Oracle E-Business Suite Accessibility Features

Overview

This appendix describes accessibility features in Oracle E-Business Suite.

Note: The content of this appendix is cumulative, so it describes features in Oracle E-Business Suite up to and including those for the latest release.

Enabling Accessibility Features for the HTML-Based Interface

Set the Accessibility mode on the login page under Accessibility.

Alternatively, the accessibility mode can be set on the Preferences page under "Accessibility" or by using the profile option Self Service Accessibility Features.

Once the Accessibility mode is set, it does not need to be set again for future sessions.

The options are:

Required Form Controls

Oracle E-Business Suite uses an asterisk (*) to indicate that a control is required. In Screen Reader Optimized mode, the required field indicator asterisk (*) is associated with the form control and non-visible text "(required)" is appended to the label that can be read by screen readers.

Field-Level Hints

In Screen Reader Optimized mode, tip text is displayed on the left side of the input field, depending on language session being used. In None or Standard mode, tip text is displayed below the input field.

Keyboard Interaction in the HTML-Based Interface

The following components are covered:

Access Keys

Access keys can be enabled or disabled using the Disable Access Keys checkbox on the Preferences page.

Using Hot Keys

The following table lists the actions and associated hot keys that are supported in HTML-based applications.

To perform the action in Internet Explorer, press the Alt key + the key listed in the table. In this browser, the access key "activates" a button. That is, typing the access key moves the focus to the button and submits the associated action.

In Firefox on Windows, press Shift + Alt + the key listed in the table. In this browser, the access key places focus on the button but does not submit any action.

In Google Chrome on Windows, press Alt + the key listed in the table. In this browser, the access key places focus on the button but does not submit any action.

For Mac, use Control + Option + the key listed in the table.

On a Mac, you need to set a system preference to allow focusing on everything with just the keyboard. Go to System Preferences > Keyboard and under the Shortcuts tab, click on the "All controls" radio button. Once the Full Keyboard Access is set to all controls, you can use the Tab key together with arrow keys to navigate items on the screen. Use the space bar to select screen item that is in focus.

Actions and Associated Hot Keys
Action Hot Key
Apply p
Back k
Cancel l
Continue c
Finish i
Next x
No n
Save s
Search r
Submit m
Yes y
Right Subtab >
Left Subtab <

Attachments

Enabled inline attachment pop-ups are focusable and are accessible by the Tab key. They may also be closed by pressing the Escape key.

Hide/Show Subtab Region

A Hide/Show subtab region contains a subtab layout that appears vertically on the page.

Using the keyboard, you can access the Hide/Show subtab layout by pressing the Tab key until focus reaches the first subtab of the layout. Pressing Tab again focuses on the subsequent component within that subtab.

To navigate between subtabs, use the navigation keys. Use the Down arrow key or Right arrow key to focus on the next subtab. Use the Up arrow key or the Left arrow key to focus on the previous subtab.

Inline Date Picker

When one or more date fields appear on a page, an Inline Date Picker may be displayed on the page, allowing users to quickly select dates for those fields.

List Box

A list box lets a user select one or more values from a list.

With the focus on list box, pressing the Up or Down arrow key will shift the focus to the next item and select it. If Multi-Select Allowed is enabled, then holding the Shift key while pressing the Up/Down arrow key will select multiple items, if applicable.

Look Ahead LOV

The List of Values component has type-ahead search capabilities. As a user types in characters in the LOV search field, the results are fetched and displayed. The user can select a value from this look ahead window just as in the classic LOV window.

Keyboard navigation is as follows:

Note: The Look Ahead LOV is not available for Screen Reader Optimized mode.

Panel Splitter

If you have the Self Service Accessibility Features profile set to "Standard Accessibility" or "Screen Reader Optimized", use the following keys to interact with the panel splitter region.

Pop-up Windows

Modal and non-modal pop-up windows are invoked by pressing the Enter key and navigable with the Tab and Shift+Tab keys. For modal pop-up windows, the focus stays within the pop-up until it is cancelled or submitted. For non-modal pop-up windows, pressing the F6 key moves the focus between the base page and current opened pop-up. They may be closed by pressing the Escape key.

Processing Page

A Processing page lets users know that a long-running process is working in the background. When Screen Reader Optimized mode is on, the user gets a Refresh Process Status button and must press it to continue.

Rating Bar

A rating bar allows users to rate a product, service, or entity.

Use the following keys to interact with an updatable rating bar:

Rich Interactions of Tables

If you have the Self Service Accessibility Features profile set to "Standard Accessibility" or "Screen Reader Optimized", you may still take advantage of the following rich table interactions through a simpler user interface that does not require a mouse (except for resizing a column).

Actions

Use the Tab key or Shift+Tab key combination to move the cursor focus to the Actions icon in the control bar.

Press the Enter key to toggle the display of the menu.

Alternatively, with the focus on the Actions icon, you may press the Down arrow key to display the menu and move the focus onto the first item of the menu.

Note: Accessibility behavior may differ based on the language session used. For example, in an Arabic session Left arrow functions like the English Right arrow.

To Detach a Table

  1. To move the cursor up or down between form fields of the same column of a detached table, use Alt+Up arrow or Alt+Down arrow key combinations, respectively. To move the cursor forwards or backwards between form fields, use the Tab key or the Shift+Tab key combination, respectively.

  2. Use the Escape key to reattach the table to its base page.

To Scroll Through a Table

Users can scroll vertically and horizontally with Up/Down arrow keys and Left/Right arrow keys, respectively. In Screen Reader Optimized mode, rather than vertical scrolling, there is pagination so user may select the "Next" and "Previous" links to display next or previous sets of rows.

To Reorder a Column

  1. Select the Columns option from the Actions menu. Use the Spacebar key or Right arrow key to display a list of the columns of the table.

  2. Use the Up arrow key or the Down arrow key to navigate between column names, "wrapping" at the top and bottom of the menu.

  3. With focus on a column name, press Control+Up arrow to move the column up the menu list, keeping focus on the moved column.

  4. With focus on a column name, press Control+Down arrow to move the column down the menu list, keeping focus on the moved column.

  5. With the focus on a column name, you can apply the change by pressing the Escape key which also closes the menu.

To Hide/Show a Column

  1. Select the Columns option from the Actions menu. Use the Spacebar key or Right arrow key to display a list of the columns of the table.

  2. Use the Spacebar key to move the focus to the column names in the menu.

  3. Use the Up arrow key or the Down arrow key to navigate between column names, "wrapping" at the top and bottom of the menu.

  4. With the focus on a column name, press the Spacebar key to check or uncheck the focused column name. A check shows the column.

  5. With the focus on a column name, you can apply the change by pressing any of the following:

    • Escape - which also closes the menu and returns focus to the menu-enabled item.

    • Tab - which also closes the menu and navigates to the next item on the page.

    • Shift+Tab - which also closes the menu and moves focus back to the menu- enabled item.

To Resize a Column

Column resizing is not supported if the Self Service Accessibility Features profile is set to "Standard Accessibility" or "Screen Reader Optimized".

To Freeze a Column

If you have the Self Service Accessibility Features profile set to "Screen Reader Optimized", the column freeze feature is disabled.

If you have the Self Service Accessibility Features profile set to "Standard Accessibility", you can use the following keyboard commands.

  1. Select the Freeze option from the Actions menu. Use the Spacebar key or Right arrow key to display a list of the columns of the table.

  2. Use the Up arrow key or the Down arrow key to navigate between column names, "wrapping" at the top and bottom of the menu.

  3. With the focus on a column name, press the Spacebar key to select the column to freeze.

  4. With the focus on a column name, you can apply the change by pressing any of the following:

    • Escape, which also closes the menu and returns focus to the menu-enabled item.

    • Tab, which also closes the menu and navigates to the next item on the page.

    • Shift+Tab, which also closes the menu and moves focus back to the menu-enabled item.

  5. Select Unfreeze from the Freeze menu to unfreeze a column.

Use the Left arrow or Right arrow keys to scroll the table horizontally.

Table Selection

The tri-state checkbox is used to select or deselect all of the rows in a table. The tri-state checkbox may be selected or deselected with the Spacebar key.

See: Querying and Viewing Data for more information.

Rich Text Editor

The Rich Text Editor is rendered in Text Mode when the Self Service Accessibility Features profile is set to "Standard Accessibility" or "Screen Reader Optimized". When the profile is set to "None" then the Rich Text Editor is rendered in Rich Text Mode, along with a Switch Mode link.

Shuttle

A shuttle component is used to assemble a list of items, by moving or adding items from one list to another.

Keyboard navigation is as follows: press Tab or Shift+Tab to navigate through leading lists, trailing lists, and buttons.

For selection: with the focus on either the leading list box or trailing list box, pressing the Up arrow key or the Down arrow key will shift the focus to the next item and select it. If Multi-Select Allowed is enabled, you can select multiple items by holding the Shift key while pressing the Up or Down arrow key.

With the focus on any of the buttons (Move, Remove or Reorder), you can take the corresponding action on selected items by pressing Space.

Spin Box

A spin box allows a user to select a numeric value from a predefined range.

With the focus is on the spin box input field, the following keystrokes result in the given actions:

Subtabs

A subtab allows you to access a single page's contents in a tabbed layout.

Horizontal and Vertical Subtabs

At runtime, users can navigate from one horizontal subtab to the next by using accelerator keys on the keyboard. Note that the accelerator keys do not cycle to the first subtab from the last subtab or to the last subtab from the first subtab.

Users can navigate from one vertical subtab to the next by using the up, down, left or right arrow keys and then press [Tab] to access the content within the vertical subtab layout.

Tiles

In general, keyboard interaction for tiles is similar to that for subtabs. The keyboard interactions common to both vertical and horizontal display mode of tiles are:

Keyboard interactions for horizontal display mode:

Keyboard interactions for vertical display mode:

Top-level Menu

With the Top-level Menu Display Style set to "Icons and Links", you can use the keyboard to navigate the top-level menu as follows:

Accessibility in Forms-Based Applications

Users with low vision can:

Users with physical limits can:

Screen reader users can:

Hearing impaired users can:

Configuration Steps for Screen Reader Users

Java Access Bridge

Oracle Forms supports the Java Access Bridge, which allows integration with assistive technologies that also support Java. The Java Access Bridge must be enabled so that Oracle Forms, the Java Runtime Engine (JRE) and the Java enabled assistive technology may interact. For information how to enable the Java Access Bridge, please see the Java Accessibility Guide at https://docs.oracle.com/javase/8/docs/technotes/guides/access/index.html.

Actions and Values LOVs

Oracle E-Business Suite incorporates a feature that allows any user to see the current screen in a compressed, text-only pop-up window format called LOV (List of Values). Fields which cannot take focus because they are 'non-navigable' will not allow a screen reader to read their value and prompt. To account for this, Oracle E-Business Suite has special code that presents all fields in the current window, as well non-navigable fields in the window in special LOVs. Included in the LOVs are the values of display items, which otherwise would not be easily discernible with a screen reader because they are not keyboard navigable. These special text-only pop-up windows allow a screen reader user to quickly identify all widgets in the current window (but just the current row for multi-row blocks).

The 'Actions' LOV is invoked through the "KEY-F8" function and is a list of all push buttons in the current window. The 'Values' LOV is invoked through the "KEY-F9" function and is a list of all other widgets in the current window like text items, radio buttons, checkboxes and poplists. Each row in the LOV will be spoken by a screen reader. The LOVs are in alphabetical order. Both LOVs also show access keys for radio buttons, checkboxes and push buttons. Choosing a value from either the Actions or Values LOV will not cause focus to move to those fields or buttons.

The access keys displayed in the LOVs are within braces for translations purposes. For example, access key c is displayed as {C} and a screen reader will speak the text as "brace C brace". Check with the screen reader manufacturer if there is a way to change it to speak "Alt C" instead of "brace C brace" if this is annoying.

Note that the "KEY-Fn" function is not necessarily the "Fn" button on the keyboard. The current key mapping for the function can be shown in the "Keyboard Help" window. Typically the "KEY-Fn" function is mapped to Ctrl+Shift+Fn via the Oracle Terminal resource file.

Forms Personalization

Oracle E-Business Suite users can take advantage of a powerful feature called Forms Personalization if they don't like some of the "speakable prompts". My Oracle Support Note 395117.1 is available that explains Forms Personalization.

Runtime options for users with low vision

Profiles Java Look and Feel and Java Color Scheme

Users with low vision may set the desired colors using the operating system's provided schemes, then set profiles Java Look and Feel and Java Color Scheme.

Profile FND: Indicator Colors

Oracle E-Business Suite by default renders:

To turn off these features when running Oracle E-Business Suite Forms-based applications, set profile FND: Indicator Colors to "No".

Font Size

Operating system settings such as Font Size, will affect the overall size of all items in a form. Often this is the only technique to adjust font sizes within a form, as they typically are hard-coded.

Windows 7 operating system instructions:

  1. Go to Windows Control Panel ] Fonts ] Change font size ] Set custom text size (DPI) = 200%

  2. Restart the computer.

  3. Launch Forms and you should have a larger font.

Runtime options for users with physical limits

All items used within Oracle Forms follow the standard operating system conventions for keyboard use. For example, on the Microsoft Windows operating systems use Alt+[letter] to activate items with access keys, Alt+down to open a poplist, and Alt to move focus to the menu. Oracle Forms should inherit operating system accessibility functions such as Sticky Keys. Tabs can be switched by invoking the "List Tab Pages" function (typically F2), in addition to using access keys on each tab label.

The "Keyboard Help" window displays the keystrokes to achieve normal Forms operations, such as 'Next Block' and 'Clear Record'. This window can be viewed at any time by pressing Ctrl+K. The keyboard mappings can be customized by the System Administrator. For more information, see the Oracle E-Business Suite Setup Guide.

A user running a screen reader will most likely need a modified keyboard mapping file, or will have to change the Assistive Technology keystrokes, as some of the default function mappings may conflict.

The following table lists common default Forms keystrokes on Microsoft Windows:

Common Default Keystrokes for Forms-Based Applications on Microsoft Windows
Action Keystroke
List of Forms Keys Ctrl+k
Next Record Down Arrow
Previous Record Up Arrow
Next Field Tab
Previous Field Shift+Tab
Next Field (From a Multi-Line Text Item) Ctrl+Tab
Next Block Shift+Page Down
Previous Block Shift+Page Up
Actions LOV Ctrl+Shift+F8
Values LOV Ctrl+Shift+F9
Activate default push button in a window if one exists Enter
Pressing the Enter key with the focus on a button will activate that button. If the focus is not on a button (or menu item), then the Enter key should activate the default button if one exists.
Save Record (Commit) Ctrl+S
Clear Record F6
Create Record The standard keystroke may be consumed by the screen reader, so you need to run with different terminal resource file to map Ctrl+Down Arrow to something else or just use the pull-down menu.
Close Window Ctrl+F4
List of Tab Pages F2
Activate Menu Alt and then navigate with up/down and left/right arrow keys
Activate push buttons, radio buttons, checkboxes and topmost menu items Alt+access key
Toggle between open/close poplist Alt+Up/Down arrow keys
Activate current push button, Toggle checkbox yes/no Spacebar
Cycle through and select a radio button within a radio group Left/Right arrow keys and then Spacebar
Move to beginning of line Home
Move to end of line End
Select to end of line (there is no keystroke for "Select All") Shift+End or Shift+Insert+End
Cut Ctrl+x
Copy Ctrl+c
Paste Ctrl+v
Select the current tree node Spacebar
Activate the current tree node (this expands or contracts the node if it is not a leaf node) Enter
Move up the tree Up arrow
Move down the tree Down arrow
Move up the tree branch one parent at a time collapsing nodes Left arrow
Move down the tree expanding parent nodes Right arrow key
Move focus within tree without selection Ctrl+Up/Down arrow keys
Move focus up/down the tree branch but not the selection Ctrl+Left/Right arrow keys

List of Values

Oracle E-Business Suite includes a feature that renders an iconic button next to each field that has an LOV. The LOV can also be invoked from the keyboard by pressing the "List of Values" function (typically Ctrl+L).

Tab Pages

Tabs in Oracle E-Business Suite can only be changed from the keyboard using the "List Tab Pages" function. Individual tab labels do not have access keys due to translation issues.

Keyboard Interaction in the Oracle Enterprise Command Center Dashboards

This section describes keyboard interaction in Oracle Enterprise Command Center dashboards using Oracle Enterprise Command Center Framework.

Note: The following functions are not possible with keyboard only:

Navigation Components

The following table lists keyboard actions for functions within the Search component.

Keyboard Navigation for the Search Component
Target Navigation
Reach Search Component Use the Tab key.
Switch Data Set Reach options icon using Tab key.
Use the Enter key to open the options menu.
Use Arrow keys to select the data set.
Perform Search Enter the search query.
Click Enter OR click Tab to move to magnifying glass icon, and then press Enter.
Select from suggestions Enter the search query.
Use Arrow keys to navigate among search values.
Click Enter.
Use Search Category Reach Search Category using Tab key.
Use the Down arrow key to view the list.
Navigate using Arrow keys.
Click Enter to select.

The following table lists keyboard actions for functions related to Selected Refinements.

Keyboard Navigation for Selected Refinements
Target Navigation
Reach Selected Refinements For any page type, use the Tab key.
Clear All Refinements Reach the Clear All Refinements icon using the Tab key.
Use the Enter key to remove refinement.
Remove Individual Refinements Reach the Clear Refinement Icon using the Tab key.
Use the Enter key to remove refinement.
Navigate within funnel icon Press Enter to open the Selected Refinements window.
Press F6 and Tab keys to navigate through.

The following table lists keyboard actions for functions related to Available Refinements.

Keyboard Navigation for Available Refinements
Target Navigation
Reach Available Refinements For any page type, use the Tab key.
Expand or Collapse Accordions of Attribute Group/Attributes Reach accordions using the Tab key.
Use Enter or Space keys to expand/collapse accordions.
Search within Attribute Reach the Search Bar using Tab key.
Enter search query.
Press Enter or click Tab to move to the magnifying glass icon and press Enter for search.
Select value Use Tab keys to move through the attribute values and press Enter.

The following table lists keyboard actions for functions related to the Breadcrumbs feature.

Keyboard Navigation for Breadcrumbs
Target Navigation
Clear Refinements Use Tab keys to move to the Remove icon and press Enter.
Clear All Refinements Use Tab keys to move to the Clear All icon and press Enter.
View Collapsed Filters Use the Tab key to move to the Collapse/Expand icon and press Enter.
Use the Enter key to open a pop-up list.
Use the Tab key to move to the list.
Use the Tab key to clear filters in the list.

Visualization Components

The following table lists keyboard actions for functions related to the Summarization Bar.

Keyboard Navigation for Summarization Bar
Target Navigation
Navigate through Use the Tab key to move the focus.
Apply metric refinement Use the Enter key on the metric.
Open LOV from a flag Use the Enter key on the flag.
Select a value from LOV Use Arrow keys to move across rows.
Press F2 to move within a row.
Press enter to refine by dimension.
Close the LOV using the Escape key.

The following table lists keyboard actions for functions used with the Tag Cloud.

Keyboard Navigation for Tag Clouds
Target Navigation
Move focus to next element. Tab
Move focus to the previous element. Shift + Tab
Move focus and selection to the previous data item Up Arrow or Left Arrow
Move focus and selection to the next data item Down Arrow or Right Arrow
Move focus to previous data item, without changing the current selection Ctrl + Up Arrow or Ctrl +Left Arrow
Move focus to next data item, without changing the current selection Ctrl + Down Arrow or Ctrl + Right Arrow

The following table lists keyboard actions for functions related to charts.

Keyboard Navigation for Charts
Target Navigation
Navigate across dimensions Use Shift+Arrow keys to change focus on dimensions.
Apply Refinements Use the Enter key on a dimension.
Use runtime options Use the Tab key to reach runtime options.
Use the Enter key to open runtime options.
Use the Tab key to navigate across options.
Add Refinement Use the Enter key.
Change the number of dimensions or other actions Use the Tab key to reach runtime options.
Change the number of dimensions using number keys.
Change the order of display using arrow keys.
Change the threshold using number keys.

The following table lists keyboard actions for functions related to aggregated tables.

Keyboard Navigation for Aggregated Tables
Target Navigation
Navigate across rows Use the Up Arrow and Down Arrow keys.
Navigate across items in a record Use Arrow keys to move across rows.
Press F2 and Tab to navigate within a row.
Use runtime options Use the Tab key to reach runtime options.
Use the Enter key to open runtime options.
Use Tab keys to navigate across options.
Add Refinements Use the Enter key.
Sort column Use the Tab key to navigate across column headers.
Use the Enter key to sort by the column.
Change pagination Use the Tab and Enter keys.

Detailed Insights Components

The following table lists keyboard actions for functions related to results tables.

Keyboard Navigation for Results Tables
Target Navigation
Navigate across rows Use the Up Arrow and Down Arrow keys.
Navigate across items in a record Use Arrow keys to move across rows.
Press F2 and Tab to navigate within a row.
Use runtime options Use the Tab key to reach runtime options.
Use the Enter key to open runtime options.
Use Tab keys to navigate across options.
Add Refinements Use the Enter key.
Sort column Use the Tab key to navigate across column headers.
Use the Enter key to sort by the column.
Make Selection Use Arrow keys to move across rows.
Use the Space key to select the record.
For multiple selections, use Shift key and navigate across rows.
Use row actions Use Arrow keys to move across rows.
Press F2 and Tab keys to reach row actions.
Use the Enter key.
Change pagination Use Tab and Enter keys.

The following table lists keyboard actions for functions related to results grids.

Keyboard Navigation for Results Grids
Target Navigation
Navigate across grid cells Use Up Arrow and Down Arrow keys.
Navigate across items in a grid Use Arrow keys to move across rows.
Press F2 and Tab to navigate within a row.
Use runtime options Use the Tab key to reach runtime options.
Use the Enter key to open runtime options.
Use Tab keys to navigate across options.
Add Refinements Use the Enter key.
Make Selection Use Arrow keys to move across grid cells.
Use the Space key to select the record.
For multiple selections, use Shift key and navigate across grid cells.
Use grid items like input and button Use Arrow keys to move across grid cells.
Press F2 and Tab keys to reach attributes.
Change pagination Use Tab and Enter keys.

The following table lists keyboard actions for functions related to Enterprise Command Center pop-up windows (pop-ups).

Keyboard Navigation for Enterprise Command Center Pop-Ups
Target Navigation
Close ECC Pop-up Press the F2 + Tab keys to reach the attributes and action item.
Once the content in the ECC pop-up loads:
  • Use Shift + Tab to move the focus out of the pop-up content.

  • Click Escape to close the pop-up.

  • Alternatively, click Enter when the focus is on the Close icon.

The following table lists keyboard actions for functions related to diagrams.

Keyboard Navigation for Diagrams
Target Navigation
Move focus to next element. Tab
Move focus to the previous element. Shift + Tab
When the focus is on a node, move focus and selection to the nearest node left/right. Left Arrow or Right Arrow
When the focus is on a node, move focus and selection to the nearest node up/down. Up Arrow or Down Arrow
Open/Close an active container node (grouping node). Ctrl + Shift + Space
Open context menu for the selected node. Shift + F10
Navigate between context menu options. Up Arrow or Down Arrow
Multi-select node with focus. Shift + Up Arrow or Down Arrow

Layout Components

The following table lists keyboard actions for the Tabbed Component Container.

Keyboard Navigation for a Tabbed Component Container
Target Navigation
Switch tab Use Tab key to change focus and use the Enter key to switch tab.

Other Component Controls

The following table lists keyboard actions for other components.

Keyboard Navigation for Other Component Controls
Feature Navigation
Record Details Use F2 to reach record details icon and use the Enter key.
Use Escape key to close the window.
Compare Use Arrow, Space, and Shift keys to make a selection.
Navigate to compare in runtime options using Tab and press Enter.
Use Escape key to close the Header.
Actions Use the Tab key to navigate through column headers.
Use F2 and Tab keys to navigate through header items.
Export Use Arrow, Space and Shift keys to make a selection.
Navigate to Export in runtime options using Tab and press Enter.
Use the Tab key to navigate through options in the Export window.
Use the Escape key to close the window.
Switch Data Set Use the Tab key to navigate to switch data set option.
Use the Up Arrow and Down Arrow keys to change the data set.
Use Escape key to close the window.
Saved Search Use the Tab key to navigate to the star icon.
Use Enter to create/edit saved search window.
Press F6 to navigate inside the window use the Tab to navigate within the window.
Use Escape key to close the window.
Export to PDF Use Shift + F6 to open the Share pop-up window.
Use Tab to navigate to the Export option.
Use Enter to launch the export process.