New Guidance
As leaders in the healthcare industry, accessibility considerations for our users should be a high priority in our software. The following checklist presents baseline criteria for 508 compliance according to version 2.0 of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.
While 100% compliance may not be possible, the goal should be to achieve the highest level of compliance in our products.
General Code Inspection
| Requirements | 508 Traceability |
|---|---|
| Does content intended to be accessible by assistive technology refrain from using display:none or aria-hidden=true? | WCAG 2.0 Success Criterion 1.3.1 |
| Are Fieldset tags only used for form fields? | WCAG 2.0 Success Criterion 1.3.1 |
| With styles disabled, is the reading order of the content logical? | WCAG 2.0 Success Criterion 1.3.2 |
| Does the view have a title attribute that accurately defines the content? | WCAG 2.0 Success Criterion 2.4.2 |
| Is the default language set? | WCAG 2.0 Success Criterion 3.1.1 |
| Has the language been properly set for foreign words or phrases? | WCAG 2.0 Success Criterion 3.1.2 |
| Is the view free from major errors defined in W3 Failure #70 when run against an HTML validator? | WCAG 2.0 Success Criterion 4.1.1 |
| Are duplicate ID values on the same view avoided? | WCAG 2.0 Success Criterion 4.1.1 |
| Do all frames have a title attribute that accurately defines the content? | WCAG 2.0 Success Criterion 4.1.2 |
| If ARIA is present, does the ARIA coding both meet ARIA specifications and give an accurate representation of the content? | WCAG 2.0 Success Criterion 4.1.2 |
Links
| Requirements | 508 Traceability |
|---|---|
| Do linked images either have an empty alt tag and link text, or no link text and appropriate alt text? | WCAG 2.0 Success Criterion 1.1.1 |
| Are links distinguished by a method other than color? | WCAG 2.0 Success Criterion 1.4.1 |
| Can all link text be understood out of context? If not, do generic links have sufficient content? | WCAG 2.0 Success Criterion 2.4.4 |
Forms
| Requirements | 508 Traceability |
|---|---|
| Do grouped form fields have correctly coded fieldset and legend tags? | WCAG 2.0 Success Criterion 1.3.1 |
| Are orphan label tags avoided? | WCAG 2.0 Success Criterion 1.3.1 |
| Is the form free of making a selection when attempting to navigate the options (only submits when user makes a selection)? | WCAG 2.0 Success Criterion 3.2.2 |
| Are form validation errors clear and accurately identified in text? | WCAG 2.0 Success Criterion 3.3.1 |
| Are all form fields correctly coded with descriptive and accurate labels? | WCAG 2.0 Success Criterion 3.3.2 |
Tables
| Requirements | 508 Traceability |
|---|---|
| If layout tables are used, is data table markup (Summary, TH, ID, Headers) avoided? | WCAG 2.0 Success Criterion 1.3.1 |
| Are data tables implemented with data table coding? | WCAG 2.0 Success Criterion 1.3.1 |
| Do all header cells utilize the TH tag? Do all data cells utilize the TD tag? | WCAG 2.0 Success Criterion 1.3.1 |
| Do all header cells contain text? | WCAG 2.0 Success Criterion 1.3.1 |
| Do data tables with one set of both column and row headers appropriately use scope to associate to data cells? | WCAG 2.0 Success Criterion 1.3.1 |
| Do data tables with more than one set of column and/or row headers appropriately use id/headers to associate to data cells? | WCAG 2.0 Success Criterion 1.3.1 |
| If layout tables are used, is the intended order of the content intact? | WCAG 2.0 Success Criterion 1.3.1 |
Common Elements and Dynamic Content
| Requirements | 508 Traceability |
|---|---|
| Is the state of an element (e.g. expanded or collapsed) properly defined, accurate, and communicated to assistive technology? | WCAG 2.0 Multiple Success Criteria |
| Are modal dialogs able to be used with keyboard alone and assistive technology (focus management, hiding underlying content, etc.)? | WCAG 2.0 Multiple Success Criteria |
| Are carousels able to be used with keyboard alone and assistive technology (ability to pause, navigate to individual items, etc.)? | WCAG 2.0 Multiple Success Criteria |
| Are menus able to be used with keyboard alone and assistive technology (ability to expand and navigate sub-items, etc.)? | WCAG 2.0 Multiple Success Criteria |
| Can accordion panels be used with keyboard alone and assistive technology (ability to expand and navigate sub-items)? | WCAG 2.0 Multiple Success Criteria |
| If a user selection creates an unexpected change on the view, was the change communicated to the user? | WCAG 2.0 Success Criterion 3.2.2 |
| Is the role of an element (e.g. Button) properly defined, accurate, and communicated to assistive technology? | WCAG 2.0 Success Criterion 4.1.2 |
| Are tabbed interfaces able to be used with keyboard alone and assistive technology (ability to tell active tab and navigate to content)? | WCAG 2.0 Success Criterion 4.1.2 |
Semantic Structure
| Requirements | 508 Traceability |
|---|---|
| Are all visual bulleted and numbered lists correctly coded with HTML list tags? | WCAG 2.0 Criterion 1.3.1 |
| Are visual headings correctly coded with HTML heading tags (h1, h2, etc.)? | WCAG 2.0 Criterion 1.3.1 |
| Do heading tags follow a logical hierarchical progression? | WCAG 2.0 Criterion 1.3.1 |
| Are heading tags only used on text that defines a section of content? | WCAG 2.0 Criterion 1.3.1 |
| Is emphasized or special text correctly coded with HTML heading tags (em, strong, sup, etc.)? | WCAG 2.0 Criterion 1.3.1 |
Color
| Requirements | 508 Traceability |
|---|---|
| Is information conveyed by methods other than color alone? | WCAG 2.0 Criterion 1.4.1 |
| Does all text (with the exception of logos) have a contrast ratio of 4.5:1 or greater no matter the font size? | WCAG 2.0 Criterion 1.4.3 |
Images
| Requirements | 508 Traceability |
|---|---|
| Do images have an alt attribute? | WCAG 2.0 Criterion 1.1.1 |
| Do images conveying information have alt text that provides the same level of understanding a visual user would gain? | WCAG 2.0 Criterion 1.1.1 |
| Do decorative images have an empty alt tag (alt=””) or are included via the CSS? | WCAG 2.0 Criterion 1.1.1 |
| Is the CSS free from images conveying information that do not have a text alternative? | WCAG 2.0 Criterion 1.1.1 |
| Do complex images have an alternate accessible means of understanding? | WCAG 2.0 Criterion 1.1.1 |
| Is the view free from images of text? (picture of a table, screenshot of text from another source, etc.) | WCAG 2.0 Criterion 1.4.5 |
Audio/Video
| Requirements | 508 Traceability |
|---|---|
| Do all audio only or video only files have an accurate transcript? | WCAG 2.0 Criterion 1.2.1 |
| Do all videos have accurate and synchronized captions? | WCAG 2.0 Criterion 1.2.2 |
| Are there any informational parts of a video that require audio description to be understood by users with limited sight and if so, is a second version with audio description available? | WCAG 2.0 Criterion 1.2.5 |
| Is there a way to turn off sound that automatically plays for more than 3 seconds? | WCAG 2.0 Criterion 1.4.2 |
General Visual Checks
| Requirements | 508 Traceability |
|---|---|
| Are all application controlled documents (PDF, Excel, etc.) fully accessible or have a conforming alternate version? | WCAG 2.0 Criterion 1.3.1 |
| Are operational instructions that rely on visual characteristics avoided (e.g., Click the orange button to continue)? | WCAG 2.0 Criterion 1.3.3 |
| Can all text be resized up to 200% without degrading quality or understandability? | WCAG 2.0 Criterion 1.4.4 |
| If there are any time limits on interacting with content, can they be turned off, adjusted, or extended? | WCAG 2.0 Criterion 2.2.1 |
| Is the application free from pages that re-direct after a timeout?? | WCAG 2.0 Criterion 2.2.1 |
| Can auto updating, moving, blinking, and scrolling content be paused or adjusted? | WCAG 2.0 Criterion 2.2.2 |
| Is the UI free from content that flashes more than 3 times per second? | WCAG 2.0 Criterion 2.3.1 |