[nfbcs] University of Minnesota Site Accessibility

Mon Jun 22 03:38:29 UTC 2015

No, there isn't any software that does even part of that.  It's the 
level of expertise a screen reader user has and also software very 
probably cannot detect proprietary controls that show no text.  One 
thing no software package can do reliably is detect when only color is 
being used to communicate meaning.  An error comes up on a form most of 
the form is blue but one entry is red as an example.  The software first 
has to detect that an error state got entered then detect and point out 
which error shows up in what color as opposed to the colors on the rest 
of the form.  Too much intelligence is needed for that.  A form design 
like that is bad for another reason any software package that did 
testing would likely also fail to point out.  When you have exception 
situations, it helps to clear the rest of the screen real estate and 
show each error separately.  That makes it easier to locate and correct.

On Sat, 20 Jun 2015, Nicole Torcolini wrote:

> Date: Sat, 20 Jun 2015 19:07:27
> From: Nicole Torcolini <ntorcolini at wavecable.com>
> To: 'NFB in Computer Science Mailing List' <nfbcs at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: 'Jude DaShiell' <jdashiel at panix.com>,
>     'Nancy Coffman' <nancy.l.coffman at gmail.com>
> Subject: RE: [nfbcs] University of Minnesota Site Accessibility
> 
> Is it any wonder that more accessibility testing is not done? I know that
> accessibility testing is important, but testing of that type is not going to
> scale. First, although it is sometimes necessary to get the law involved, it
> is better to first try just talking about it. Second, a more scalable
> approach would be to have some sort of software do the testing and give
> results. No, I do not think that there is any software out there yet that
> does everything that a human would do, but, sometimes, websites are so bad
> that almost anything would help.
>
> Nicole
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nfbcs [mailto:nfbcs-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Jude DaShiell via
> nfbcs
> Sent: Saturday, June 20, 2015 2:09 PM
> To: Nancy Coffman via nfbcs
> Cc: Jude DaShiell; Nancy Coffman
> Subject: Re: [nfbcs] University of Minnesota Site Accessibility
>
> A proper web functional accessibility test needs doing and the test needs to
> be documented first.
> The test will need at least one accessibility equipped machine the more the
> merrier if each machine has different accessibility stuff on it one might
> have jaws; a second might have Window-Eyes, a third might have Magic and a
> fourth might have nvda.  Once the offending software can be accessed by each
> machine the next thing that's needed is for an experienced user to write up
> use plans to be run on each machine.  The same plan has to be run on each
> machine.  Next, an experienced user of the accessibility equipment on each
> of those machines will be needed.
> Next an accessibility specialist who knows how to do web functional
> accessibility testing will be needed.  They will ask the user to do
> everything in the use plan and document what they see and what they hear in
> writing.  Accessibility violations get documented in that process as well
> when something doesn't work the same way and communicate over the screen
> reader or magnification devices on the accessibility testing machines.  The
> documenting of those tests will need time stamps put on each page.  Next,
> the offending software's manufacturer's vpat statements for each software
> package will have to be obtained and compared with the documentation
> generated by the accessibility tester for accuracy.  Inaccurate vpat's along
> with documentation of accessibility tool's versions and computer
> specifications so far as computer performance capabilities and types of
> computers will also have to be documented.
> Once all of this material is put together and properly typed up, the
> accessibility specialist can tag each violation with its specific statute
> sitation.  Once that's been done, it's time to put it into a proper
> complaint form and put that material up on the Department Of Justice's web
> accessibility complaint form.  Of course, identities of all participants in
> the work and dates of performance will also have to be documented.  Once
> that's done some things should start happening in Washington D.C.
>
> On Wed, 17 Jun 2015, Nancy Coffman via nfbcs wrote:
>
>> Date: Wed, 17 Jun 2015 18:32:42
>> From: Nancy Coffman via nfbcs <nfbcs at nfbnet.org>
>> To: NFB in Computer Science Mailing List <nfbcs at nfbnet.org>
>> Cc: Nancy Coffman <nancy.l.coffman at gmail.com>
>> Subject: Re: [nfbcs] University of Minnesota Site Accessibility
>>
>> PeopleSoft has a long history of selling inaccessible software to colleges
> and government agencies. How can we expose them and the way they ignore the
> law, illeglly selling inaccessible software to agencies with a promise that
> meets section 508?
>>
>> Nancy Coffman
>> Sent from my iPhone
>>
>>> On Jun 11, 2015, at 9:02 AM, Jude DaShiell via nfbcs <nfbcs at nfbnet.org>
> wrote:
>>>
>>> I tried it with lynx on linux and couldn't do it, but in the class search
> section you have a link that is labeled accessible format which may enable
> you to do your searching with the technology at hand.
>>>
>>>> On Tue, 19 May 2015, Kevin Fjelsted via nfbcs wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Date: Tue, 19 May 2015 07:59:07
>>>> From: Kevin Fjelsted via nfbcs <nfbcs at nfbnet.org>
>>>> To: NFB in Computer Science Mailing List <nfbcs at nfbnet.org>
>>>> Cc: Kevin Fjelsted <kfjelsted at gmail.com>
>>>> Subject: [nfbcs] University of Minnesota Site Accessibility Recently
>>>> the University of Minnesota upgraded there entire online registration
> system by purchasing an externally developed software package from
> PeopleSoft.
>>>> Before this upgrade I was able with 98% accessibility to search for
> classes perform online registration tasks, make online book  and fee
> payments, view my unofficial transcript, and a myriad of other tasks.
>>>> Since the system change I would estimate that the site is less than ten
> percent accessible.
>>>> I have a number of options for browsers and screen readers including
> JAWS with IE, JAWS with Firefox, Safari with Voiceover both on the Mac and
> IOS devices, Google Chrome with the Chromevox screenreader extension, NVDA
> with firefox.
>>>> Some of the tasks require a log on, however some do not.
>>>> I would be interested in getting some other feedback and opinions on the
> site. Is there anyone that can try the "class Search" function?
>>>> This function should permit one to see the classes offered in a
> particular term by a particular department.
>>>> To do this, go to
>>>> http://onestop.umn.edu <http://onestop.umn.edu/>
>>>>
>>>> Under the "tools" section there is a link called "Class Search".
>>>>
>>>> This link does not require a log on.
>>>> Once one has clicked on  this option one must select  the institution.
>>>> I attempted to choose Twin Cities/Rochester in the combo box. Windows
> crashed miserably especially with IE. OSX Safari/VO worked the best.
> Chrome/Chromevox went into repeated loops of talking and froze the browser.
>>>> I then chose "summer 2015" for the term in the next combo box with
> similar results.
>>>> I then went to the subject field and typed in "CSCI" for computer
> science. There seems to be some sort of selector hear from which one is
> actually supposed to pick a subject, however this access appears to be
> nonexistent.
>>>>
>>>> I then went to the "Show Open Classes Only" field and unchecked this
> box.
>>>> On IE the entire system crashes as soon as I uncheck the box. Safari was
> fine. Chrome froze the speech engine.
>>>> I Then chose Minneapolis for the campus.
>>>> The rest of the fields I left as default and clicked on search.
>>>> Once the search screen came up (which I could only achieve on Safari), I
> found that the table structure for viewing the data was very difficult to
> navigate.
>>>> If anyone can get to this screen on another platform I would appreciate
> feedback on how easy the class information is to view. For instance, can one
> see the instructor field for a given class?
>>>>
>>>> It appears that the class list is broken up into separate tables for
> each class which means that one cannot continually navigate down a list of
> classes with navigation controls. How does this work on other platforms?
>>>> Thanks.
>>>> -Kevin
>>>>
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>>>
>>> --
>>>
>>>
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