Texas Register

TITLE 1 ADMINISTRATION
PART 10DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION RESOURCES
CHAPTER 213ELECTRONIC AND INFORMATION RESOURCES
SUBCHAPTER BACCESSIBILITY STANDARDS FOR STATE AGENCIES
RULE §213.10Software Applications and Operating Systems
ISSUE 09/12/2008
ACTION Final/Adopted
Preamble Texas Admin Code Rule

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 chapter, all electronic and information resources developed, procured or changed by a state agency shall comply with the standards described in this subchapter. Each state agency shall include in its accessibility policy the following standards/specifications:

  (1)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.

  (2)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.

  (3)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.

  (4)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.

  (5)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.

  (6)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.

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

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

  (9)Color coding shall not be used as the only means of conveying information, indicating an action, prompting a response, or distinguishing a visual element.

  (10)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.

  (11)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.

  (12)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.

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-200804668

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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