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 11/18/2005
ACTION Proposed
Preamble Texas Admin Code Rule

Each state agency shall develop and publish an accessibility policy for its Web site and/or Web pages that addresses the following:

  (1)Effective September 1, 2006 all new or changed Web pages/content shall comply with the following Texas Web accessibility standards/specifications, where applicable: [At least one copy of a state agency Web page, whether static or dynamic, must be in an accessible format.]

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

     (B)Equivalent alternatives for any multimedia presentation shall be synchronized with the presentation.

      (i)All training and informational video and multimedia productions which support the agency's mission, regardless of format, that contain speech or other audio information necessary for the comprehension of the content, shall be open or closed captioned. Audio-only Webcasts shall have a Web page available with the text of the information content.

      (ii)All training and informational video and multimedia productions which support the agency's mission, regardless of format, that contain visual information necessary for the comprehension of the content, shall be audio described.

      (iii)Display or presentation of alternate text presentation or audio descriptions shall be user-selectable unless permanent.

      (iv)Providing captions of live/real time broadcasts of one-time meetings (board/committee meetings or training for a known audience) by some state agencies may impose a significant difficulty or expense. Each state agency may consider alternative forms of accommodation (covered in the State Web Site Guidelines under "Multimedia, Audio, and Video Files") or assess the need for an exception by their executive director, and how they will respond to public or employee requests for access. In considering exceptions, the agency shall comply with the requirements addressed in §2054.460, Government Code.

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

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

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

     (F)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.

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

     (H)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.

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

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

     (K)A text-only 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 text-only page shall be updated whenever the primary page changes.

     (L)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.

     (M)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:

      (i)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.

      (ii)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.

      (iii)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.

      (iv)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.

      (v)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.

      (vi)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.

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

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

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

      (x)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.

      (xi)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.

      (xii)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.

     (N)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.

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

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

  (2)Effective September 1, 2006 new Web page/site designs shall be tested using one or more §508 compliance tools in conjunction with manual procedures to validate compliance with the Texas Web accessibility standards. State agencies shall establish policies to monitor their Web site for compliance with the Texas Web accessibility standards. Additional information about testing tools and resources are in the State Web Site guidelines that are available from http://www.dir.state.tx.us. [Each state Web site shall meet the definition of a generally accessible Internet site, and ensure that Web pages transform gracefully and remain accessible despite any physical, sensory, or environmental constraints or technological barriers. ]

  (3)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 available at http://www.dir.state.tx.us. [Each state Web site shall avoid vendor specific "non-standard" extensions and comply with applicable Internet and W3C standards. For guidance regarding "non-standard" extensions and applicable standards, state agencies shall refer to the department's guidelines available at http://www.dir.state.tx.us/standards/srrpub11.htm.]

  (4)(No change.)

  (5)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. [Each state Web sites must be designed with consideration for the types of Internet connections available to the citizens of Texas, and undergo accessibility and usability testing.]

   (6)Testing/validation tools and manual procedures for validating §508 compliance satisfy compliance with the Texas Web accessibility standards.

   (7)All state agencies shall participate in the survey and should participate in the training identified by the department in the State Web Site guidelines available at http://www.dir.state.tx.us. As a minimum, Web content providers/developers should understand the requirements for complying with §508 requirements for the following:

    (A)Text Alternatives for non-text content.

    (B)Checking for Accessibility.

    (C)Accessible Navigation.

    (D)Image maps.

    (E)Audio & Multimedia.

    (F)Accessible Forms.

    (G)Accessible Tables.

    (H)Scripts and Applets.

    (I)Using Style Sheets.

This agency hereby certifies that the proposal has been reviewed by legal counsel and found to be within the agency's legal authority to adopt.

Filed with the Office of the Secretary of State on November 1, 2005

TRD-200504997

Renée Mauzy

General Counsel

Department of Information Resources

Earliest possible date of adoption: December 18, 2005

For further information, please call: (512) 936-6448



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