Some basic web accessibility questions

[andy.burnett]

I am interested in using LPS to build some knowledge management systems for a charity. However, 'full' accessibility is a key criterion for the design.

How well does LPS deal with the normal accessibility issues, e.g. user control over text size, alternative names for images, screen reader compatibility etc.

Thanks
Andy B

[andy.burnett]

Is there a better place to pose this question?

Thanks
AB

[antun]

This is the right place. There are no native accessibility features in LZX, but you could write whatever you needed. For example you could write an image class that had an alt variable that loaded a MP3 that said what the image was (or just wrote it out on screen).

It depends on what features you needed.

-Antun

[andy.burnett]

The basic requirements for an accessible website normally include:

1. User can change the text size (ideally through the text control in their browser, rather than doing it for each individual website).

2. It can be navigated easily without a mouse, at the very least this means support tab ordering, although having access keys for fields etc is highly desirable.

3. Images can have alternative text descriptions.

4. Screen readers can figure out the content. This is becoming very important. I haven't tried a screen reader on a LPS site, so I don't know how it would cope. Ideally, it would be able to read the name of buttons and read out any prompt labels next to fields etc.

The whole accessibility field is becoming very important to our design work. There is currently a law suit for disability discrimination going through the UK courts and I am sure more will follow both here and in the US.

So, can I support any of the above (except for image tags which you have already answered) in LPS?

Thanks
AB

[vfunshteyn]

1. User can change the text size (ideally through the text control in their browser, rather than doing it for each individual website).

Dynamic font resizing is currently somewhat problematic, though you could build a user preference selection into the app logic and allow user to make the choice prior to the actual rendering of text. There is no way to peruse the browser's built-in text control for Laszlo applications, or for any Flash apps, for that matter.


2. It can be navigated easily without a mouse, at the very least this means support tab ordering, although having access keys for fields etc is highly desirable.


LZ components come with full support of keyboard navigation, and the user is given a clear indication of what has the focus by displaying distinct brackets. Take a look at http://www.laszlosystems.com/lps-2.1/examples/components/style_example.lzx?lzt=html for an example of keyboard-accessible UI. Binding specific keys to UI controls is also supported by LZX API.


4. Screen readers can figure out the content. This is becoming very important. I haven't tried a screen reader on a LPS site, so I don't know how it would cope. Ideally, it would be able to read the name of buttons and read out any prompt labels next to fields etc.

From what I understand, screen readers support Flash 6 player native text, which is a feature we intend to introduce in one of upcoming versions of LPS.

[andy.burnett]

I think in that case we had better wait until the new releases support screen readers.

Thanks for all the info.