ADA Accessibility features?

jdaniel

Our university is refusing to host our CollectiveAccess database because it doesn't comply with web standard accessibility features. Is there an add-on for this? Or is it planned for a future release? Or do I need to do that myself? 

Thanks,

John

seth

Which features are they referring to precisely?

jdaniel

Just basic accessibility factors - alt tags on images, input fields having true labels, correctly specifying language, etc. This accessibility checker (http://achecker.ca/checker/index.php) reports 10 problems just on the login page. They aren't major changes. I could do it myself if my customer wants to pay for it. 

seth

Ok, I see. The default theme is really meant as a starting point, and you can add the alt tags as you see fit. 

We're working on a major update to Pawtucket, and the default theme there will be more generally accessible (and responsive). You might want to start working with that code, or you may elect to create an accessible theme for the current Pawtucket.  The former is still a bit of a moving target, but it's a lot nicer than old-Pawtucket.

gautier

I've played a bit with accessibility features and Pawtucket 1, you can take a look at http://demo.idcultu.re if you can grab some words in french :

- the aim was to cope with french accessibility standards (RGEE, Accessiweb), and reach a bronze level

- we added a dedicated help page, accesskeys, and so on

- everything was tested with Jaws and Voice-over (note : the tilepic image viewer reacts well with keyboard inputs)

- we used wave and opquast for some tests too

We worked on it with the centich (a french expertise center for handicap & technologies).

All of this was done for testing and practising only, as the way for us to learn more on accessibility standards. I can send you the patched default theme but think of it as a starting point, not a solution.

Seth remarks is the right path, pawtucket2 is way nicer. I didn't took the time for now to check its accessibility level but that's definitely a target for me.

jdaniel

seth,

I actually haven't made it to Pawtucket yet. We are still constructing the archive with Providence. 

gautier,

Thanks for the offer, but we haven't made it that far. I checked that site and looked at the advanced search page. It is still using div elements for labels. That is one of the key things that I think need to be fixed. 

Unfortunately, I don't have access to the criteria being used to judge accessibility. I am just guessing based on a couple of things I know and I know CollectiveAccess (Providence) doesn't support them.