The Periodicals Accuracy, Grading, and Evaluation (PAGE) program is a process designed in cooperation with the publishing industry to evaluate publication and print planning (ppp) software and to determine its accuracy in calculating virtual copy weight and the percentage of advertising according to DMM® standards.

Participation in the program is purely voluntary. Although this program evaluates and validates copy weight and advertising percentage calculations, PAGE does not eliminate physical review of issues or annual audits of Periodicals prepared using PAGE-certified software. However, PAGE does allow Periodicals mailers to forego the submission of marked copies for every edition of every issue, unless otherwise requested by postal officials.

PAGE certification is available to developers of software products and the software users. This program will test and certify the calculation accuracy of ppp software on the product level. On the user level, the competency and general knowledge of Periodicals mailings as set forth in the DMM and applicable Customer Support Rulings (CSRs) is tested. Additionally, any mailer (publisher) wishing to forego the submission of marked copies must be authorized for acceptance of Periodicals weights from PAGE certified software through the New York Rates and Classification Service Center (NY RCSC). Authorization involves completing and returning the Application to Accept Publisher’s Weights for Periodicals along with all required materials to the NY RCSC.

The USPS defines a PAGE-certified software product as a publication and print planning (ppp) software specifically written to operate on a particular platform or operating system and assigned a specific version number. Many products use different language compilers to process files within different operating systems or on different hardware platforms. Therefore, to maintain the highest quality standards, PAGE will certify a developer’s product that operates on a particular platform at the current version number. The developer may submit all platforms or as many as he/she chooses for certification. PAGE will evaluate each publication and print planning software product platform on its own merits and will issue a specific certification for that platform if warranted.

For additional information on the PAGE program, contact the PAGE coordinator at the National Customer Support Center at 800-238-3150, x4632. You can also mail questions or comments to:

BMA CERTIFICATION - PAGE
UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE
6060 PRIMACY PKWY STE 201
MEMPHIS TN 38188-0001