© 2010 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential.!
Kiran Kaja | Accessibility Engineer!
Accessible Forms with LiveCycle!
© 2010 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential.!
Agenda!
1.!
The accessibility business case!
2.!
Standards overview (WCAG, 508, CLF, etc.) !
3.!
Understanding user needs!
4.!
Understanding accessibility in LC Designer!
5.!
Assistive technology support overview!
2!
© 2010 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential.!
The Accessibility Business Case!
!!
Government organizations are mandated to provide services
to all citizens regardless of their disabilities.!
!! Universal access to services!
!!
Other organizations comply voluntarily or as a result of legal
action.!
!! Self-service movement!
!! Adobe® is an industry leader in accessibility and supports the creation
of outstanding web experiences by encouraging web developers to
produce rich, engaging content that is accessible to all.!
© 2010 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential.!
Which Accessibility Standards?!
!!
W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (WCAG 2)!
!!
Adobe participated in the e"ort to develop WCAG. WCAG defines detailed
accessibility criteria and is the gold standard globally for accessibility
standards.!
!!
PDF techniques for WCAG 2.0 are in development.!
!!
Section 508!
!!
Existing: U.S. Government accessibility standard since June 2001. Adopted by
most U.S. state governments and many universities.!
!!
Upcoming: A new draft of pending Section 508 standards is available. Pairs
compliance with WCAG 2.0. “Web pages as defined by WCAG 2.0, that are
Level AA conformant to WCAG 2.0… shall be deemed to be in conformance
with the following chapters of this part…”!
!!
Common Look and Feel 2.0 (CLF)!
!!
Canada’s accessibility standard.!
4!
© 2010 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential.!
Which Accessibility Standards?!
!!
France, Germany, United Kingdom, Australia and others are
moving to WCAG 2.0.!
!!
The European Union is defining a Section 508-like public
procurement standard (Mandate 376).!
5!
© 2010 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential.!
Accessibility Standards Are All About End-Users!
!! End users have various disabilities.!
!! Sensory – blindness, low-vision, color-deficient vision, deafness, hard-of-
hearing, photo-sensitive seizures.!
!! Blindness advocacy organizations are the best organized and most vocal.!
!! Deafness advocacy organizations are well organized but have fewer
issues.!
!! Physical – various disabilities that result in varying degrees of dependence
on the keyboard interface.!
!! Cognitive – users who perceive and process information di"erently or with
greater di#culty. Very diverse range of user needs within this group. Many
supports for blind users also benefit users in this group.!
!! Users may have multiple disabilities (e.g. a deaf-blind user)!
6!
© 2010 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential.!
What Do Keyboard Users Need?!
!!
When using software and web sites, keyboard users need equivalent and
predictable access to the interface. Full keyboard access never requires use
of a mouse.!
1.!
All tasks must be keyboard accessible, even if every method to accomplish
a task is not.!
2.!
Whenever possible keyboard access should match OS conventions.!
3.!
Complex interfaces need to provide means to easily move around, without
learning or performing 10-20 additional keystrokes.!
4.!
Clear indication of focus location.!
7!
© 2010 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential.!
What Do Blind Users Need?!
!!
When using software and web sites, blind users need information about the
user interface – both about where they are and clues and tools to access the
rest of the interface.!
!!
All requirements for keyboard users apply for blind users!
1.!
Images need equivalent text!
2.!
Controls need labels that clearly define purpose!
3.!
Controls need to be correctly identified by role, with accurate state and
value information provided!
4.!
Relationships present within the content or application needs to be clear!
5.!
Correct reading order!
6.!
Language needs to be correctly identified.!
8!
© 2010 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential.!
What Do Low-Vision Users Need?!
!!
When using software and web sites, low-vision users need to be able to view
information in larger sizes.!
!!
As a user’s visual acuity decreases: !
!!
More reliant on supports o"ered for blind users!
!!
Less likely to be able to e"ectively use the mouse!
1.!
The focus needs to be clearly visible and programmatically locatable. !
2.!
Text needs to be resizable, ideally via OS settings.!
3.!
Reflowable text (text that overlaps when enlarged or that requires vertical
and horizontal scrolling is a challenge)!
9!
© 2010 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential.!
What Do Color-Deficient Users Need?!
!!
When using software and web sites, users with color-deficits need high-
contrast information and ideally the ability to modify the interface for
further enhancements.!
1.!
Support for OS high-contrast modes!
2.!
Su#cient default color-contrast (4.5:1) for all colored content!
1.!
Text!
2.!
Focus carat!
3.!
Controls!
3.!
Instructions that don’t rely on color (e.g. click the red button)!
10!
© 2010 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential.!
What Do Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Users Need?!
!!
When using software and web sites, deaf users need text in place of audio.!
1.!
Closed captions for audio within video.!
2.!
Transcript for audio not synchronized with video or other content.!
3.!
Visual cues for audio alerts.!
11!
© 2010 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential.!
Top Accessibility Areas to Know!
For interactive forms, the following are areas of focus for accessibility and
must be considered.!
1.! Generate Accessibility Information (Tags)!
2.! Tab Order/Reading Order!
3.! Locale settings!
4.! Form Object Properties!
5.! Proper semantics!
!! Tables and Sub-form Roles!
!! Headings!
6.! Equivalents for images!
7.! Color contrast!
© 2010 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential.!
Generate Accessibility Information!
!! For all forms that need to be accessible, ensure that accessibility
information is are generated.!
© 2010 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential.!
Save As Accessible!
Tag Structure, Accessibility and Dynamic forms!
Reader
Version!
Static Forms! Dynamic Forms! Other Information!
< 8.1!
Rendered as
PDF, with
tags
!
Rendered as PDF always!
8.1!
Rendered as
PDF, with
tags!
Rendered as PDF only when AT is
running (PDF tags viewable in tags
panel), direct rendering via XFA
plug-in otherwise
!
If AT is not running
when Acrobat loads, no
tags will be created for
dynamic forms.
!
9 +!
Rendered as
PDF, with
tags
!
Rendered via XFA plug-in always,
accessibility data created only
when Reader detects AT.$ Tags
panel always empty, since
accessibility data rendered via
Triple-A.
!
There is a registry
setting to force reader
to generate tags (no
direct rendering) – may
provide clues when
assessing XFA forms
!
© 2010 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential.!
Tab Order and Reading Order!
!! Tab order is highly important for keyboard users, and for users of assistive
technologies. !
© 2010 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential.!
Form Object Properties!
!! All form controls need labels to
answer a user’s question: “What is
this for?”!
!! Captions provided with controls are
su#cient, provided wording is
appropriate.!
!! Labels can also be provided by
tooltips or “Custom Screen Reader
Text”!
!!
Should be a last resort!
!!
Screen readers add useful information!
!
© 2010 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential.!
Form Object Properties!
!! Testing form object properties can be done multiple ways:!
!! Use JAWS to tab to and read form labels in “forms mode”!
!! Use JAWS’s form field dialog to view labels (easiest)!
© 2010 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential.!
Equivalents for Images!
!! Images need concise equivalents for screen reader
users.!
!! Equivalent is provided as either a ToolTip or Custom
Screen Reader Text. !
!! Be sure to set the precedence!
!! JAWS will read equivalents when reading the
document or form in “virtual cursor” mode.!
© 2010 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential.!
Color Contrast!
!! Color contrast is handled by Adobe Reader and the user’s
settings!
!
© 2010 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential.!
Color Contrast!
!! Document colors are modified, but ONLY the text color and page
background color.!
!! This can cause problems when subforms have a non-transparent
background color - the background color doesn’t change for the
subform, but it will for the text.!
!! Testing: Try multiple replaced document color settings.!
!
Default!
Yellow on Black!
White on Black!
© 2010 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential.!
Proper Semantics!
!! Information that is critical for users to make e"ective use of a form or
application must be included. The primary semantics to consider are:!
!! Tables – Header, Body and Footer roles help identify location within a table.!
!! Headings – Headings provide structure that screen reader users can use to
navigate a form. !
© 2010 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential.!
Assistive Technologies!
Screen Readers!
•!
Freedom Scientifics' JAWS!
•!
NVDA!
Screen Magnifiers!
•!
ZoomText!
•!
MAGic!
© 2010 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential.!
Help Is Available!
!!
LiveCycle Product Accessibility Information%
http://www.adobe.com/accessibility/products/livecycle/
!
!!
LiveCycle Accessibility Best Practices Document%
http://www.adobe.com/accessibility/products/livecycle/pdf/
LiveCycle8_2AccessibilityGuidelines.pdf!
!!
Adobe TV Accessible Forms Video%
http://tv.adobe.com/watch/accessibility-adobe/building-accessible-
livecycle-forms/ !
!!
Blogs%
http://blogs.adobe.com/accessibility
!
http://blogs.adobe.com/formfeed
!
!
!
23!
© 2010 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential.!
