Information Regarding Accessibility (Section 508)

General Description

This BLAF accessibility guideline summarizes BLAF compliance to accessibility standards, points to internal and external accessibility resources, and points to initial research conducted within the UI group regarding accessibility standards. The goal of this guideline is to inform UI designers and development teams of how BLAF guidelines are compliant with accessibility requirements.

This guideline document is organized as follows:

• BLAF UI Guidelines Accessibility Compliance
• General Principles
• BLAF Accessibility Compliance Summary
• Resources
• Internal Oracle ADA Resources
• External Accessibility Resources
• Open/Closed Issues

Guideline Attributes

BLAF UI Guidelines Accessibility Compliance

General Principles

There are many resources with detailed tips and guidelines on ADA accessibility compliance and web page development. For a recap of some of these tips, see initial W3C standards research, and for internal Oracle developers, Oracle Accessibility Program. This guideline document summarizes specific BLAF UI implementation recommendations and provides links to internal and external resources.

Research and Definitions

It is a federal requirement that Oracle web-based applications and guidelines are compliant with Section 508; federal procurement officers may not purchase electronic and information technologies that are not accessible to people with disabilities. This act ensures that people with disabilities will have equity in the use of electronic and information technology. From documentation found on the web, it is reported that 10-20% of many populations are affected with disabilities (not all are web accessibility issues, but many). For more details, see Initial Accessibility Definitions, Who is Affected by Accessibility Issues, and Oracle Accessibility Program.

Accessibility Mode

UIX supports an Accessibility Mode API which allows the level of accessibility support to be personalized. By default, UIX generates accessible HTML for all users. Currently three different levels or modes are supported:

• Accessible Mode (default): Meets the standards required for compliance with Section 508.
• Screenreader Mode: Specialized mode to take advantage of screen reader assistance technology.
• Inaccessible Mode: For the general population who do not need accessibility features or assistance technology. Use of this mode results in the most streamlined code.

If the application is set in one of the accessibility modes (Accessible or Screenreader), elements of the UI may be streamlined for Section 508 compliance or to take advantage of specific assistance technologies (currently limited to screen readers). For example, redundant links that may aid a sighted user but be confusing to a non-sighted user are turned off.

Note: A fourth mode, Low Vision mode, is under investigation to improve accessibility for people with low vision disabilities who use screen magnifier assistance technology. For these users, disabled UI elements (such as disabled buttons or tabs) may not have enough contrast to be visible. However, increasing the contrast between colors for these elements may cause people without disabilities to think the element is active or enabled. If Low Vision mode is implemented, certain colors may be changed in this mode, but not in other modes (if implemented, the Text and CSS Guideline will provide details).

BLAF recommends implementation of an end-user preference setting (in the global Preferences area) to allow the user to personalize his or her level of accessibility support for all his/her applications. See the Preferences Global Page section of the Global Page Templates guideline for details regarding end-user preferences. Also see the Accessibility section of the UIX Developer's Guide for more details.

BLAF Accessibility Compliance Summary

Given these external accessibility standards and Oracle's corporate stance, BLAF UI guidelines has chosen specific UI implementation recommendations to be compliant. Below is a summary. See individual guidelines listed below for details.

• A No Frames environment is recommended for all BLAF applications. See HTML Frame Option guideline for details.
• No auditory elements are used in BLAF applications, as of summer 2002.
• Color is not used as the only indicator of a UI issue. Color may be used as an indicator when combined with other visual information such as an icon. As example, see Inline Messaging and Tips guideline.
• The Color Palette and Color Usage Guideline ensures proper contrast of colors when used correctly.
• A Language in UI guideline is provided for common terms and vocabulary to be used throughout BLAF applications. This includes proper language and style for hypertext; such as providing specific information as hyperlinks and avoiding the usage of "click here".
• Unnecessary usage of tables for layout purposes has been avoided. When tables must be used for layout purposes, the HTML code provided by the UIX Team is properly identified to facilitate accessibility.
• BLAF guidelines follow Browser and System Requirements to ensure that applications are accessible in mainstream corporate settings.
• BLAF guidelines strictly prohibit the use of redirects, auto-refreshing, or timed redraws (i.e., page redraws that are not initiated by the user are prohibited.). This is specially important when the user has set Accessibility Mode in their application Preferences.
• Application time outs at a significant length are acceptable for security purposes.
• BLAF guidelines do not support third party embedded applications at this time.
• If a product is using third party imbedded applications that are not accessible, please ensure compliancy with Oracle's accessibility contacts.
• BLAF guidelines follow Oracle's internal accessibility standards.
• BLAF guidelines offer many UI components and component templates that ensure consistency and clarity of context, page navigation, page organization, and page orientation. See the Tabs/Navigation, Locator Element: Breadcrumb, Locator Element: Step by Step Train, and Header Component guidelines for more details and examples.
• Animations are not used in BLAF applications, with the exception of the continuous processing clock icon (See the Processing Templates guideline for details).
• All images should use the alt tag. The alt tag may provide further UI information to all users, in addition to providing for accessibility. See Inline Messaging Tips, Hints, and Bubble Text for rollover guideline information. Other images used in BLAF should also have an alt tag, such as Ancillary Graphic Style, Branding Area, and Advertising Usage. Also see the Icon Repository for BLAF for examples of appropriate alt text for Tab icons.
• BLAF is supported by the Text (CSS) Standards guideline, derived from the master XSS file. The XSS file is compliant with accessibility and internationalization standards. The XSS file does not specify absolute values, so text can be scaled based on browser menu settings and user preferences.
• For graphs, charts, specific icons identification, and abbreviations, BLAF recommends usage of Key Notation.
• BLAF specifies keyboard shortcuts that are accessibility compliant. The Keyboard Shortcuts guideline contains recommendations for mnemonics, default cursor/focus placement, as well as tab index (tab traversal). Note that all mnemonics are associated with action/navigation buttons, and that each button with mnemonics must include ALT text to specify the shortcut key.
• BLAF does not recommend mouse only functionality, or mouse over rollovers (with JavaScript, for example.) These web techniques are not accessible.
• Standard Web widgets and Content Layout Templates are provided in BLAF to ensure accessible label data relationships.
• BLAF Instruction Text guidelines ensure that users with or without disabilities understand the task at hand and how to complete a given page.
• Usage of secondary windows is almost eliminated in BLAF guidelines. Usability results have proven problems with heavy secondary window usage in browser applications. In rare cases (when specified) a secondary window is used; modality must be applied to the secondary window. How to determine appropriate secondary window usage:
• Is the secondary window just providing an alternative method for input that to one in the primary window? If so, use of a secondary window is OK.
• Does the use of a secondary window significantly improve usability (measurable success)? For example, providing "Help" in a secondary window provides the user with side-by-side help while performing a task. If so, then use of a secondary window is OK (however, an option should be provided in the user preferences to allow this to be turned "Off.")
• If none of the above situations is the case, secondary window usage should be avoided.
• All coding standards regarding accessibility requirements are handled by UIX Team web bean development, and Applications Technology group API's.

Resources

Internal Oracle ADA Resources

• Oracle Accessibility Program (Oracle Internal developers only.)
  This website lists all information necessary regarding accessibility issues for all applications and all technology stacks at Oracle.
• Internal Accessibility Checker - Oracle Accessibility Checker (OAC)
  This is a tool for internal Oracle use only to check whether code is Section 508 compliant or not.
• Internal Accessibility Checklist
  This is an internal Oracle checklist.

External Accessibility Resources

• www.access-board.gov/
  This is the web site for the U.S. Access board: Accessibility for People with Disabilities.
• http://216.218.205.189/sec508/brochure.htm
  U.S. Access board, "Section 508 Facts - Understanding Section 508 and the Access Board's Standards"
• www.access-board.gov/508.htm Information Technology Access Advisory Committee, Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Standards guide to Section 508
• www.section508.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Content&ID=75
  "Section 508 Acquisition FAQ's - Acquisition of Electronic and Information Technology Under Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act": Update: January 2002"
• www.access-board.gov/sec508/commrept/eitaacrpt.htm
  Proposed Standards from the "Electronic and Information Technology Access Advisory Committee: Final Report (May 12, 1999)" - these standards have been broken down by General Standards for Accessibility and Technical Standards.
• www.w3.org/WAI/
  This is the Web site for Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) by the W3C
• www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/
  This is the WAI: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 (May 5, 1999) - many of the above recommendations have been excerpted from this web site.
• www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/full-checklist.html
  This is the checklist of content accessibility that refers to the WAI: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0.
• www.w3.org/WAI/References/QuickTips/
  This is a quick tips sheet based on content from the WAI: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0.
• www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT-TECHS/
  This document is "the gateway to a series of related documents that provide techniques for satisfying the requirements defined in "Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0" (May 5, 1999)
• www.w3.org/1999/05/WCAG-REC-fact
  This document contains frequently asked questions regarding the WAI: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0.
• www.w3.org/TR/ATAG10/
  This is the W3C - Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 (Feb 3, 2000) web site. This specification provides guidelines for Web authoring tool developers. Its purpose is two-fold: to assist developers in designing authoring tools that produce accessible Web content and to assist developers in creating an accessible authoring interface.
• www.w3.org/2000/02/ATAG-FAQ
  This document contains frequently asked questions regarding the WAI: Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines 1.0.

Open Issues


15-Nov-2003: Possible addition of Low Vision Mode for users of screen magnifiers. This would require additions or changes to styles in the BLAF CSS.

07-Oct-2002 - For V3.0, and forward:
• Investigating improvements to Accessibility Mode to improve user experience for ability challenged users. Attention should be paid to tab order to minimize tab focus on non-functional elements.



Closed Issues

24-Oct-2003: Redundant links will be removed in accessibility mode
15-Jan-2003 - Added reference to ALT text for mnemonics.
25-Jul-2000 - Initial accessibility research removed from this document and placed in Initial Research document.
25-Jul-2000 - Accessibility stance of BLAF UI recapped in this guideline.
25-Jul-2000 - Internal oracle accessibility web sites pointed to in this guideline.
08-Feb-2000 - How does this web-based guideline documentation need to be compliant with the ADA requirements? -

• The web-based guidelines document needs to be web accessible.
• The web-based guidelines need to use "alt" tag attributes to each "image" tag describing the graphic on the guideline page.
08-Feb-2000 - Will this web-based guidelines documentation be accessible to clients or customers outside of Oracle? If yes, this may affect how much work needs to be done to make these guidelines ADA compliant.
• As of 8-Feb-2000 these web-based guidelines are accessible only to internal Oracle UI designers, developers, management, and consultants.