Sakai 2.4 Accessibility Review

This is an archive copy of an accessibility review performed for the Sakai 2.4 release. The results from this review are available on the Sakai 2.4 Accessibility Review Results page. Accessibility Results for the current version of Sakai can be found on the Sakai Current Accessibility Page page.

2.4 Accessibility Review

Prospective testers: Please go to the signup list below and indicate the tool you plan to review by putting your name or initials in the appropriate space. Please note that the following tools and features are high priority, because of significant changes in 2.4, or because they have not been tested recently: Announcements, Calendar Summary, Chat, Forum, Gradebook, Resources, Section Info, Site Info, Syllabus, Tests & Quizzes, Wiki, Worksite Setup, and the following provisional tools: Link, Mail, Page Order Helper, Polls, Roster, Search, SU and User Membership. They are marked with a star . Note that we will be testing 2.5 versions of the Gradebook and Roster tools on a different server.

You can add your name to the table by choosing the "Edit" tab above, clicking on the "Rich Text" tab that appears, scrolling down to the tool you're interested in, and adding your name.

Go to the following pages to find: protocols, templates, and the 2.3 reviews. The amount of time to review a tool will vary by the number of pages it contains; in my experience it takes about half an hour on average to review a page using the combined protocol. Put comments on the comments page and put your reviews as attachments there.

Contact one of the three QA people listed below with questions. Thank you in advance for your help!

TOC

Conference Call info
Testing Schedule
2.4 QA Contacts
Test Server
Tool Signup

Conference Call

Weekly Meetings
Every other Thursday at 3:30PM EST
Starting November 20 and continuing through February 26, 2008
Dial-in# (812) 856-3600
PIN: 002264#

Meeting Agendas & Notes
Information on connecting to Conference Bridge

Testing Schedule

Activity	Dates	Focus/Notes
2.4 Accessibility Testing Kick-off Meeting	July 2, 10:30 AM
2.4 Accessibility Testing	July 2 - July 31
2.5 Code Freeze	?
2.5 Official Release	February 18
2.5 and 2.6 Accessibility Testing	November 20 - February 26 2009

QA Contacts

Name	Institution	Email	Phone Number	Accessibility Testing Role
Joe Humbert	Indiana University	johumber@iupui.edu		QA Coordination
Margaret Londergan	Indiana University	londerga@indiana.edu	517-353-8977	Accessibility Team Lead
Gonzalo Silverio	University of Michigan	gsilver@umich.edu		Interface Developer
Lisa Wilson	UC Davis	lijwilson@ucdavis.edu	530-754-7259	UCD Participant Team Leader

Where to test

Test Server for all tools EXCEPT Gradebook and Roster (WG: Accessibility worksite)
Test Server for 2.5 Gradebook Please contact Megan May for access.
Test Server for 2.5 Roster: TBD

Add your name below to the tool you are interested in testing. Tools marked with an star are targeted for this round:

Tool Signup

Sakai Enterprise Bundle Components

Tool	JAWS or W-E	Firefox Accessibility Tool	Prior Testing
Attachments			2.3 JAWS
Membership
Permissions			2.3 JAWS
Portal			2.2 WAVE/Firefox, 2.1 JAWS
Preferences (JSF)	Renee Echols		2.3 JAWS
Presence
Profile (JSF)
Recent (synoptic views)
Site Browser			2.3 JAWS
Site Info		Joe Humbert

Sakai Enterprise Bundle

Tool	JAWS or W-E	WAVE 3.5	Firefox Accessibility Tool	Prior Testing
Announcements	Mary Stores	Cynthia York	Cynthia York	2.3 JAWS, 2.2 WAVE/Firefox, 2.2 JAWS
Assignments		Lisa Wilson	Lisa Wilson	2.3 JAWS, 2.1 JAWS
Chat Room	Mary Stores		Joe Humbert	2.3 JAWS, 2.2 WAVE/Firefox, 2.1 JAWS
Discussion	Mike Elledge	Mike Elledge	Mike Elledge	2.2 WAVE/Firefox, 2.1 JAWS
Drop Box				2.3 JAWS, 2.2 WAVE/Firefox
Email Archive				2.3 JAWS, 2.3 WAVE/Firefox
Email Template Service
Forums	Mary Stores	Lisa Wilson	Joe Humbert
Gradebook	Mary Stores	Megan May - MMM (2.5 version)	MMM (2.5 version)	2.3 JAWS, 2.2 WAVE/Firefox, 2.1 JAWS
Help				2.3 JAWS
Home		Lisa Wilson	Lisa Wilson	2.3 JAWS, 2.1 JAWS
Message Center (now Forums/Messsages)				2.3 JAWS, 2.3 WAVE/Firefox
Messages	Mary Stores	Lisa Wilson	Joe Humbert
My Workspace				2.3 JAWS
News				2.3 JAWS, 2.1 JAWS
Outline				2.3 JAWS
Post 'Em				2.3 JAWS, 2.3 WAVE/Firefox
Presentation				2.3 JAWS
Resources	Mary Stores, Renee Echols	Lisa Wilson	Joe Humbert	2.3 JAWS, 2.2 WAVE/Firefox, 2.1 JAWS
Schedule	Renee Echols			2.3 JAWS, 2.2 WAVE/Firefox
Section Info	Mary Stores		Joe Humbert	2.3 JAWS
Syllabus	Mary Stores		Joe Humbert	2.3 JAWS, 2.3 WAVE/Firefox, 2.1 JAWS
Web Content				2.3 JAWS, 2.3 WAVE/Firefox, 2.1 JAWS
Wiki	Mary Stores		Joe Humbert	2.3 JAWS, 2.3 WAVE/Firefox
Worksite Setup	, Renee Echols

Provisional Tools

Tool	JAWS or W-E	Firefox Accessibility Tool	Prior Testing
Become User (in Admin Workspace)	Mary Stores	Joe Humbert
Blogger			2.3 JAWS, 2.3 WAVE/Firefox
Link	Mary Stores	Joe Humbert
Mail	Mary Stores	Joe Humbert
Page Order Helper Tool (in Site Info)	Mary Stores	Joe Humbert
Podcasts			2.3 JAWS, 2.3 WAVE/Firefox
Polls	Mary Stores	Joe Humbert
Roster	Mary Stores	Joe Humbert	2.3 WAVE/Firefox, 2.1 JAWS
Search	Mary Stores	Joe Humbert
Tests and Quizzes (was Samigo)
User Membership Tool (in Admin Workspace)	Mary Stores	Joe Humbert

OSP Tool Bundle (Provisional)-- Sakai 2.5 and 2.6

Tool	JAWS or W-E	WAVE 3.5	Firefox Accessibility Tool	Prior Testing
OSP: Audience Tool
OSP: Comments
OSP: Data Warehouse
OSP: Glossary
OSP: Guidance
OSP: Portal
OSP: Portfolio Layouts
OSP: Portfolio Templates
OSP: Portfolios
OSP: Reports
OSP: Styles
OSP: Wizards
OSP: Matrix

General Development Issues for Accessibility Sakai 2.5 and 2.6

Issue				Pri
Page layout	The width of the tools menu column increases greatly when the text size is increased, to the detriment of the main content section. It is assumed that this is because the width of that column is specified in ems. It is recommended that the column's width instead be specified in pixels or as a percentage of screen width.
FCKeditor	The icons for FCKeditor do not increase in size in relation to the font size. Also, the text within the editor does not enlarge in relation to font size in Internet Explorer 6. Further, the editor's tool icons are not accessible to screenreaders. FCKeditor's tools are operable using keyboard shortcuts. It is recommended that the relevant keyboard shortcuts for the installed version of FCKeditor be documented on the help tool section on the editor. Further, a link to this list of shortcuts should be included above every instance of the editor. It is not sufficient to simply have shortcuts documented in the help section and expect users to find them of their own accord; this information needs highlighting at the point of use. Keyboard shortcuts will mitigate against the non-resizing of icons; no solution for resolving the non-resizing of editable text in IE6.
Tool states	The way in which tools respond the back button is confusing an inconsistent. In some cases, the back button will take you back to the previous tool, sometimes back to the previous tool state (probably the expected behaviour, and therefore desirable) and in some cases, nothing happens. This is extremely problematic and hampers user interaction with tools to a considerable degree. It is recommended that all tools behave consistently (within themselves an as a group) with regard to the back button. Further, it is also recommended that tools do not 'break' the back button, i.e. that the back button returns the user to the previous screen. The reload button is intended to solve this problem, however it fails for several reasons: 1. It is not prominent enough 2. It is badly named; you are not reloading the tool, you are returning to the starting page of the tool, and in any case 'reload' has an implication of a loss of data that will prevent most users from clicking it.
Navigation	The Sakai system causes disruption to the behaviour of the browser's back button functionality. It is highly recommended that this be prevented if at all possible, as the back button is a vital mode of navigation for many users. Failing this, it may be useful to provide the user with some system-specific breadcrumb trail or history function, though it would be far better if the system simply didn't break the existing browser functionality that does just that.
Form Buttons	There are several instances where character combinations such as "<,>, vertical bar<, and >vertical bar are used in links and form buttons to indicate previous, next, first, last etc. Using characters in a purely visual fashion is very bad practice as it is logically meaningless, completely inaccessible to screenreader users and they don't even look very good. It is recommended that these be replaced either with text, or icons with appropriate alt tags.