2019/07/08
 
8 Jul, 2019 | 3 min read

Accessibility Requirements in WSO2 API Management

  • Lakshika Paiva
  • ALBA - WSO2

Accessibility standards in the world of web and internet are quite important as it allows people to access web resources without any difficulty, irrespective of their disabilities. There are many standards put forward to help developers implement accessibility into web-based resources. Some of these are:

  • Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
  • W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 level A
  • W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 1.0
  • W3C Authoring Tools Accessibility Guidelines (ATAG 1.0)

As a middleware vendor we’ve often been asked by Government customers and Federal Agencies in the United States, Europe and other parts of the world, if we are compliant with Section 508, and ATAG 1.0 to enable a wider audience to use our software. These standards describe the desired accessibility required from information technology based services and products to make them accessible to differently-abled people.

A small explanation for those who can’t relate directly; sometimes you may ask if our software doesn’t touch end users, then why bother? Our software is predominantly catered towards developers and architects and they are the people who engage with our software on a technical level. So for instance, if you’re catering to a colorblind developer, having software complying to Section 508 ensures their disability is addressed.

What Do These Standards Say?

Section 508 states that it “requires Federal Agencies to make their ‘electronic and information technology’ accessible to people with disabilities”. However, this not only applies to Federal Agencies, but also impacts any company that conducts business with a Federal Agency like private contractors, and financial, healthcare, and legal organizations among others.

Section 508 was made part of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 in 1998. It was revised in 2017 to include requirements for information and communication technology (ICT) in the federal sector. The guidelines were also updated to extend to the telecommunications sector, hence Section 508 was reorganized (along with Section 255) to better align with and reflect recent communication technology innovations.

Similarly, WCAG 1.0/ 2.0 documentation defines how to make ‘web content’ more accessible to people with disabilities. Accessibility involves a wide range of disabilities, including visual, auditory, physical, speech, cognitive, language, learning, and neurological disabilities. Web “content” generally refers to the information on a web page or web application, including:

  • Natural information such as text, images, and sounds
  • Code or markup that defines structure and presentation

It is primarily intended for web content developers (page authors, site designers, etc.), web authoring tool developers, web accessibility evaluation tool developers and others who want or need a standard for web accessibility, including for mobile accessibility.

The WCAG 1.0 is organized around guidelines that have checkpoints while 2.0 is organized around four design principles of web accessibility. The basis of determining conformance of the former are the checkpoints and the latter are the success criteria.

Overall, these different accessibility standards apply in different circumstances but are designed to complement each other. Often, these standards improve over time which is why you come across different versions.

In the open source community, we are as open to individual differences as we are to heterogeneous technologies. WSO2 API Manager, being one of the key products of the WSO2 Integration Agile Platform, has widespread deployments and has also been adopted by Governments and federal organizations. Hence, we designed WSO2 API Manager to be compliant with Section 508 so that it is accessible to all sorts of intended users regardless of their differences. The following section presents how each of the guidelines has been achieved in the product.

Section 508 Compliance in WSO2 API Manager

I have presented the basic guidelines from Section 508 and indicated how WSO2 API Manager has been designed to achieve this particular requirement. In this guideline, only the applicable parts have been discussed.

Addressing the requirements of Subpart B:

Section 508 Technical Standard WSO2 API Manager Achievement (with a few examples)
Software applications and operating systems
(a) When software is designed to run on a system that has a keyboard, product functions shall be executable from a keyboard where the function itself or the result of performing a function can be discerned textually. WSO2 API Manager can be started up and executed using the command line (Windows)/ terminal (Mac), where the keyboard is the primary tool used to operate the application. Once started up, the API manager functions can be performed using the keyboard. For instance, the API design and implementation can be executed using the keyboard where you use the tab to move to each field where you want to specify API metadata. This is demonstrated in the sample API provided at the first-time launch of the product.
(b) Applications shall not disrupt or disable activated features of other products that are identified as accessibility features, where those features are developed and documented according to industry standards. Applications also shall not disrupt or disable activated features of any operating system that are identified as accessibility features where the application programming interface for those accessibility features has been documented by the manufacturer of the operating system and is available to the product developer. WSO2 API Manager is a web-based application. It does not interfere, disable or disrupt the operation of other applications or operating system on which it is running and vice versa.
(c) A well-defined on-screen indication of the current focus shall be provided that moves among interactive interface elements as the input focus changes. The focus shall be programmatically exposed so that assistive technology can track focus and focus changes.

Yes, on the startup screen, a walk-through to create an API is presented for first-time users. This shows the current focus and guides the user to the next item after completion of each step.

For experienced users, the tab key can be used to identify the current focus and navigate through the interfaces. When a text field is focused, it shows the cursor in the particular textbox and the textbox is outlined in blue. For dropdowns, the list of options is expanded and shown to the user.

(d) Sufficient information about a user interface element including the identity, operation and state of the element shall be available to assistive technology. When an image represents a program element, the information conveyed by the image must also be available in text. Yes, this is made available where necessary.
(e) When bitmap images are used to identify controls, status indicators, or other programmatic elements, the meaning assigned to those images shall be consistent throughout an application’s performance. Yes, the images used for APIs and their meanings are often consistent. The first letter of the API name is reflected in the image if it is not uploaded separately.
(f) Textual information shall be provided through operating system functions for displaying text. The minimum information that shall be made available is text content, text input caret location, and text attributes. Yes, textual information is provided through operating system functions. As a minimum, we provide:
  • Short text labels
  • Sample text that reflects the type of input required
  • Text input location identified using the cursor
  • Simple and consistent text attributes for titles, labels, validations, and descriptions across all WSO2 API Manager components
(g) Applications shall not override user selected contrast and color selections and other individual display attributes. WSO2 API Manager shows the default screens, however only affected by the contrast and color selections of the user’s screen/ monitor’s configuration.
(h) When animation is displayed, the information shall be displayable in at least one non-animated presentation mode at the option of the user. Not applicable as animations are not part of WSO2 API Manager.
(i) Color coding shall not be used as the only means of conveying information, indicating an action, prompting a response, or distinguishing a visual element. Information is conveyed in different means, such as text, color, images and other items. For instance, the action to start creating an API (on the Publisher) is indicated as a rectangular button with text that says ‘Start Creating’.
(j) When a product permits a user to adjust color and contrast settings, a variety of color selections capable of producing a range of contrast levels shall be provided. Not applicable as adjusting color and contrast settings are not part of WSO2 API Manager.
(k) Software shall not use flashing or blinking text, objects, or other elements having a flash or blink frequency greater than 2 Hz and lower than 55 Hz. Not applicable as flashing and blinking text, objects or other elements are not used in WSO2 API Manager.
(l) When electronic forms are used, the form shall allow people using assistive technology to access the information, field elements, and functionality required for completion and submission of the form, including all directions and cues. Screen magnification is available as the interface can be zoomed in and out as preferred. Assistive technology is not built into the WSO2 API Manager however, it can work with such tools available with the OS/browser to enhance such capabilities.

The above table is based on WSO2 API Manager v2.6.0. If you do have any feedback, please email us at [email protected]

Undefined