Texas Register

TITLE 1 ADMINISTRATION
PART 10DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION RESOURCES
CHAPTER 206STATE WEB SITES
SUBCHAPTER BSTATE AGENCY WEB SITES
RULE §206.50Accessibility and Usability of State Web Sites
ISSUE 09/12/2008
ACTION Final/Adopted
Preamble Texas Admin Code Rule

(a)Effective September 1, 2006, unless an exception is approved by the executive director of the state agency or an exemption has been made for specific technologies pursuant to §213.17 of this title, all new or changed Web pages and Web content shall comply with the standards described in this subchapter. Each state agency shall include in its accessibility policy the following standards/specifications:

  (1)A text equivalent for every non-text element shall be provided (e.g., via "alt," "longdesc," or in element content).

  (2)Based on a request for accommodation of a Web cast of a live/real time open meeting (Open Meetings Act, Texas Government Code, Chapter 551) or training and informational video productions which support the agency's mission, each state agency shall consider alternative forms of accommodation. Refer to §206.1 of this chapter for definitions for Alternate Formats and Alternate Methods.

  (3)Web pages shall be designed so that all information conveyed with color is also available without color.

  (4)Documents shall be organized so they are readable without requiring an associated style sheet.

  (5)Redundant text links shall be provided for each active region of a server-side image map.

  (6)Client-side image maps shall be provided instead of server-side image maps except where the regions cannot be defined with an available geometric shape.

  (7)Row and column headers shall be identified for data tables.

  (8)Markup shall be used to associate data cells and header cells for data tables that have two or more logical levels of row or column headers.

  (9)Frames shall be titled with text that facilitates frame identification and navigation.

  (10)Pages shall be designed to avoid causing the screen to flicker with a frequency greater than 2 Hz and lower than 55 Hz.

  (11)An alternative version page, with equivalent information or functionality, shall be provided to make a Web site comply with the provisions of this section, when compliance cannot be accomplished in any other way. The content of the alternative page shall be updated whenever the primary page changes.

  (12)When pages utilize scripting languages to display content, or to create interface elements, the information provided by the script shall be identified with functional text that can be read by assistive technology.

  (13)When a Web page requires that an applet, plug-in or other application be present on the client system to interpret page content, the page must provide a link to a plug-in or applet that complies with the following:

    (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.

    (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.

    (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.

    (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.

    (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.

    (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.

    (G)Applications shall not override user selected contrast and color selections and other individual display attributes.

    (H)When animation is displayed, the information shall be displayable in at least one non-animated presentation mode at the option of the user.

    (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.

    (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.

    (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.

    (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.

  (14)When electronic forms are designed to be completed on-line, 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.

  (15)A method shall be provided that permits users to skip repetitive navigation links.

  (16)When a timed response is required, the user shall be alerted and given sufficient time to indicate more time is required.

(b)Effective September 1, 2006, unless an exception is approved by the executive director of the state agency or an exemption has been made for specific technologies pursuant to §213.17 of this title, all new or changed Web page/site designs shall be tested by the state agency using one or more §508 compliance tools in conjunction with manual procedures to validate compliance with this chapter. State agencies shall establish policies to monitor their Web site for compliance with this chapter. Additional information about testing tools and resources are available on the department's Web site.

(c)Each state Web site shall avoid vendor specific "non-standard" extensions and shall comply with applicable standards (e.g., IEFT (if using secure socket layer (SSL) connections), W3C (if using Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and validated using the W3C CSS Validation Service), etc. For guidance regarding "non-standard" extensions, emerging technologies and applicable standards, state agencies shall refer to the department's guidelines

(d)The policy should cover testing and validation of Web pages.

(e)Each state Web site should be designed with consideration for the types of Internet connections available to the citizens of Texas, and undergo accessibility and usability testing.

(f)The policy should cover the testing/validation tools and manual procedures used for validating compliance with Chapter 2054, Subchapter M, Texas Government Code.

This agency hereby certifies that the adoption has been reviewed by legal counsel and found to be a valid exercise of the agency's legal authority.

Filed with the Office of the Secretary of State on August 27, 2008

TRD-200804665

K. Renee Mauzy

General Counsel

Department of Information Resources

Effective date: September 16, 2008

Proposal publication date: June 6, 2008

For further information, please call: (512) 475-4700



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