Accessibility Standards at Oracle
This chapter discusses:
Accessibility standards at Oracle.
Accessibility in PeopleSoft applications.
System requirements.
Accessibility Standards at Oracle
Oracle's goal is to ensure that disabled end-users of our products can perform the same tasks, and access the same functionality, as other users. Oracle's PeopleSoft applications have been designed according to the standards of Section 508, a milestone U.S. law passed in 1998 that requires federal agencies to purchase information technology products that meet specifications that were defined by the Access Board. Oracle makes no warranty that PeopleSoft applications will inter-operate with all assistive technology or user agents (browsers). An accessible solution is achieved only when the user’s operating system, browser, assistive technology, and Oracle software all have coded to, and interpreted similarly, the same standards. For more information about accessibility laws, standards, and regulations, as well as the product status of Oracle's PeopleSoft applications, visit Oracle's Accessibility Program website.
See http://www.oracle.com/accessibility
Note. Although new PeopleSoft code is designed to meet the latest accessibility standards, some older code has not been retrofitted to meet the new standards of the World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, version 1.0 level double-A (WCAG 1.0 'AA').
Accessibility in PeopleSoft Applications
Enterprise PeopleTools provides the underlying technology for PeopleSoft applications. All PeopleSoft applications, such as Human Capital Management and Customer Relationship Management, are built, deployed, and maintained using Enterprise PeopleTools. PeopleTools is designed to generate HTML content that meets the standards of Section 508. This HTML content includes several accessibility features to help people with disabilities. These features support the use of assistive technologies, such as screen readers. PeopleSoft accessibility features include:
Alternate text for images, group boxes, buttons, collapsible section icons, and hide and expand grid tabs.
Table summaries and column headings for table columns.
Additional links and anchors that enable keyboard-only users to bypass navigation content, such as page tabs.
The removal of icon links within a page and the removal of page links from the bottom of pages to reduce redundancy when using screen reader software.
A feature that presents the elements on the body of a page in a linear format (recommended for blind users who use assistive technology, such as screen readers).
To ensure that these accessibility features are available:
If developers customize applications, they must build them according to the accessibility design standards.
The delivered pages in PeopleTools 8.50, 8.51 and 8.52 and PeopleSoft 9.1 applications have been audited to ensure that they include accessibility features, such as page control labels and grid summaries. However, if developers change or add pages, they must ensure that their changes meet accessibility requirements. PeopleTools provides many accessibility features, but they are not all automatic. For example, PeopleTools provides the ability to add page control labels, but it does not automatically create the labels. Developers must manually add labels and set other accessibility features so that they are available to users who enable the accessibility features.
See Using PeopleTools to Build Accessible Applications.
Note. It's important to incorporate accessibility from the beginning, when you are designing your customizations. This PeopleBook provides details that are specific to PeopleTools and PeopleSoft applications, but you should also consult the numerous accessibility resources that are available outside of Oracle to create a complete accessibility plan. In addition, it's important to involve users with various disabilities throughout your process, beginning in the design phase.
System administrators must grant access to the Accessibility Features option in PeopleTools.
Accessibility features are not enabled by default. System administrators must, at a minimum, enable the accessibility features for each permission list.
Users who use assistive technology should enable the accessibility features under My Personalizations.
See Using PeopleSoft Accessibility Features.
Note. Keyboard-only navigation features are available to all users and do not require users to enable accessibility features.
This accessibility guide provides details about how to develop, set up, and use the accessibility features in PeopleSoft applications.
Examples
The following example shows a typical transaction page that contains fields, buttons, scroll areas, and a grid:
The following example shows how the same page appears when users have enabled Accessible Layout mode:
Notice that in the preceding example the controls in the scroll areas have been moved to appear inline with the other fields, and the Add row and Delete row columns in the grid have column headings (unlike the example of the standard page, which does not include headings for those columns). Because the purpose of this mode is to facilitate the use of assistive technologies, such as screen readers, the page layout may be quite different from how pages appear when Accessible Layout mode is not enabled.
System Requirements
To ensure that the accessibility features work as designed, users should use one of the recommended browsers listed in Enterprise PeopleTools Hardware and Software Requirements for your release. You can find the hardware and software requirements documents on the Oracle Technology Network website.
See http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/documentation/psftent-090284.html