[NABS-L] Uploading documents with web application forms

[Sami Osborne]

Hi all,

I am applying to graduate schools to start attending next spring, and part of the application process for one of the schools I'm applying to requires me to directly upload documents such as my school transcript. Unfortunately, though, while I'm able to fill out the other parts of the application (answering questions and checking boxes), that particular part for uploading documents is not accessible at all. I tried to do it using my iPhone, and when I clicked on the Upload button, VoiceOver sent me an alert from Safari asking me to select which documents I wanted to upload, but then nothing happened when I double tapped on it. Even worse, I couldn't navigate the page at all, and couldn't even advance or reverse webpages—both the Back and Forward buttons from Safari were dimmed.
My dad believes that a website with this accessibility issue are not 508-comliant, but I'm not sure I agree with him since I've never had experience with this sort of thing before. It seems to me that uploading documents to a webpage might be better equipped for a sighted person to handle, since all they have to do is maneuver between their chosen document and the form using the mouse.

So I was just wondering whether anyone has run into this issue before. If so, what did you do to resolve it?

I hope to hear from someone soon.

Thank you very much for your help, and I hope everyone is enjoying the start to their semesters despite the current global circumstances.

Sami