SharePoint - Accessibility Forum

SharePoint 2010 - Accessibility Roundtable at Las Vegas Conference

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 16:40:45 Z

HiSoftware to Host Accessibility Roundtable for Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010

Microsoft SharePoint product team to co-present on latest release during the SharePoint Conference 2009 in Las Vegas

As SharePoint has become more pervasive across the enterprise, organizations are looking forward to the release of SharePoint 2010. The SharePoint product team has been working hard on expanding the accessibility capabilities of SharePoint 2010.

HiSoftware, the SharePoint Accessibility partner and creator of the Accessibility Kit for SharePoint (AKS-MOSS) is hosting a SharePoint 2010 - Accessibility Roundtable at the upcoming SharePoint User Conference in Las Vegas. The Microsoft SharePoint 2010 product team is the featured presenter in showcasing accessibility within SharePoint 2010.

Please find the full announcement and registration link for the upcoming SharePoint 2010 Accessibility Roundtable: http://hisoftware.com/press/2009-10-07_SPRoundtable.html.

We are looking to hold a similar event in the UK – Nov 4.

Best Practices for developing accessible web sites in SharePoint 2007

Mon, 07 Jan 2008 06:41:04 Z

I'm currently busy with an overview of Best Practices for developing accessible web sites in SharePoint 2007. After a little research I have noticed that the challenges I have faced so far are mostly XHTML/CSS/JS related and there are actually very few SharePoint 2007 specific issues: this has to do with the fact that we use very little to none of standard SharePoint controls in the Internet facing web sites we deliver.

As I would like to share the Best Practices I'm writing with the community I've been wondering whether you have tried to develop an accessible web site in SharePoint 2007 yourself and faced any challenges you would like to share. To make myself clear I'm looking for issues and challenges and not solutions in particular (these are welcome as well by the way).

Why do the aks master pages not get applied if the feature is not activated on the top site collection?

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 15:48:50 Z

Hi

I installed AKS 2.0 and activated AKS feature. The problem I found was the aks master pages do not get applied if the feature is not activated on the top site collection. why is so?

example: If i activate the feature on http://<servername>/sites/<sitename> and apply the master page, I dont see any changes.

              But if i activate the same aks feature on http://<servername/ then everything started working on all sites.

              The reason i found is the CSS reference in the aks master pages.

              It reference should be given as follows:

                 for http://<servername>/sites/<sitename> -> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../../Style%20Library/AKS/Aks_Band_Blueband.css"/>

                 for http://<servername>/ -><link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/Style%20Library/AKS/Aks_Band_Blueband.css"/>

So my question is, am i missing anything? am i supposed to activate the AKS feature on top level site collection at any cost? if yes, why is so?

And after applying aks master pages, i see differnece in font sizes. Why the font size is getting changed?

Also why the color changes are there? example: microsoft blueband master page has different color scheme and aks blueband master page has different color scheme.

please let me know.

Regards
Sujasree

Infopath and Section 508 Accessibility

Thu, 14 May 2009 18:54:51 Z

Hey, guys! I'm building a web site for a Section 508 workgroup, and I need the site to be 100% accessible (including the administration module I'm making for the team. We're using SharePoint MOSS 2007 and I recommended using infopath to enter data into the site's database (and also to populate downloadable Microsoft Word documents). The customer claimed that InfoPath is not Section 508 compliant, which seemed odd to me because the forms can be modified to anything you want them to be (including 508 compliant).

I even found this guide to making InfoPath accessible:

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/infopath/HA102146831033.aspx

I'm curious if there are any caveats to making accessible forms in Infopath, or if the information I've gathered is incorrect.

Thanks!

Spaz

wussuc:welcome problem with aks

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 15:17:58 Z

With the AKS HCCE installed, I seem to be getting the output of <wssuc:Welcome id="explitLogout" runat="server" /> printing the user name outside of the <html> structure which is breaking my layout brutally in IE7. This only fails/happens when I add the <%@ Page language="C#" Inherits="HiSoftware.SharePoint.Common.PublishingLayoutPageEx,HiSoftware.SharePoint.Common,Version=1.0.0.0,Culture=neutral,PublicKeyToken=bbf2d1bc0f93b1de" %> to the top of the layout page.

WCAG Compliance

Wed, 17 Oct 2007 14:30:31 Z

I know its an old chestnut, but this is of great importance to us in the Public Sector and with many commercial clients too. How close will the kit be to compliance with the current WCAG 1.0 AA level of the standard?

How to work around Share point accessibility requirement ?

Fri, 13 Feb 2009 14:42:01 Z

Hi,

I am somewhat new to things related to accessibility in SharePoint. I am trying to work on section 508 accessibility requirements for SharePoint site. I have tried to see few articles from the internet and still looking for more information on the subject matter including what to consider fro preparing requirement.

I am looking to know what is possible and what is not with SharePoint?

How to achieve all the possible accessibilities in SharePoint?

Is it possible to make accessible all site types (Publishing, team sites,…)?

Please help me in understanding everything around SharePoint accessibility and first in preparing the requirement document. I have tried to see AKS site but there were some issues that are not clear for me at this level.

Thank you in advance,

ephi

SharePoint 2007 WCM Solutions can be accessible

Sun, 16 Dec 2007 09:31:31 Z

Recently I've been busy with a research on accessibility of Web Content Management solutions based on SharePoint 2007. My outcome is: SharePoint 2007 WCM solutions can be accessible and depending on the approach you can score up to 95% WCAG 1.0 Priority 2.0 compliancy without any toolkit.

I've been wondering whether anybody else shares my opinion or has his/her own...

How to implement AKS HCCE

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:23:37 Z

I recently installed AKS but I am having a tough time to run the HiSoftware Compliant Code Engine Feature (HCCE). Following the steps in the user guide on page 127, I made the change to the web.config file. The next step was to make change in the master Page. When I do that My master page becomes corrupt. Only when I remove the line from the code, I could see the site again.

If anyone has successfully implemented it, please guide me.

Thanks.

Is there a list of the Accessibility Acts that SharePoint supports?

Mon, 04 May 2009 07:10:38 Z

Greetings

Is there a list of accessibility acts that SharePoint 2007 supports.
For example the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005?

Thank You
Sarbjit

Sarbjit Gill

What is AKS supposed to do?

Tue, 26 Feb 2008 22:54:50 Z

Hi everyone,

I'm at a total loss, does anyone know what the AKS is supposed to do, and how do we know that it does that? And does anyone have a "step by step" on how to make those control adapters work??

OR any informasjon on the AKS except from the AKS home site, and the AKS mailing list does it stil lives? I just can't register,

Thanks,

Shrunken Icons after using Accessibility Wizard

Fri, 15 May 2009 19:01:32 Z

I have somewhat bad eyesight so went, via All Programmes > Accessories > Accessibility, to the Accessibility Wizard and tried out the different font sizes available there. I then attempted to return them to their default settings. All fonts were returned to their former sizes, EXCEPT the top line text & icons (i.e. "xxxxx - Windows Internet Explorer" and the Shrink, Enlarge and Cancel icons) which were only about half their customary size and, therefore, much less easy to use.

The Accessibility Wizard is set on "Use usual text size for Windows" and any attempt to alter it to one of the two alternative settings, "Use large window titles and menus" or "Use Microsoft Magnifier, and large titles and menus" increases the size of ALL text and menus to rather larger than I need. How can I restore just the top line to its former larger size and visibility without affecting the normal settings of everything else?

It turned out that I needed glasses for computer use, so would appreciate help in getting my Windows page back to its reliable default setting. Many thanks.

Various problems with AKS

Sun, 19 Apr 2009 13:36:35 Z

Hello Everyone,

I recently installed the HiSoftware AKS. The HCCE seems to work well, (essentially a big find a replace) which got me from 400 validation errors to 40! Sweet! But I'm noticing some major problems. In addition to the HCCE I installed the WebPart Smart Adapter which I think might be the source of my problems, but I can't be sure.

I'm posting these here in hope that there is some brave soul out there that has run into these and could help me out. I would be very grateful! I can't find information on these issues anywhere.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Custom web part properties seem to be global now, rather than instance specific:

I created a custom web part a while ago that is intended to be placed on numerous pages across my MOSS 2007 site.

On each page I change a custom property so that the web part displays something different on each page.

This worked great up untill recently. Now when I change the properties on one part it now changes on all them across the site, I loose my customizations!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2. Info path xmlformview web part won't load .xsn's, javascript errors!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3. My master page seems to break with sharepoint menu data getting thrown around

The username in the login menu for some reason get's thrown outside of the <html> tags which naturally is invalid XHTML but worse it breaks the entire layout brutally in IE7. As IE7 freaks out if anything is outside of the <html> tags.

- Brendan

508 compliant?

Wed, 28 Nov 2007 22:14:00 Z

is Sharepoint 508 compliant? are there any document management systems (web) that are?

Problems Installing AKS 1.1 on Windows Server 2008 x64bit

Mon, 16 Feb 2009 08:31:16 Z

Hi all,

I am trying to install AKS 1.1 (not 2 or 1.0 cuz thats the only release i was able to find on aks.hisoftware.com) on a windows server 2008 x64bit machine.

the toolkit installs in this location: C:\Program Files (x86)\HiSoftware\AKS .... but nothing in the 12\template\features folder.

the script install_AKSFEAT.bat refers to a feature name "AKS", but i cannot see the feature anywhere in the features folder, and i cannot see a WSP pacakge to deliver this feature to sharepoint!

i event tried to look for the feature manifest to reverse engineer the works of the feature but no luck finding this file in the AKS install folder.

what am i missing here? how can i get AKS 1.1 to install properly and the feature to activate? please HELP!!

- mutaz

AKS 2.0 delivery date anyone?

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 19:23:57 Z

Is there any known rumoured date of the release of AKS version 2.0? Dana annouced that it was expected to be delivered by August 2008, but that's some time ago now and still not a sniff, unless i'm missing a trick?

Regards, Andy Talbot http://www.SharePointAndy.com

Making Sharepoint Portal DDA compliant

Thu, 15 Jan 2009 08:26:54 Z

My Requirement is ,

I need to have my sharepoint portal DDA compliant .. any thoughts ?? any reference i can take up ???

any assistance would be appreciated !!!

Regards

Why is WSS 3.0 being left out and only MOSS 2007 is getting the new accessibility??

Thu, 06 Sep 2007 00:14:11 Z

The SharePoint blog entry, http://blogs.msdn.com/sharepoint/archive/2007/09/05/pre-announcing-the-accessibility-kit-for-sharepoint-aks.aspx, completely omits WSS 3.0, discriminating against thousands of disabled people who need to work with WSS 3.0 intranets, and who deserve equal rights and accessibility just as much as the people who can afford to buy MOSS 2007.

Thank you, Tom

Examples of accessible sites

Thu, 29 May 2008 08:11:01 Z

There would be benefits for us all (I think) if we could make a list of SharePoint sites that are accessible, sites we could show clients that don't believe that this can be done with SharePoint.

Lets help eachother and make a list!

// Chris

Is it acceptable to promote the use of the mobile views for accessibility?

Tue, 05 Jun 2007 19:42:19 Z

On a current project I am working on we are suggesting that the mobile access (via /m) provides users with access to the system that due to the simple rendering should support screen readers and accessibility devices.

Is this acceptable? Is this a valid place to look at the provision of an accessible entry into MOSS/WSS?

Andrew

Problems ACTIVATING AKS Feature

Mon, 14 Jan 2008 03:52:59 Z

I get the message below when attempting to active the Accessibility Kit for SharePoint feature on my Site.

Failed to instantiate file "aks_bl_Navbar.JPG" from module "Images": The specified list does not exist.

This occurs on a default "MySite" but not in a default "Publishing Site" ... Anyone know what the problem is?

AKS and Issues in edit mode

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 17:31:09 Z

Hi All,

I have strange problem with my public facing site after implementing AKS. Please see below.

1) OnMouseOver Menu actions are slower then before
2) font size on site actions menu looks different
3) when i click on Modify Web Part (Edit mode layout is completely different and Target Audiences field looks shirnked)

Please see image below

SP.UK

Forum ONLY about accessibility for the physically challenged

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 15:38:09 Z

The definition of this forum is

"Topics about improving accessibility and usability for the physically challenged."

Please try to avoid posting questions here about anything other than this.

MS Info Post: Deliver accessible solutions with SharePoint

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 20:28:01 Z

Office UA has published a white paper (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc668367(TechNet.10).aspx) that provides information and guidelines about the issues that organizations face when delivering Web solutions, including those built by using Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 that are accessible to people with disabilities. This paper might help you address considerations that apply to accessibility issues as you design your Web applications.

NOSCRIPT tag

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 11:32:50 Z

Hello everybody,

And my problem is...
After installing the AKS, I've created a new website using a blank template, choosed the AKS_BlackBand.master and the Aks_Band_Blackband.css.

In SPdesigner removed the search control from the default.aspx. However when previewing the site, the default.aspx still has some <script/> tags and none <noscript/> equivalent. This generates an accessibility error.

Is there a way to have a <noscript> tag for every <script/> ? Where can one configure this?

And by the way, ... sorry for the terrible english

Thanx.

EDITED:

This are the scripts present in the page:

<script type="text/javascript" language="javascript" src="/_layouts/2070/core.js?rev=EIpAXZ8VRr%2B%2BsetZQw9YnA%3D%3D" defer></script>
<script type="text/javascript" language="javascript" src="/_layouts/2070/non_ie.js?rev=yfNry4hY0Gwa%2FPDNGrqXVg%3D%3D"></script>

......

<script type="text/javascript">
	var navBarHelpOverrideKey = "wssmain";
	</script>

....

<script type="text/javascript">
<!--
var theForm = document.forms['aspnetForm'];
if (!theForm) {
    theForm = document.aspnetForm;
}
function __doPostBack(eventTarget, eventArgument) {
    if (!theForm.onsubmit || (theForm.onsubmit() != false)) {
        theForm.__EVENTTARGET.value = eventTarget;
        theForm.__EVENTARGUMENT.value = eventArgument;
        theForm.submit();
    }
}
// -->
</script>

....

<script src="/WebResource.axd?d=oHDYBFi41e_Yin9uI8hiQQ2&amp;t=633209186515218514" type="text/javascript"></script>

...

<script> var MSOWebPartPageFormName = 'aspnetForm';</script><script type="text/JavaScript" language="JavaScript">
<!--
var L_Menu_BaseUrl="/acess2";
var L_Menu_LCID="2070";
var L_Menu_SiteTheme="";
//-->
</script>
<script src="/WebResource.axd?d=_DeU6kVwBc-W4uB9VoDvbg2&amp;t=633209186515218514" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script type="text/javascript">
<!--
function WebForm_OnSubmit() {
UpdateFormDigest('\u002facess2', 1440000);return _spFormOnSubmitWrapper();
return true;
}
// -->
</script>

.....

<script type="text/javascript">
<!--
var __wpmExportWarning='This Web Part Page has been personalized. As a result, one or more Web Part properties may contain confidential information. Make sure the properties contain information that is safe for others to read. After exporting this Web Part, view properties in the Web Part description file (.WebPart) by using a text editor such as Microsoft Notepad.';var __wpmCloseProviderWarning='You are about to close this Web Part.  It is currently providing data to other Web Parts, and these connections will be deleted if this Web Part is closed.  To close this Web Part, click OK.  To keep this Web Part, click Cancel.';var __wpmDeleteWarning='You are about to permanently delete this Web Part.  Are you sure you want to do this?  To delete this Web Part, click OK.  To keep this Web Part, click Cancel.';var zz1_logoLinkId_Data = new Object();
zz1_logoLinkId_Data.disappearAfter = 500;
zz1_logoLinkId_Data.horizontalOffset = 0;
zz1_logoLinkId_Data.verticalOffset = 0;
if (typeof(overrideMenu_HoverStatic) == 'function' && typeof(Menu_HoverStatic) == 'function')
{
_spBodyOnLoadFunctionNames.push('enableFlyoutsAfterDelay');
Menu_HoverStatic = overrideMenu_HoverStatic;
}
var zz2_GlobalNav_Data = new Object();
zz2_GlobalNav_Data.disappearAfter = 500;
zz2_GlobalNav_Data.horizontalOffset = 0;
zz2_GlobalNav_Data.verticalOffset = -8;
zz2_GlobalNav_Data.hoverClass = 'zz2_GlobalNav_13 topNavFlyOutsHover';
zz2_GlobalNav_Data.hoverHyperLinkClass = 'zz2_GlobalNav_12 topNavFlyOutsHover';
zz2_GlobalNav_Data.staticHoverClass = 'zz2_GlobalNav_11 topNavHover';
zz2_GlobalNav_Data.staticHoverHyperLinkClass = 'zz2_GlobalNav_10 topNavHover';
var zz3_CurrentNav_Data = new Object();
zz3_CurrentNav_Data.disappearAfter = 500;
zz3_CurrentNav_Data.horizontalOffset = 0;
zz3_CurrentNav_Data.verticalOffset = 0;
zz3_CurrentNav_Data.hoverClass = 'zz3_CurrentNav_17 leftNavFlyOutsHover';
zz3_CurrentNav_Data.hoverHyperLinkClass = 'zz3_CurrentNav_16 leftNavFlyOutsHover';
zz3_CurrentNav_Data.staticHoverClass = 'zz3_CurrentNav_15 leftNavHover';
zz3_CurrentNav_Data.staticHoverHyperLinkClass = 'zz3_CurrentNav_14 leftNavHover';
// -->
</script>

AKS Toolkit and font sizes

Tue, 29 Jan 2008 14:01:45 Z

Am I losing the plot or do the masterpages included in the accessibility toolkit (AKS) not allow you to change the font size in the browser?

I thought that was one of the fixes that this toolkit solves or maybe I misunderstood!

Would appreciate anyones thoughts on this.

"Turn on more accessible mode" in every page in MOSS

Wed, 13 Jun 2007 11:58:08 Z

If you see the code (page/view source) in every page made by MOSS, it has a javascript saying :

"Turn on more accessible mode"

It doesn't appear, but with a little tweakingI was able to turn it on .
It has some interesting behavior, but I wonder if there is some more information about it.

Christos K.

SharePoint Accessibility - Is MOSS Accessible?

Mon, 04 Jun 2007 18:31:20 Z

Something to start with...

I have posted an article on MOSS accessibility with specific regards to the the WCAG 1.0 standards. Hope this helps in your search for solving your accessibility requirements.

http://www.21apps.com/2007/03/sharepoint-accessibility-is-moss-2007_4974.html

You should also visit the Microsoft Accessibility site.

Andrew

Does AKS apply to other parts of Sharepoint?

Tue, 02 Oct 2007 11:06:45 Z

In BT we don't plan to use Sharepoint as an ECM but to use the My Sites, blogs and wiki capability for short term team collaboration purposes. I have 2 questions for you:

1. Does AKS apply to these features of Sharepoint or only to the ECM module?

2. The UK DDA 1995 suggest that AA is the level of accessibility to aim for to comply with the Act. What are your plans to meet this higher level?

Thanks,

Mark

Accessibility API

Thu, 25 Oct 2007 13:43:46 Z

At my current client we are developing a portal site using MOSS. Part of the deliverables is to address the WCAG Priority 1 requirements. For the most part, most of the interface elements respond correctly when accessibility mode is turned on. However, they have developed a custom main navigation control along the top which navigates the user to subsites (nothing new there). What they also added was a checkbox on the right side of the navigation control to turn off/on mouse-over submenus. When accessibility mode is turned on, these menus *should* function like the site actions menu; when the box checked, the mouse-overs still shows the mouse-over menus and they probably should not. My initial thought is to disallow the checking of this box when accessibility mode is turned on. The follow on to this would be to show the pop-up page with the links listed out, much like the site actions button does in acessibility mode. To my first point, I see there is a javascript method available, IsAccessibilityFeatureEnabledProxy() in core.js, which will allow me to determine client side if accessibility is turn on/off. Is there an equivalent in the object model that will allow me to determine this server side? I quickly looked through the documentation and could not find anything. Also, is there something out of the box with MOSS that will give me the ability to list the links out on a pop-up page or do I have to code that up myself?

Thanks in advance for any help on this topic.

Greg Robinson