Section 508 Wizard Behdad Payami VP, Sales & Marketing Cerenade

Transcription

1 Section 508 Wizard Behdad Payami VP, Sales & Marketing Cerenade Table of Contents INTRODUCTION... 2 WHAT IS SECTION ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGIES... 3 WHAT IS A VPAT... 4 ACCESSIBILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR ELECTRONIC FORMS... 4 MAKING FORMS ACCESSIBLE... 5 SECTION 508 WIZARD... 7 EXHIBIT A - VOLUNTARY PRODUCT ACCESSIBILITY TEMPLATE... 9

2 Introduction Six years after it was enacted, the section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act is just about getting off the ground with mass recognition, acceptance and implementation. We expect to see a surge in purchasing Section 508-compatible products. We also expect to see a great degree of activity in creating electronic forms that are Section-508 compliant. The process of creating Section 508 compliant forms is known as Make Accessible. In 2002, IRS, Plexus and Adobe invested $1 million in making 50 of the IRS forms accessible using Adobe Acrobat 5.0. Whether it was for that hefty sum or maybe for other reasons, the Make Accessible activity nose-dived in More research and development was underway in making tools that could easily and less expensively make forms accessible, and the Section 508 Wizard was born. What you continue to read is information on the Section 508 law, its requirements, and how it affects electronic forms. What is Section 508 Long Version In 1998, Congress amended the Rehabilitation Act to require Federal agencies to make their electronic and information technology accessible to people with disabilities. Inaccessible technology interferes with an individual's ability to obtain and use information quickly and easily. Section 508 was enacted to eliminate barriers in information technology, to make available new opportunities for people with disabilities, and to encourage development of technologies that will help achieve these goals. The law applies to all Federal agencies when they develop, procure, maintain, or use electronic and information technology. Under Section 508 (29 U.S.C. 794d), agencies must give disabled employees and members of the public access to information that is comparable to the access available to others. Short Version Section 508 is a Federal law requiring that all electronic and information technology purchased by the government is accessible for people with disabilities. This affects everything from web sites to videos and multi-media productions, information systems to telecommunications, kiosks to hardware, computers to copiers and fax machines. eforms version Government is required to make available accessible forms and web sites for public use.

3 Assistive Technologies Assistive technology products are specially designed programs and devices that enable individuals with disability or multiple disabilities to effectively use computers. Among all the available assistive technology products in the market, only Screen Readers and Screen Enlargers apply to the electronic forms process. Following is a complete list of assistive technology product groups: For Hearing Impairments Voice recognition products TTY/TDD conversion modems Light Signaler alerts For Language Impairments Screen review utilities Keyboard filters Speech recognition programs Touch screens Speech synthesizers For Learning Impairments Word prediction programs Reading comprehension programs Reading tools and learning disabilities programs Speech synthesizers Speech recognition programs Talking and large print word processors For Mobility Impairments On-screen keyboard programs Keyboard filters Touch screens Speech recognition systems (voice recognition programs) Alternative input devices Alternative keyboards Electronic pointing devices Sip-and-puff systems Wands and sticks Joysticks Trackballs For Visual Impairments Screen enlargers (or screen magnifiers) Screen readers Speech recognition systems Speech synthesizers Refreshable Braille displays Braille embossers Talking and large-print word processors

4 What is a VPAT VPAT stands for Voluntary Product Accessibility Template. The purpose of the Voluntary Product Accessibility Template is to assist you in making preliminary assessments regarding vendor products and services with features that support accessibility. A vendor s response to questions on a VPAT details the support the vendor offers for accessibility in his products. Note that only sections , , of VPAT apply to vendors of electronic forms products. Since there are no agencies that would certify a product s compliance with Section 508 requirements, vendors should self-certify Section 508 compliance using a VPAT for each of their products. Please See Appendix A for a blank VPAT. Accessibility Requirements for Electronic Forms Accessibility requirements for electronic forms are outlined in sections , , of VPAT. Here we will expand some of these requirements and discuss what they mean and how they should be implemented: (c) A well-defined on-screen indication of the current focus shall be provided that moves among interactive interface elements as the input focus changes. The focus shall be programmatically exposed so that Assistive Technology can track focus and focus changes. This requirement is to make sure that: 1) Fields in focus are easily identified by the user 2) The Assistive Product (in this case: Screen Reader) should be informed of the change in focus. The Screen Reader will then provide more information about the field in focus to the user (d) Sufficient information about a user interface element including the identity, operation and state of the element shall be available to Assistive Technology. When an image represents a program element, the information conveyed by the image must also be available in text. This requirement deals primarily with announcing the type of object when user enters a field. In addition, this requirement asks for verbalizing the behavior of the following objects as the user interacts with them: Checkbox When user enters this field, the state of the checkbox (On/Off) should be announced. In addition, as the user changes the state of the checkbox from On to Off or Off to On, it should be stated as such. Drop List As the user navigates through the options of a Drop List, the option should be announced. In addition, user should be made aware when the end of the list is reached. Edit User should be given real-time feedback as the user edits the text in an edit field. Image As user skips over an image, the image should be described to the user. Barcode, Formatted fields, Date, Time, etc. User should be made aware of the type of bar code, and the valid characters that can be entered into the barcode. Table As user moves from one cell of the table to the next, the header information for the column and row should be announced.

5 (b) At least one mode of operation and information retrieval that does not require visual acuity greater than 20/70 shall be provided in audio and enlarged print output working together or independently, or support for Assistive Technology used by people who are visually impaired shall be provided. In other words, form should provide zooming facility so user can zoom in to better read the document. This feature is mainly used by users with poor vision (f) At least one mode of operation and information retrieval that does not require fine motor control or simultaneous actions and that is operable with limited reach and strength shall be provided. In other words, make shortcut keys available for all operations. Try to stay away from key combinations like <CTRL>S for Save. Using <F1> to save, for example, works better for users with limited motor control. Making Forms Accessible Forms have several layers: Template, Interactive, Non-Interactive, and Scripting. Here is a brief description of each layer: Template Interactive Non-Interactive Scripting This is the form with no editable objects on it. The form is simply printable. This layer is comprised of objects (Edit, Date, Drop List, Tables, Date, etc.) that user can interact with. The form can be filled and printed. Objects on the form whose values are calculated based on values of other objects on the same form. This layer is considered to be the additional intelligence behind the form. In order to make a form accessible you should create a top-down flow of information in the form as it should be conveyed to the users. This top-down flow is also referred to as the Accessibility Tree, or simply tree. The tree represents the flow of fields (tabbing order) and the flow of instruction that should be spoken. In building the accessibility tree several issues have to be considered: 1) How to make the interactive layer accessible This process is automatically coordinated between your form application and your screen reader. It is simpler if, as being designed, forms can be accessible and screen reader-aware. 2) How to make the template layer accessible Depending on how it is created, template of a form could be naturally accessible. If not, then the form designer should take the extra steps of putting the text fields in the order they should be spoken. The process of making the template layer accessible is easily handled by the Section 508 Wizard. 3) How to add additional instructions not found in the template layer As users move from one field or one section of the form to the next, additional instructions may be needed to guide them through completion of the form. The additional instruction can be added to the form as Field Help or as additional text fields. Regardless of how the additional instruction is created, Section 508 Wizard can easily integrate them into the accessibility tree

6 4) What to do with the intelligence on the form For sure the scripting used to make a form intelligent has to be made accessible. In other words, the form should describe algorithms and scripts used in the form to provide additional intelligence in a meaningful fashion to the user. For Example: A script such as this: Tax = Sub_Total *.075 should be explained to the user in this fashion: Tax is 7.5 percent of the total purchase price. 5) How to maintain an accessible form Most designer programs complicate this process and make a huge deal out of it. Some require you to re-design the accessibility tree from scratch, which is very time consuming, and labor intensive. Section 508 Wizard has made this a no-brainer. As text on the form changes, or as objects are removed from the form the accessibility tree is automatically updated. The only time, you would need to modify the accessibility tree is when a new text or field is added to the form. The maintenance, therefore, is nominal to none.

7 Section 508 Wizard Wizard is a tool developed mainly out of frustration from making PDF forms accessible. The whole idea behind the Wizard is to make a ton of forms accessible in a short period of time using simple drag and drop. Building the accessibility tree is therefore limited to identifying which text or group of texts and at which point in the flow should be spoken. The Wizard does the rest. A complete demo of the Section 508 Wizard is provided during the presentation. Reorder, delete text fields or field help to accessibility tree When user enters the EMPLOYEE field, this text will be spoken in the order specified.

8 Resources In this writing I have referenced the following sources. You are encouraged to visit the following sites to gather more information about the different subjects that interest you. Types of Assistive Technology Products ( Information for Assistive Technology Manufacturers ( Buy Accessible ( Accessibility Forum ( Quick Reference Guide to Section Resource Documents This Quick Reference Guide is intended to assist government officials in making informed decisions about Section 508 related procurement.

9 Exhibit A - Voluntary Product Accessibility Template Section Software Applications and Operating Systems Keyboard Access (a) When software is designed to run on a system that has a keyboard, product functions shall be executable from a keyboard where the function itself or the result of performing a function can be discerned textually. Accessibility Features (b) Applications shall not disrupt or disable activated features of other products that are identified as accessibility features, where those features are developed and documented according to industry standards. Applications also shall not disrupt or disable activated features of any operating system that are identified as accessibility features where the application programming interface for those accessibility features had been documented by the manufacturer of the operating system and is available to the product developer. OnNoscreen focus and tracking (c) A well-defined on-screen indication of the current focus shall be provided that moves among interactive interface elements as the input focus changes. The focus shall be programmatically exposed so that assistive technology can track focus and focus changes. Information about user interface elements (d) Sufficient information about a user interface element including the identity, operation and state of the element shall be available to assistive technology. When an image represents a program element, the information conveyed by the image must also be available in text. Consistent Meaning of Images (e) When bitmap images are used to identify controls, status indicators, or other programmatic elements, the meaning assigned to those images shall be consistent throughout an application's performance. Availability of textual information (f) Textual information shall be provided through operating system functions for displaying text. The minimum information that shall be made available is text content, text input caret location, and text attributes. Contrast and color settings (g) Applications shall not override user selected contrast and color selections and other individual display attributes. Animation (h) When animation is displayed, the information shall be displayable in at least one nonanimated presentation mode at the option of the user. Color Coding (i) Color coding shall not be used as the only means of conveying information, indicating an action, prompting a response, or distinguishing a visual element.

10 Variety of color selections (j) When a product permits a user to adjust color and contrast settings, a variety of color selections capable of producing a range of contrast levels shall be provided. Flash or blink frequency (k) Software shall not use flashing or blinking text, objects, or other elements having a flash or blink frequency greater than 2 Hz and lower than 55 Hz. Interaction with electronic forms (l) When electronic forms are used, the form shall allow people using assistive technology to access the information, field elements, and functionality required for completion and submission of the form, including all directions and cues. Section Web-based Intranet and Internet information and applications ALT Tags (a) A text equivalent for every non-text element shall be provided (e.g., via "alt", "longdesc", or in element content). Multimedia alternatives (b) Equivalent alternatives for any multimedia presentation shall be synchronized with the presentation. Color information on Web pages (c) Web pages shall be designed so that all information conveyed with color is also available without color, for example from context or markup. Reliance on style sheets (d) Documents shall be organized so they are readable without requiring an associated style sheet. Server-side image maps (e) Redundant text links shall be provided for each active region of a server-side image map. Client-side image maps (f) Client-side image maps shall be provided instead of server-side image maps except where the regions cannot be defined with an available geometric shape. Data table headers (g) Row and column headers shall be identified for data tables. Data table markup (h) Markup shall be used to associate data cells and header cells for data tables that have two or more logical levels of row or column headers. Frame titles (i) Frames shall be titled with text that facilitates frame identification and navigation.

11 Screen Flicker (j) Pages shall be designed to avoid causing the screen to flicker with a frequency greater than 2 Hz and lower than 55 Hz. Equivalent Information (k) A text-only page, with equivalent information or functionality, shall be provided to make a web site comply with the provisions of this part, when compliance cannot be accomplished in any other way. The content of the text- only page shall be updated whenever the primary page changes. Scripting languages (l) When pages utilize scripting languages to display content, or to create interface elements, the information provided by the script shall be identified with functional text that can be read by assistive technology. Link to required applications (m) When a web page requires that an applet, plug-in or other application be present on the client system to interpret page content, the page must provide a link to a plug-in or applet that complies with / (a) through (l). Interaction with electronic forms (n) When electronic forms are designed to be completed on-line, the form shall allow people using assistive technology to access the information, field elements, and functionality required for completion and submission of the form, including all directions and cues. Repetitive links (o) A method shall be provided that permits users to skip repetitive navigation links. Timed response (p) When a timed response is required, the user shall be alerted and given sufficient time to indicate more time is required.