Re: Use accessibility conventions...

doesn't seem to be any shortage of this type of information

http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/w3c-wai-ua/1999AprJun/0180.html


-or-

 there is another list of 34 guidelines and the like at:

http://trace.wisc.edu/docs/eitaac/



>This is the checkpoint and the techniques from the Authoring Tool
>Accessibility Guidelines.
>
>Just by the way, review of this is specifically requested by the authoring
>tools group at the momemt, so copying comments to w3c-wai-au@w3.org would be
>appreciated
>
>charles McCN
>
>This comes from
>http://www.w3.org/WAI/AU/WAI-AUTOOLS-19990621/wai-autools-tech#gl-make-acce
>ssible
>
>   1.1 Use all applicable operating system and accessibility standards and
>conventions. [Priority 1]
>
>Techniques:
>
>          + Guidelines for specific platforms include
>              1. "IBM Guidelines for Writing Accessible Applications Using
>100% Pure Java" [JAVA-ACCESS] R. Schwerdtfeger, IBM Special Needs Systems.
>              2. "An ICE Rendezvous Mechanism for X Window System Clients"
>[ICE-RAP], W. Walker. A description of how to use the ICE and RAP
>protocols for X Window
>                 clients.
>              3. "Information for Developers About Microsoft Active
>Accessibility" [MS-ACCESS] Microsoft Corporation.
>              4. "The Inter-Client communication conventions manual"
>[ICCCM]. A protocol for communication between clients in the X Window
>system.
>              5. "Lotus Notes accessibility guidelines" [NOTES-ACCESS] IBM
>Special Needs Systems.
>              6. "Java accessibility guidelines and checklist"
>[JAVA-CHECKLIST] IBM Special Needs Systems.
>              7. "The Java Tutorial. Trail: Creating a GUI with JFC/Swing"
>[JAVA-TUT]. An online tutorial that describes how to use the Swing Java
>Foundation Class to
>                 build an accessible User Interface.
>              8. "Macintosh Human Interface Guidelines" [APPLE-HI] Apple
>Computer Inc.
>              9. "The Microsoft Windows Guidelines for Accessible Software
>Design" [MS-SOFTWARE]. Warning! This is a "self-extracting archive", an
>application that
>                 will probably only run on MS-Windows systems.
>          + Guidelines for specific software types include
>              1. "The Three-tions of Accessibility-Aware HTML Authoring
>Tools" [ACCESS-AWARE], J. Richards.
>              2. "User Agent Accessibility Guidelines (Working Draft)" J.
>Gunderson, I. Jacobs eds. (This is a work in progress) [WAI-USERAGENT]
>          + General guidelines for producing accessible software include:
>              1. "Accessibility for applications designers" [MS-ENABLE]
>Microsoft Corporation.
>              2. "Application Software Design Guidelines" [TRACE-REF]
>compiled by G. Vanderheiden. A thorough reference work.
>              3. "Designing for Accessibility" [SUN-DESIGN] Eric Bergman
>and Earl Johnson. This paper discusses specific disabilities including
>those related to
>                 hearing, vision, and cognitive function.
>              4. "EITACC Desktop Software standards" [EITAAC] Electronic
>Information Technology Access Advisory (EITACC) Committee.
>              5. "Requirements for Accessible Software Design" [ED-DEPT]
>US Department of Education, version 1.1 March 6, 1997.
>              6. "Software Accessibility" [IBM-ACCESS] IBM Special Needs
>Systems
>              7. "Towards Accessible Human-Computer Interaction" [SUN-HCI]
>Eric Bergman, Earl Johnson, Sun Microsytems 1995. A substantial paper,
>with a valuable print
>                 bibliography.
>              8. "What is Accessible Software" [WHAT-IS] James W.
>Thatcher, Ph.D., IBM, 1997. This paper gives a short example-based
>introduction to the difference
>                 between software that is accessible, and software that
>can be used by some assistive technologies.
>          + User Interfaces are sometimes built as web content, and as
>such should follow the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
>[WAI-WEBCONTENT] (See also 3 Support
>            accessible authoring practices )
>          + The following are common requirements for producing accessible
>software. This list does not necessarily cover all requirements for all
>platforms, and items
>            may not be applicable to some software.:
>
>Following Standards
>               o Draw text and objects using system conventions
>               o Make mouse, keyboard, and API activation of events consistent
>               o Provide a User Interface that is "familiar" (to system
>standards, or across platform)
>               o Use system standard indirections wherever possible
>               o Ensure all dialogs, subwindows, etc meet these requirements
>               o Avoid blocking assistive technology functions
>(sticky/mouse keys, screenreader controls, etc) where possible
>
>Configurability
>               o Allow users to create profiles
>               o Allow control of timing, colors, sizes, input/output
>devices and media
>               o Allow users to reshape the user interface - customize
>toolbars, keyboard commands, etc
>
>Input Device Independence
>               o Provide Keyboard access to all functions
>               o Document all keyboard bindings
>               o Provide customizable keyboard shortcuts for common functions
>               o Provide logical navigation order for the keyboard interface.
>               o Avoid repetitive keying wherever possible
>               o Provide mouse access to functions where possible
>
>Icons, Graphics, Sounds
>               o Provide visual (text) equivalents for sound warnings
>               o Allow sounds to be turned off
>               o Provide text equivalents for images/icons
>               o Use customizable (or removable) colors/patterns
>               o Ensure high contrast is available (as default setting)
>               o Provide text equivalents for all audio
>               o Use icons that are resizeable or available in multiple sizes
>
>Layout
>               o Do not rely on color alone for meaning. Use color for
>differentiation, in combination with accessible cues (text equivalents,
>natural language, etc)
>               o Position related text labels and objects consistently,
>and in an obvious manner (labels before objects is recommended)
>               o Group related controls
>               o Ensure default window sizes fit in screen
>               o Allow for window resizing (very small to very large)
>
>User Focus
>               o Clearly identify the user focus (and expose it via API)
>               o moving focus should not cause unexpected events
>               o Allow user control of timing - delays, time-dependent
>response, etc
>               o Allow for navigation between as well as within windows
>
>References:
>
>   [APPLE-HI]
>          "Macintosh Human Interface Guidelines", Apple Computer Inc.
>Available at:
>
>
>http://developer.apple.com/techpubs/mac/HIGuidelines/HIGuidelines-2.html
>
>   [CSS2-ACCESS]
>          "WAI Resources: CSS2 Accessibility Improvements", I. Jacobs and
>J. Brewer, eds. This document, that describes accessibility features in
>CSS2, is available
>          at:
>          http://www.w3.org/WAI/References/CSS2-access
>
>   [ED-DEPT]
>          "Requirements for Accessible Software Design", US Department of
>Education, version 1.1 March 6, 1997. Available at:
>
>          http://ocfo.ed.gov/coninfo/clibrary/software.htm.
>
>   [EITAAC]
>          "EITACC Desktop Software standards", Electronic Information
>Technology Access Advisory (EITACC) Committee. Available at:
>
>trace.wisc.edu/docs/eitacc_desktop_software_standards/desktop_software_stan
>dards.htm
>
>   [HTML4-ACCESS]
>          "WAI Resources: HTML 4.0 Accessibility Improvements", I. Jacobs,
>J. Brewer, and D. Dardailler, eds. This document, that describes
>accessibility features in
>          HTML 4.0, is available at:
>          http://www.w3.org/WAI/References/HTML4-access
>
>   [IBM-ACCESS]
>          "Software Accessibility" IBM Special Needs Systems. Available at:
>
>          http://www.austin.ibm.com/sns/accesssoftware.html
>
>   [ICCCM]
>          "The Inter-Client communication conventions manual". A protocol
>for communication between clients in the X Window system. Available at:
>
>          http://ftp.x.org/pub/R6.3/xc/doc/specs/ICCCM/
>
>   [ICE-RAP]
>          "An ICE Rendezvous Mechanism for X Window System Clients", W.
>Walker. A description of how to use the ICE and RAP protocols for X Window
>clients. Available
>          at:
>
>          http://trace.wisc.edu/docs/x_win_andice/x_andice.htm
>
>   [JAVA-ACCESS]
>          "IBM Guidelines for Writing Accessible Applications Using 100%
>Pure Java", R. Schwerdtfeger, IBM Special Needs Systems. Available at:
>
>          http://www.austin.ibm.com/sns/snsjavag.htm
>
>   [JAVA-CHECKLIST]
>          "Java Accessibility Guidelines and Checklist" IBM Special Needs
>Systems. Available at:
>
>          http://www.austin.ibm.com/sns/accessjava.html
>
>   [JAVA-TUT]
>          "The Java Tutorial. Trail: Creating a GUI with JFC/Swing". An
>online tutorial that describes how to use the Swing Java Foundation Class
>to build an
>          accessible User Interface. Available at:
>
>          http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/uiswing/
>
>   [MS-ACCESS]
>          "Information for Developers About Microsoft Active
>Accessibility" Microsoft Corporation. Available at:
>
>          http://www.microsoft.com/enable/msaa/develop.htm
>
>   [MS-ENABLE]
>          "Accessibility for Applications Designers" Microsoft
>Corporation. Available at:
>
>          http://www.microsoft.com/enable/dev/apps.htm
>
>   [MS-SOFTWARE]
>          "The Microsoft Windows Guidelines for Accessible Software
>Design". Warning! This is a "self-extracting archive", an application that
>will probably only run
>          on MS-Windows systems.
>
>          http://www.microsoft.com/enable/download/winapp23.exe
>
>   [NOTES-ACCESS]
>          "Lotus Notes Accessibility Guidelines" IBM Special Needs
>Systems. Available at:
>
>          http://www.austin.ibm.com/sns/accessnotes.html.
>
>   [SUN-DESIGN]
>          "Designing for Accessibility" Eric Bergman and Earl Johnson.
>This paper discusses specific disabilities including those related to
>hearing, vision, and
>          cognitive function. Available at:
>
>          http://www.sun.com/tech/access/software.guides.html
>
>   [SUN-HCI]
>          "Towards Accessible Human-Computer Interaction" Eric Bergman,
>Earl Johnson, Sun Microsytems 1995. A substantial paper, with a valuable
>print bibliography.
>          Available at:
>
>          http://www.sun.com/tech/access/updt.HCI.advance.html.
>
>   [TRACE-REF]
>          "Application Software Design Guidelines" compiled by G.
>Vanderheiden. A thorough reference work. Available at:
>
>          http://trace.wisc.edu/docs/software_guidelines/software.htm
>
>   [W3C-RECS]
>          "W3C Technical Reports and Publications" The latest versions of
>W3C Recomendations are available at:
>          http://www.w3.org/TR
>
>
>   [WAI-USERAGENT]
>          "User Agent Accessibility Guidelines", J. Gunderson and I.
>Jacobs, eds. These guidelines for designing accessible user agents are
>available at:
>          http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-USERAGENT
>
>   [WAI-WEBCONTENT]
>          "Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0", W. Chisholm, G.
>Vanderheiden, and I. Jacobs, eds. These guidelines for designing
>accessible documents are
>          available at:
>          http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT
>
>   [WHAT-IS]
>          "What is Accessible Software" James W. Thatcher, Ph.D., IBM,
>1997. This paper gives a short example-based introduction to the
>difference between software
>          that is accessible, and software that can be used by some
>assistive technologies. Available at
>
>          http://www.austin.ibm.com/sns/software.html.

Received on Wednesday, 23 June 1999 17:17:12 UTC