Sakai LMS Current Accessibility

Owned by Former user (Deleted)
Last updated: Jul 30, 2021 by Former user (Deleted)
2 min read

Web Accessibility Compliance

Compliance to Section 508 (and the stated goal of meeting WCAG 2.0 A & AA Success Criteria) varies from tool to tool, and to a certain extent depends on how tools are configured.

It's also true that much of a user's experience - and how accessible Sakai feels to that user - will be determined by the content added to it, so a site with good accessibility will also require some forethought on the part of an instructor or designer. 


Please also see the current VPAT for Sakai LMS.


Compliance Standards

Since the current Section 508 standards were implemented in 1999, the WCAG 2 Level A and AA Success Criteria, and their associated techniques for success, have become the internationally recognized standards to meet for accessibility conformance. If the WCAG 2 Level A and AA Success Criteria are met, then the Section 508 §1194.22 Standards will be met. It is possible to meet all Section 508 §1194.22 Standards, and not meet the WCAG 2 Level A and AA Success Criteria.

Generally Accessible Sakai Tools

Tools that follow most accessibility guidelines include:

  • Announcements
  • Assignments
  • Chat Room
  • Gradebook
  • Home - Membership
  • Home - Preferences
  • News
  • Overview
  • Permissions
  • Resources
  • Site Setup
  • Syllabus
  • Web Content
  • Worksite Setup

WYSIWYG editors

Any tool or task that requires the student to use the JavaScript WYSIWYG editors, and the other Rich-Text Editors found in Sakai, may pose challenges to non-mouse users (low-vision, blind, and users of alternate input devices).

The CKEditor used in Sakai is generally accessible; however, it can require significant effort on the part of an adaptive technology user to learn how to use it effectively. It is the most accessible WYSIWYG editor we have tested.

Sakai Tools Requiring Improved Accessibility

Some tools still need work to improve their accessibility. These include the following:

  • Administrative Tools (Users, Aliases, Sites, Realms, M, On-Line, Memory, Site Archive)
  • Calendar
  • Drop Box
  • Forums
  • Home - Profile
  • Lessons
  • Roster
  • Signup
  • Tests & Quizzes
  • Wiki

Sakai has been tested with current versions of JAWS using both Internet Explorer and Firefox. Compliance has also been evaluated using manual code inspection, the Firefox Accessibility Extension add-on, the WAVE Web Accessibility Evaluation tool, and W3C Validator in order to continually improve accessibility.

Accessibility Issues

Issues

As we find problems, we put them in the Jira queue for repair (jira is the system used for issue and bug tracking related to Sakai development).

Note: The lists may contain some items that do not relate to accessibility, due to Jira's text based search mechanism.

Results from Previous Accessibility Reviews

You can find links to results from accessibility reviews performed on previous versions of Sakai on the Past Accessibility Reviews page.