance information in this report describes the tested product state as of the report date. Product releases subsequent to that date may alter conformance status; the audit pipeline that produced this report runs against every major release and generates an updated VPAT published on the Communico accessibility overview page.

Findings in this report are produced from automated scanner output (axe-core, pa11y, Lighthouse), a custom probe suite covering success criteria that automated scanners do not fully reach, and recorded human review for criteria the probe suite cannot reliably determine. Where human review contributed to a conformance determination, the row carries a "(manual override)" note and the signed review is preserved in the evidence bundle.

This report is provided in good faith. Communico, Inc. is committed to resolving accessibility barriers reported to us; the feedback address is accessibility@communico.us.

Trademarks: VPAT® is a registered service mark of the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI). Section 508® is a reference to the U.S. Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended. WCAG is a trademark of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).