Topologi Collaborative Markup Editor 2.0 and Topologi Professional Edition 2.0

Voluntary Product Accessibility Template

The purpose of the Voluntary Product Accessibility Template is to assist Federal contracting officials in making preliminary assessments regarding the availability of commercial Electronic and Information Technology products and services with features that support accessibility. It is assumed that offerers will provide additional contact information to facilitate more detailed inquiries.

The first table of the Template provides a summary view of the section 508 Standards. The subsequent tables provide more detailed views of each subsection. There are three columns in each table. Column one of the Summary Table describes the subsections of subparts B and C of the Standards. The second column describes the supporting features of the product or refers you to the corresponding detailed table, "e.g., equivalent facilitation." The third column contains any additional remarks and explanations regarding the product. In the subsequent tables, the first column contains the lettered paragraphs of the subsections. The second column describes the supporting features of the product with regard to that paragraph. The third column contains any additional remarks and explanations regarding the product.

Note that XML and SGML has many qualities considered helpful for accessibility: the separation of style and structure, and the use of a textual notation being the most important. However, this template concerns itself with the features for accessibility of the application itself, not the documents it produces.

A good guide to 508 is at http://www.access-board.gov/sec508/guide/1194.21.htm

 

Date: 1 May 2004
Name of Product: Topologi Collaborative Markup Editor 2.0
Contact for more Information: info@topologi.com

 

Summary Table
Voluntary Product Accessibility Template

Criteria

Supporting Features

Remarks and explanations

Section 1194.21 Software Applications and Operating Systems

 

 

Section 1194.31 Functional Performance Criteria

   

 




Section 1194.21 Software Applications and Operating Systems - Detail
Voluntary Product Accessibility Template

Criteria

Supporting Features

Remarks and explanations

(a) When software is designed to run on a system that has a keyboard, product functions shall be executable from a keyboard where the function itself or the result of performing a function can be discerned textually.

The editor provides keyboard shortcuts and mnemonics, complementing the extensive mouse-based operation. Friendly text messages are provided for all diagnostics, complementing visual cues.

 

(b) Applications shall not disrupt or disable activated features of other products that are identified as accessibility features, where those features are developed and documented according to industry standards. Applications also shall not disrupt or disable activated features of any operating system that are identified as accessibility features where the application programming interface for those accessibility features has been documented by the manufacturer of the operating system and is available to the product developer.

The Collaborative Markup Editor does not interfere with any other application's or operating system's accessibility features.

 

(c) A well-defined on-screen indication of the current focus shall be provided that moves among interactive interface elements as the input focus changes. The focus shall be programmatically exposed so that Assistive Technology can track focus and focus changes.

The Topologi Collaborative Markup Editor provides well-defined focus indicators that move among interactive interface elements as the input focus changes.

The focus indicators of the platform windowing system are used. Except in a few special cases (e.g. dialog boxes with multi-line fields) the expected mechanisms for changing focus on the platform are available.

(d) Sufficient information about a user interface element including the identity, operation and state of the element shall be available to Assistive Technology. When an image represents a program element, the information conveyed by the image must also be available in text.

In the interface, all images (buttons) have tooltips available in text. In the documents being edited, images are not used: only text information is available. Menu items have tool tips.

In XML and SGML, images are invoked by references (linking). Menu item groups have headings, which allows the purpose of the menu item to be less cryptic.

(e) When bitmap images are used to identify controls, status indicators, or other programmatic elements, the meaning assigned to those images shall be consistent throughout an application's performance.

The editor's indicators of status or control are consistent throughout the application.

 

(f) Textual information shall be provided through operating system functions for displaying text. The minimum information that shall be made available is text content, text input caret location, and text attributes.

Text content and text input caret location uses standard APIs for the data "model". Displayed text attributes use standard APIs for the "view" of the text.

XML text is plain text with no attributes. The attributes of text can be entered using markup, for example using XML elements and XML attributes. There is no access to the main editor from scripts, to provide bounds for security.

(g) Applications shall not override user selected contrast and color selections and other individual display attributes.

The editor currently does not systematically use defaults provided by the user outside the application relating to contrast and other individual display attributes, except for menus and certain dialog boxes. (The extent to which user-specified system defaults are adopted by the editor is platform specific.)

The user can select from five different style combinations for different components ("proofing modes"), set the text font size and font, and select yellow as the typing-line and the background color for the text.

(h) When animation is displayed, the information shall be displayable in at least one non-animated presentation mode at the option of the user.

N/A

Animation is not used

(i) Color coding shall not be used as the only means of conveying information, indicating an action, prompting a response, or distinguishing a visual element.

Color coding of text and markup is supplemented by explicit text error messages, circling and lozenges, and by italics or bolding. Furthermore, the error near the current caret position is displayed in the status line in a friendly text message.

 

(j) When a product permits a user to adjust color and contrast settings, a variety of color selections capable of producing a range of contrast levels shall be provided.

The user can select from five different style combinations for different visual components. The user can select a yellow for the general text background and a high-contrast yellow for the current typing-line.

This has an advantage of simplicity and rapidity, but does not provide the fine-grained control that may be needed by some people. Contrast settings with individual control is not available.

(k) Software shall not use flashing or blinking text, objects, or other elements having a flash or blink frequency greater than 2 Hz and lower than 55 Hz.

The editor does not use flashing or blinking objects except for the caret.

The caret has a blink rate of 1 Hz.

(l) When electronic forms are used, 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.

Not applicable

The editor is not a web application and does not use electronic forms. However, through scripting the editor can be customized to make use of forms; the scripting language is Java which has an accessibility API available.

 




Section 1194.31 Functional Performance Criteria - Detail
Voluntary Product Accessibility Template

Criteria

Supporting Features

Remarks and explanations

(a) At least one mode of operation and information retrieval that does not require user vision shall be provided, or support for Assistive Technology used by people who are blind or visually impaired shall be provided.

The editor has not been designed for use by people who are blind, but instead allows fast visual scanning of text and markup using the mouse. However, the editor has been designed to support use by people with many kinds of visual impairment, in particular color-blindness. Popups have been avoided wherever possible, to avoid visual clutter, mode confusion and the sudden appearance of strange objects in screen magnifiers. At user option, from the Accessibility panel, the user can select that various kinds of errors and warnings should be given by popup message boxes as well as in the status bar. Support for using the systems auditory cues has been implemented, but the availability of this is platform dependent.

(b) At least one mode of operation and information retrieval that does not require visual acuity greater than 20/70 shall be provided in audio and enlarged print output working together or independently, or support for Assistive Technology used by people who are visually impaired shall be provided.

The editor does not use audio in any special way, apart from small beep cues to alert the user that some long task has finished or some action is unavailable. The product works with screen magnifiers such as those provided by Windows.

Note that text size can be altered. Large text printing can be performed by formatting the document through an XSLT transformation. In the Accessibility panel the user can select a higher contrast yellow typing-line.

Main menu sizes can be adjusted to a larger-than default setting.

(c) At least one mode of operation and information retrieval that does not require user hearing shall be provided, or support for Assistive Technology used by people who are deaf or hard of hearing shall be provided.

Not applicable

The editor does not require user hearing to operate. However, depending on the platform, the editor will use any auditory cues that have been enabled for the system.

(d) Where audio information is important for the use of a product, at least one mode of operation and information retrieval shall be provided in an enhanced auditory fashion, or support for assistive hearing devices shall be provided.

Not applicable

The editor does not deal with sound.

(e) At least one mode of operation and information retrieval that does not require user speech shall be provided, or support for Assistive Technology used by people with disabilities shall be provided.

Not applicable

The editor does not deal with user speech.

(f) At least one mode of operation and information retrieval that does not require fine motor control or simultaneous actions and that is operable with limited reach and strength shall be provided.

Keyboard shortcuts are provided. Mnemonic operation of menus is also provided. Tabbing between interface elements is supported. Mouse-like devices can be used. Mouse-wheel-like devices can be used.

Text selection has been offset from the center of characters to give more "purchase" for small characters at the start of lines.

Selection of text requires simultaneous operation. Some platforms such as Windows provide modes by which multiple key combinations can be entered serially. The search boxes feature multiline search panels. In these elements and in the main window, tabbing and return enters the literal tab or return characters. A fast find window is provided which allows return to the active window. For the search boxes with multiline search panels, other keyboard shortcuts are available for basic tasks.

Section 1194.41 Information, Documentation and Support
Voluntary Product Accessibility Template

Criteria

Supporting Features

Remarks and explanations

(a) Product support documentation provided to end-users shall be made available in alternate formats upon request, at no additional charge.

Documentation is available as HTML, which can be reformatted by a wide variety of tools to different formats.

 

(b) End-users shall have access to a description of the accessibility and compatibility features of products in alternate formats or alternate methods upon request, at no additional charge.

This will be part of standard documentation.

 

(c) Support services for products shall accommodate the communication needs of end-users with disabilities.

Email support is available. The peer-to-peer features enhance collaboration within workgroups.

The peer-to-peer features of the editor, in particular the text messaging and the screen shot exchange provide an alternative channel for mutual support within workgroups. This not only assists people who have hearing or speaking difficulties, but also people who are remote or inconveniently distant from their workmates.


 

Date: 1 May 2004
Name of Product: Topologi Professional Edition 2.0
Contact for more Information: info@topologi.com

The Topologi Professional Edition has two main components: for the markup editor component, please use the declarations and notes for the Topologi Collaborative Markup Editor above. The following notes apply to the tree-browser component, used by the Media Browser, Reporter and other applications.

Summary Table
Voluntary Product Accessibility Template

Criteria

Supporting Features

Remarks and explanations

Section 1194.21 Software Applications and Operating Systems

 

 

Section 1194.31 Functional Performance Criteria

   




Section 1194.21 Software Applications and Operating Systems - Detail
Voluntary Product Accessibility Template

Criteria

Supporting Features

Remarks and explanations

(a) When software is designed to run on a system that has a keyboard, product functions shall be executable from a keyboard where the function itself or the result of performing a function can be discerned textually.

The browser provides keyboard shortcuts and mnemonics, complementing the extensive mouse-based operation. Friendly text messages are provided for all diagnostics, complementing visual cues.

 

(b) Applications shall not disrupt or disable activated features of other products that are identified as accessibility features, where those features are developed and documented according to industry standards. Applications also shall not disrupt or disable activated features of any operating system that are identified as accessibility features where the application programming interface for those accessibility features has been documented by the manufacturer of the operating system and is available to the product developer.

The Professional Edition does not interfere with the accessibility features of any other application or operating system..

 

(c) A well-defined on-screen indication of the current focus shall be provided that moves among interactive interface elements as the input focus changes. The focus shall be programmatically exposed so that Assistive Technology can track focus and focus changes.

The Topologi Professional Edition provides well-defined focus indicators that move among interactive interface elements as the input focus changes.

The focus indicators of the platform windowing system are used.

(d) Sufficient information about a user interface element including the identity, operation and state of the element shall be available to Assistive Technology. When an image represents a program element, the information conveyed by the image must also be available in text.

In the interface, all buttons have tooltips available in text. The tree browser has labels, right-clicking exposes the operations available. The preview pane typically has a heading, may have a graphic or table, and typically contains meta data as text.

(e) When bitmap images are used to identify controls, status indicators, or other programmatic elements, the meaning assigned to those images shall be consistent throughout an application's performance.

The browser's indicators of status or control are consistent throughout the application.

 

(f) Textual information shall be provided through operating system functions for displaying text. The minimum information that shall be made available is text content, text input caret location, and text attributes.

Text content, display and text input caret location uses standard APIs.

(g) Applications shall not override user selected contrast and color selections and other individual display attributes.

The tree browser currently does not systematically use defaults provided by the user.

(h) When animation is displayed, the information shall be displayable in at least one non-animated presentation mode at the option of the user.

N/A

Animation is not used Where animation is previewed, the availability of non-animated data depends on the medium and the authoring of the individual file.

(i) Color coding shall not be used as the only means of conveying information, indicating an action, prompting a response, or distinguishing a visual element.

Color coding of text and markup is supplemented by explicit text error messages and graphics.

 

(j) When a product permits a user to adjust color and contrast settings, a variety of color selections capable of producing a range of contrast levels shall be provided.

(k) Software shall not use flashing or blinking text, objects, or other elements having a flash or blink frequency greater than 2 Hz and lower than 55 Hz.

The browser does not use flashing or blinking objects except for the caret.

The caret has a blink rate of 1 Hz.

(l) When electronic forms are used, 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.

Not applicable

The browser will display web forms but does not transmit them.

 




Section 1194.31 Functional Performance Criteria - Detail
Voluntary Product Accessibility Template

Criteria

Supporting Features

Remarks and explanations

(a) At least one mode of operation and information retrieval that does not require user vision shall be provided, or support for Assistive Technology used by people who are blind or visually impaired shall be provided.

The broswer has not been designed for use by people who are blind, but instead has been designed for previewing graphics files and for tree-based navigation through metadata. However, Popups have been avoided wherever possible, to avoid visual clutter, mode confusion and the sudden appearance of strange objects in screen magnifiers. At user option, from the Accessibility panel, the user can select that various kinds of errors and warnings should be given by popup message boxes as well as in the status bar. Support for using the system's auditory cues has been implemented, but the availability of this is platform dependent.

(b) At least one mode of operation and information retrieval that does not require visual acuity greater than 20/70 shall be provided in audio and enlarged print output working together or independently, or support for Assistive Technology used by people who are visually impaired shall be provided.

The browser does not use audio in any special way, apart from small beep cues to alert the user that some long task has finished or some action is unavailable. The product works with screen magnifiers such as those provided by Windows.

Menu size and colors can be adjusted to a larger-than default setting.

(c) At least one mode of operation and information retrieval that does not require user hearing shall be provided, or support for Assistive Technology used by people who are deaf or hard of hearing shall be provided.

Not applicable

The browser does not require user hearing to operate. However, depending on the platform, the browser will use any auditory cues that have been enabled for the system.

(d) Where audio information is important for the use of a product, at least one mode of operation and information retrieval shall be provided in an enhanced auditory fashion, or support for assistive hearing devices shall be provided.

Not applicable

The browser does not deal with sound as a required user interface technique.

(e) At least one mode of operation and information retrieval that does not require user speech shall be provided, or support for Assistive Technology used by people with disabilities shall be provided.

Not applicable

The browser does not deal with user speech.

(f) At least one mode of operation and information retrieval that does not require fine motor control or simultaneous actions and that is operable with limited reach and strength shall be provided.

Mnemonic operation of menus is provided. Mouse-like devices can be used. Mouse-wheel-like devices can be used.

Selection of text requires simultaneous operation. Some platforms such as Windows provide modes by which multiple key combinations can be entered serially.

Section 1194.41 Information, Documentation and Support
Voluntary Product Accessibility Template

Criteria

Supporting Features

Remarks and explanations

(a) Product support documentation provided to end-users shall be made available in alternate formats upon request, at no additional charge.

Documentation is available as HTML, which can be reformatted by a wide variety of tools to different formats.

 

(b) End-users shall have access to a description of the accessibility and compatibility features of products in alternate formats or alternate methods upon request, at no additional charge.

This will be part of standard documentation.

 

(c) Support services for products shall accommodate the communication needs of end-users with disabilities.

Email support is available.