GSA

Links are commonly used to quickly navigate a site when someone is using assistive technology. Often, screen reader users won’t read through an entire page to find what they are looking for.

Three Flashes or Below Threshold> Three Flashes or Below Threshold # Web pages do not contain anything that flashes more than three times in any one second period, or the flash is below the general flash and red flash thresholds.

Contrast (Minimum)> Contrast (Minimum) # The visual presentation of text and images of text has a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1, except for the following: Large Text: Large-scale text and images of large-scale text have a contrast ratio of at least 3:1.

The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) is tasked under Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act to provide technical assistance to help federal agencies comply with Section 508 requirements, and ensure that covered ICT is accessible to, and usable by, individuals with disabilities.

Except for captions and images of text, text can be resized without assistive technology up to 200 percent without loss of content or functionality. Development Considerations Web pages should be designed to be “responsive” to the size of the display on which they are viewed.

If timeouts are used, you must give the user at least 20 seconds to easily request more time. Testing> Testing # Identify any timeouts on the page. Contact the developer to find these.

Info and Relationships> Info and Relationships # Information, structure, and relationships conveyed through presentation can be programmatically determined or are available in text. Content/Design Considerations The border around the grouped fields can be hidden programmatically if it conflicts with the design.

Language of Page> Language of Page # The default human language of each web page can be programmatically determined. Language of Parts> Language of Parts # The human language of each passage or phrase in the content can be programmatically determined except for proper names, technical terms, words of indeterminate language, and words or phrases that have become part of the vernacular of the immediately surrounding text.

If the purpose of non-text content is to confirm the content is being accessed by a person rather than a computer, then text alternatives that identify and describe the purpose of the non-text content are provided, and alternative forms of CAPTCHA using output modes for different types of sensory perception are provided to accommodate different disabilities.

When using multimedia, we must provide means for everyone to consume the media. Multimedia is anything that uses audio and video. Captioning> Captioning # Videos with audio require synchronized captioning. Captioning can be either closed, meaning they can be turned off, or open captioning, meaning it is baked into the video.

Non-Text Content> Non-Text Content # All non-text content that is presented to the user has a text alternative that serves the equivalent purpose. Content/Design Considerations Avoid using meaningful images as background images.

Page titles are important because they help a user navigate their browser. Most users have multiple tabs open at once. It’s easier to jump between pages if each page title is unique.

Making forms accessible is a simple process. Each form element should be associated with its instructions and errors, and everything should be accessible via the keyboard. Testing> Testing # Identify each form element.

Setting the language of your site allows assistive technology to interact with your content correctly. Assistive technology will read foreign languages, but it needs to know the main language of the page and when any content’s language differs from the default language for the page.

There are two main accessibility concerns for color, contrast and color dependence. Color contrast is the ratio of the foreground color(text) and the background color. Text should have a ratio of 4.

Requirement 1: Alternate Pages> Requirement 1: Alternate Pages # Development Considerations To meet the requirements of a conforming alternate version, it must: Conform to all Level A and AA criteria, and Provide all of the same information and functionality in the same human language, and Be as up to date as the non-conforming content, and At least one of the following is true: The conforming version can be reached from the non-conforming page via an accessibility-supported mechanism, or The non-conforming version can only be reached from the conforming version, or The non-conforming version can only be reached from a conforming page that also provides a mechanism to reach the conforming version.

Bypass Blocks> Bypass Blocks # A mechanism is available to bypass blocks of content that are repeated on multiple web pages. Content/Design Considerations Identify the repetitive content on pages and the location of where a skip mechanism should land.

Timing Adjustable> Timing Adjustable # For each time limit that is set by the content, at least ONE of the following is true: Turn off: The user is allowed to turn off the time limit before encountering it; or Adjust: The user is allowed to adjust the time limit before encountering it over a wide range that is at least ten times the length of the default setting; or Extend: The user is warned before time expires and given at least 20 seconds to extend the time limit with a simple action (for example, “press the space bar”), and the user is allowed to extend the time limit at least ten times; or Real-time Exception: The time limit is a required part of a real-time event (for example, an auction), and no alternative to the time limit is possible; or Essential Exception: The time limit is essential and extending it would invalidate the activity; or 20 Hour Exception: The time limit is longer than 20 hours.

Captions (Prerecorded)> Captions (Prerecorded) # Captions are provided for all prerecorded audio content in synchronized media, except when the media is a media alternative for text and is clearly labeled as such.

Color tools> Color tools # WebAIM color contrast checker compares two hex colors and tells you whether they meet WCAG AA and AAA contrast thresholds. Snook’s color contrast analyzer lets you adjust RGB and HSV values and reports contrast compliance interactively.