Section 508 + EN 301 549
The good news: WCAG, EN 301 549, and Section 508 share a substantial overlap. A single set of findings (the kind Wholisphere produces) satisfies all three with the right report layout.
Section 508 (US federal)
US federal agencies and their contractors must comply with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. The 2018 refresh adopts WCAG 2.0 Level AA by reference. Most agencies now request 2.1 or 2.2 in RFPs.
When you generate a VPAT with "standards": ["Section 508"] we expand it to WCAG 2.0 A + AA criteria + the few Section 508-specific items (functional performance criteria).
EN 301 549 (EU)
The EU’s harmonized accessibility standard for ICT products. Required by the European Accessibility Act (EAA) which came into force in June 2025 for most consumer-facing services. EN 301 549 references WCAG 2.1 Level AA as its core technical requirement, with additional clauses for hardware and documentation.
When you generate with "standards": ["EN 301 549"] we expand to WCAG 2.1 A + AA + the relevant clause-12 alternative-way provisions.
ADA Title III (US private sector)
ADA itself does not cite a technical standard. US courts have defaulted to WCAG 2.1 Level AA as a reasonable benchmark. The DOJ’s April 2024 final rule for state/local government adopted WCAG 2.1 Level AA explicitly.
ACT Rules (W3C)
The W3C ACT Rules are the formal automated test rules WCAG conformance evaluation tools use. Wholisphere’s automated rule engine implements these where applicable; the VPAT cites which ACT Rules support each “Supports” claim.
”Equivalent facilitation”
Section 508 §1194.5 explicitly permits “alternative approaches that result in substantially equivalent or greater accessibility”. EN 301 549 clause 12 has an analogous “alternative way” provision. The Wholisphere agent is positioned as equivalent facilitation: it provides the access the standard demands, even when the underlying page might not pass a literal WCAG audit.
This is not a bypass. We always also publish a real conformance report so customers have both the legal hedge (the report) and the substance (the agent).
Trust mark
When a customer maintains a Platform subscription with healthy coverage metrics, they may display the Wholisphere Verified badge linking to a public registry entry. Coming soon — see About → Trust mark (eventually).