Section 508 requirements for Federal Website Design

1
Section 508 requirements for Federal Website
Design

• Jon Brundage

Jonwind_at_windcompany.com
MDCFUG www.cfug-md.org
4/10/01
2
What is it?

• accessibility standards for
  electronic and information technology as applied
  to Internet and Intranet websites
• 16 standards
• Under the law, all Federal websites must comply
  by June 21, 2001.

3
The first 8 paragraphs
4
The 2nd 8 paragraphs
5
Dealing with Paragraph a
"A text equivalent for every non-text element
shall be provided (e.g., via "alt",
"longdesc", or in element content)."

• For existing sites, Studio extend find will
  help you locate image tags.
• In Dreamweaver/UltraDev 4, create a site map.
  Open the Site window, click Reports(Site menu)
  and check missing ALT text under the HTML
  reports folder.
• For stored images drawn from your data source,
  store alt text with the image
• ltimg srcimage_pathaltimage_descriptiongt

6
Dealing with paragraph b
"Equivalent alternatives for any multimedia
presentation shall be synchronized with the
presentation."

• Provide a text transcript of any audio
  presentation and a link to the text file
• RealAudio and other streaming media are coming
  out with captioning.

7
Dealing with paragraph c
"Web pages shall be designed so that all
information conveyed with color is also available
without color, for example from context or
markup."

• Design your pages so that navigation does not
  depend on identifying specific colors
• There are websites that check your pages use of
  colors
• http//www.vischeck.com
• http//labs.bt.com/people/rigdense/colours/
• Keep in mind that many visitors are color blind!

8
Dealing with paragraph d
"Documents shall be organized so they are
readable without requiring an associated style
sheet."

• Instead of using a style sheet, set the page
  attributes in an application.cfm page.
• Style sheets can still be used, but the page must
  still be able to be viewed clearly if the style
  sheet is missing.

9
Dealing with paragraph e
"Redundant text links shall be provided for each
active region of a server-side image map."

• Use client-side image maps (see paragraph f)
• server side image maps were used before the
  advent of newer browsers, and if you must use one
  provide an alternate text link.

10
Dealing with paragraph 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."

• Similar to paragraph a, provide alt text
  description with areas of image maps.

11
Dealing with paragraph g
"Row and column headers shall be identified for
data tables."

• Use the CAPTION element and the SUMMARY attribute
  ltTABLE summaryThis table displays the model
  type and count of each auto in stock.gt
• Use the THEAD and HEADER CELL ID attributes
• This link gives an explanation of table design
  for non-visual rendering http//www.w3.org/TR/htm
  l4/struct/tables.htmlnon-visual-rendering

12
Dealing with paragraph 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."

• (same solutions as paragraph g)

13
Dealing with paragraph i
"Frames shall be titled with text that
facilitates frame identification and
navigation."

• EXAMPLEltFRAMESET COLS"20,"gtltFRAME NAME"Menu
  area, this frame does not change throughout this
  site." SRC"menu.htm"gtltFRAME NAME"Main page, the
  requested content appears in this frame."
  RC"mainpage.htm"gt lt/FRAMESETgt
• Note that the long description will make your
  links to the the target frame lengthy ltA
  hrefform.cfm targetMain page, the requested
  content appears in this frame.gt
• The Board that set the Section 508 requirements
  doesnt like frames!
• Use of tables can create a page layout that looks
  like a framed page when it is in fact a non-frame
  page. Use ltCFINCLUDEgt as a tool to aid you.

14
Dealing with paragraph j
"Pages shall be designed to avoid causing the
screen to flicker with a frequency greater than 2
Hz and lower than 55 Hz."

• NO BLINKING TEXT
• Use caution with FLASH movies
• Marquee text areas cannot be interpreted by
  screen readers.

15
Dealing with paragraph 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."

• The main point is that text alternatives must be
  kept current with your regular pages.

16
Dealing with paragraph 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."

• Use a ltNOSCRIPTgt tag after the script code
• ltNOSCRIPTgt"This element requires that javascript
  is enabled in order to function correctly. It
  displays the date this page was last updated. No
  further information is provided."lt/NOSCRIPTgt

17
Dealing with paragraph 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 1194.21(a) through (l)."

• Provide a full explanation of the type of
  plug-in, and a link to the download page where
  the user may obtain the plug-in
• Download the registration form here in Adobe
  Acrobat (.pdf) format. If you need the free
  Acrobat reader, go here to download.

18
Dealing with paragraph 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."

• If you look at the detailed description of this
  requirement in the VBA site pages, you will
  notice that the standard is a bit fuzzy! What
  the board wants is to ensure that any form layout
  can be interpreted by assistive technologies.

19
Dealing with paragraph 0
"A method shall be provided that permits users to
skip repetitive navigation links."

• Add a tag just after the ltBODYgt tag that jumps to
  an anchor at the beginning of your pages
  content
• lta href"content"gtSkip to contentlt/agt

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Dealing with paragraph p
"When a timed response is required, the user
shall be alerted and given sufficient time to
indicate more time is required."

• This is another requirement that the Board is
  fuzzy on. Their website does not have an
  example. Possible solutions include coding form
  pages with a ltCFLOCATIONgt tag to direct visitors
  to a warning page if they are about to time out,
  or a javascript to display an alert message.

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Conclusion
The Federal Government has recognized the need
for greater access to websites by people with
disabilities. As web developers it is our
responsibility to reach the widest audience
possible by designing pages that can be used by
visitors with disabilities. This is not only the
right thing to do but is in our own interests
because we are in the business of communicating
with as many people as possible.
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Links

• http//www.advancedperipheral.com/
• http//www.tni.be/english/e_products.html
• http//www.resna.org/
• http//www.4access.com/
• http//www.section508.gov/index.html
• http//www.w3.org/TR/html4/struct/tables.htmlnon-
  visual-rendering